Hindsight is 2023
So let it be written, lest I forget.
Art
What I created
At the end of 2022 I got a furious itch which resulted in submitting applications to 9 different art shows. Most required a submission of multiple pieces and at the start of the year I had roughly 80% of one painting finished.
I was accepted into exactly one of these shows which was scheduled for the end of March where I would have 2 linear meters of wall space to hang my work. Time to get painting!
For this show I produced 3 total pieces for The Holy Art Fair - you can read about my experience here.
Ambassadors x Heavenly Bodies is a reimagining of Hans Holbein’s Renaissance double portrait. Rather than two french dignitaries, my version features Blake Lively and Priyanka Chopra wearing their 2018 Met Gala gowns and the shelves are adorned by Judith Leiber bag inspired pieces.
Painting it was the perfect combination of fun and stressful! You can read more about my painting here. The picture below does not even capture one of my favorite elements, the anamorphic jewel encrusted skull on the floor!
Annunciation Distorted
The next piece I focused on for the show is called Annunciation Distorted and is a reimagined version of Fra Angelico’s Annunciation which is at the Prado Museum in Madrid, seen here.
If you want to know why Archangel Gabriel and Mary are painted at such an angle, you can learn more here.
The Egg That Launched 1000 Ships
Gods reproducing with humans is a common narrative in religious mythology. Predating the Annunciation of Christ, we have half-god heroes like Hercules and Helen. Helen is said to have been conceived by Zeus in swan form and her earthly mother Leda.
You may be familiar with depictions of Leda and The Swan and I think these are depicted a bit less violently than one wold assume the encounter must have been.
This painting is how I imagine a human mother may have tended her half-god bastard children with an absentee (swan) father.
I had a lot of fun at this show and met new friends who I’ve continued to see and create art with throughout the year!
In July I participated in another show called Parallax. I had a small exhibition space and took only one painting which I’d worked on slowly in the months leading up to the show. I don’t really consider it finished, it feels more like a prototype, but I still like how it is presently.
Love-All or Annunciation: Tennis Match
This is an adaptation of the classic Annunciation scene with Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. I kept reimagining a modern setting where he drops the big news on her and the Tennis court was the scene I chose to paint first.
There are a few little Easter Eggs in the painting - no pun intended. Actually I do intend it, the tie to religious events is too much not to intend! This deserves its own post though, coming soon!
And last but not least —— I created and printed an “Art of Appreciation” Magazine. It is a physical manifestation of my online photo gallery here. I really love how it turned out. You can buy a copy here if you’d like! I really love mine.
My pace of creation dropped drastically in the second half of the year. There are several reasons but the main one is that I dedicated less time to creating, the rest are just excuses!
Overall I feel confident about the volume and quality of what I produced.
Art I consumed
I went to the National Gallery six times. I started noting down the names and artists of all of my favourite paintings on display there and then started writing about them in detail in my journal - with the goal of being able to reconstruct it to some likeness based on description alone. I haven’t gotten to that step yet.
One notable visit was on a Friday late night in April with my friends I met at The Holy Art Fair
They are all super talented and fun
We all voted Lalita’s (the colourful faces) the favourite!
During a May 19th visit I became obsessed with this painting by Pierre Mignard and still think it’s my favourite here in London today.
The Marquise de Seignelay and Two of her Children, Pierre Mignard
Early May we took a trip to Spain and saw a few great galleries and many great works!
May 7th at the Goya Museum in Zaragoza I loved this Francisco Bayeu y Subias work! It’s oriented as though painted on a ceiling but is just on a canvas. I’d like to paint something like this someday!
This was an anonymous Flemencan work of Virgin and Child at the Goya Museum as well and I really enjoyed how different it felt from the many Italian versions I’ve seen from the color palette, to the black backdrop opposed to the arch overlooking nature and the prominence of the flowers.
The Fine Arts Museum in Valencia was stellar. I loved the following two paintings. The first is a portrait of a strange young girl called Retrato de niña, Piedad by Juan Conchillos y Falco. The second for the depiction of the angel’s wings (surprise!) in The Ecstasy of Saint Philomena by Vicente López.
On May 20th I made my way around to several galleries in London, all just west of Regent Street and North of Piccadilly and found several artists and works that I liked.
I can’t find my notes with the name of the artist, but these made me think somehow that the cast of Sesame Street was appearing in One Hundred Years of Solitude.
In late May we visited Paris for a long weekend and it might be said that I over-arted myself, if that is possible, but truly I think I just over-Lourved. I went two days to the Louvre, May 26th and 27th, for probably 4-5 hours each day. Though you’re only walking, is is quite exhausting.
Top contenders as I look back now, excluding Botticelli and Fra Angelico works as well as the Mona Lisa are:
La Vierge à la grappe, Mignard, Pierre
L’Annonciation, Le Sueur, Eustache
Vierge au rameau de chêne, dite Madone Hesselin, Vouet, Simon
On my way to the Louvre on the second day, I stopped in ahead of arrival at two other galleries!
I had planned to go to the Picasso Museum and on the way walked across a nice courtyard which turned out to be the Hotel de Chatillon. Trying to get inside I walked around the corner and came upon Musée Cognacq-Jay and decided this was more productive than viewing a courtyard.
The art was tres French and soft and it was a beautiful and well kept building.
