With only a few hour left in the year, it’s time to look back on a very busy, productive and exciting year. As most of you know, this past year was the year I wanted to start pushing the studio a little harder and see where we could go. It was all about learning, growing, trial-and-error, and network building. It was a lot of hard work, it meant extra hours after my day job, tough boundaries, and juggling. In the end it all feels like it is paying off really well, starting off 2025 with a pile of momentum, plans and ideas.

The Markets

This year was my first attempt at markets and I have had so much fun. I started the year with three markets with The Mom Market London booked, and ended up doing a total of six markets at different venues. I can’t thanks Kayla of the The Mom Market London enough for her energy, encouragement and feedback, the people that I have met at her markets have been inspirational and will be great friends and market neighbours moving forward.
I also did a Book Fair Market where my bookmarks were a hit! I was also lucky enough to be chosen to be part of the Wildflower Christmas Market, and I could have done that one for days!
There are so many highlights when it comes to the markets. The people I have met, the experience I have gained, and the feedback. One of my favourite parts of the market is seeing the response to my work “out in the wild”. Unbiased opinions of the pieces that I have worked so hard on was beyond valuable in growing my portfolio. Everyone had great ideas of what gnome I should do next, what pieces they liked, and how they could incorporate the designs into their daily lives. I also received some ideas for where my pieces could be used in the community, kicking off the next steps in my 2025 plans!
If I could do markets all the time I would. These have been so much fun, and after my first one was out of the way, oddly stress free! I am so glad that I took this leap this year, and this will be something that I’ll be doing more of in the new year for sure.

The Tarot

Part way through the year, I finally kicked off a decade long percolating project. My tarot deck! I had this project laid out and planned for over ten years, but I was stuck on style and how to present them. When I was playing around with Firefly earlier in the year, I discovered that I already had my style ready to go. The stained glass/paper art combination would be perfect for these cards! A lesson in being patient, sometimes you just need that one piece to fall into place at its own pace.
I started these on the livestreams throughout the summer and we are making wonderful progress. I am thrilled to be working on a project that means so much to me. We will see where it goes, but the feedback so far has been amazing! Really, I just want to be working on them all of the time.

The Collaborations

Through my livestreams I have built a community of people who provide feedback and work together. There are a few individuals who have a work setup, and artistic approach that inspire me, or that I’d like to learn from. I’d participate in their livestreams, and ask questions, I’d research and discuss their approach. In the end, I simply reached out and said “Hey! Let’s collaborate!” Luckily DTM responded positively and we are now working together and collaborating.
Check out this project that we started this year. It will be in the layout of a Joker card, and will be the kick start to our next collaboration in the new year. We will be working together, but also including other artists to see how they would interpret our idea in their own style. A great development later in the year that will be a great start to 2025.

The Portfolio

In reviewing the year, one thing that jumped out to me was the volume of work that I had built while pushing the studio along. Looking at my table setup at the last market of the year, I realized that I had drawn a vast majority of the work this year. This was both overwhelming and invigorating at the same time. I did a count a few weeks ago, and in 2024 I more than tripled my Behance content. Meaning I have doubled the work that I did between 2020 and 2023, this year alone.
It was a lot of work but the base is now set and we have an even better kick off point for the year to come. There’s still a lot of work to come, don’t worry, but it will be coming from a place of less pressure and stress… hopefully.

Overall, this has been an amazing year for me in the studio, me with my friends and family, and me and Mojo. It’s insane to look back on all of the hard work, and to see how it is already paying off. I have been taking a mild break over the holidays here, but we will be off to the races next week, looking to avoid any lost momentum.

Thank you so much to everyone who has been here for the whole journey, joined in part way through, made a purchase, provided feedback, provided a like, a share, or an idea. I appreciate all of you and I hope that you will all stay on for the journey in to 2025!

Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year from the Hues & Tones Studio.