I am not a huge fan of Picasso, but can appreciate his work for what it is. I usually visit his museums/ exhibitions when I find them (Barcelona, Antibes, Paris) to see if my tastes evolve, as his work changed significantly through the years.
On the 24th of June I went to the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition. I was not blown away. The theme was connection and.. I did not connect.
I liked this painting, number 1032, as it reminded me a bit of the book Piranesi that I read at the end of 2022.
On the 29th of July I visited the London Art Biennale at Old Chelsea Town Hall. It’s a wonderful old building and here were two of my favourite paintings - and I thought the human lady added some depth! More highlights of the works are exhibited in my post here.
July 22 I visited the National Portrait Gallery after it’s reopening - it’s open for the first time since we’ve lived in London. I much prefer the National Gallery itself but there were some great works here too.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this was my favourite.
One the first weekend my parents arrived in London in September, we traveled to Canterbury for the day and visited The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge - what a name! It was a library, museum and gallery all in one.
I really enjoyed this painting of the two girls at the dinner and the color and framing of this shot with the onlooker of the paintings is so nice.
When we (my parents and I) visited Strasbourg in later September I visited their Museum of Fine Arts. Notable finding this painting with disembodied angels who still have wings!
I visited the Courtauld Gallery in November for the first time and saw a Botticelli that I didn’t know about. I then obsessed with the lady on the left for quite awhile.
We visited Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum in the last week of November. There were many great pieces, including works from the Dutch masters, of course. I really liked this portrait of Marie Fargues by Jean Etienne Liotard for its beauty and simplicity, something I’d like to explore in my own upcoming paintings!
On the very last day of the year we spent roughly 8 hours dedicated to seeing Harry Potter and the Cursed child play - both 2.5 + hour acts in one day! It was cold and raining and the perfect way to end the year. Photography and videography are not allowed in the show, so here is a picture of a Texas BBQ pringles can available at the snack bar, which I thought was a funny contrast to the intricate gold detail in the background.
Reading
I did a fair amount of reading in 2023 - see the full list and reviews here.
Reading is more than what you read, but where you find your books and where you read them!
Book sourcing:
Hatchards, Foyles, and Waterstones in London
Oxfam book stores on Kensington High Street and in Greenwich
Stanfords Bookshop in London
Bookstore Galignani in Paris
Shakespeare and Company Bookstore in Paris
Any Amount of Books in London
Amazon print + kindle
Reading Locations:
Victoria and Albert Museum Members Cafe
The Chelsea Gardener Cafe became a favorite late in the year
The Westminster Reference Library — my favorite place if you want to read in a quiet place!
On tubes, buses, trains and planes
At home, of course
In Memoriam - and the perseverance of technology
I bought my first Kindle in the Spring of 2012, when I worked a few hours a week at a building in Austin routing phone calls to different attorneys who worked in that office. I took that Kindle with me on many different trips to many different countries. There were years where I used it often and years where I didn’t charge it at all.
It was old enough that I couldn’t even access the Amazon bookstore from the device itself so I had to buy on the browser and sync to my device. Eventually, though it still held a charge, I couldn’t even sync the books.
In December 2023 I bought a new one and in mid January I donated my first Kindle for electronic recycling.
I’ve never been one to need the newest tech device and delight in the fact that my devices can persevere for the time that they do. I’ll miss my old little Kindle, but the new one has a much better user experience (except for when you want to highlight a quote that spans two pages!) and allows me to download books directly - so I am happy!
Writing
I produced 25 blog posts!
Though I didn’t have a set goal and not all of them are really text heavy, I feel good about that level of chronicling of the year! There were months where I posted nothing and months where I had multiple to publish. I don’t think I will set goals for more consistency this year, rather a goal to ensure I recap all key moments or reflections that I want to be able to reflect on in the future — in a timely manner!
Daily Journaling
I bought a daily journal for 2023 in October of the following year and for whatever reason did not start using it until April of 2023, but once I did I was consistent. I was a day late in some instances but overall kept it up as a daily habit! These are each a small page in a small journal per day - small recap which I try not to mention anything about work in!
I’ve continued this habit through January already. My adjustment for this year is noting at the end of the page anything I watched or read that day.
Other Journaling
I made several longer form journal entries in my moleskin journal, often done when traveling. These are reflections less on the day but more on my state of mind and general thoughts on the world. I also took this with me several times to the National Gallery to take down detailed written notes about my favorite paintings there.
Letter to Steve
My friend Steve Cowan published a book of essays this year about his life. He has had such a fun and interesting life so as I read his book I typed a long form response letter back to him. I don’t remember the total but it was over 20 pages typed on my typewriter! Steve is one of my major motivations to write, especially the daily journaling, something he has practiced for decades now!
Poems and Short Stories
I attended one spoken word poetry night to hear my friend Jannah read and really enjoyed it; the event and her poem, as well as the other poems read - it was a really talented room!
I wrote two poems with the intention of reading these at a spoken word poetry night but never did.
For years I’ve suffered from this self-inflicted ailment of wanting to write a story but either not having an idea of what I want to write, but realistically just not putting the time or effort into it.
This year I finally started to develop an idea of a short story I’d like to write! I’ve typed a few full pages of semi-intelligible prose. It is a start! The two poems I prepared actually helped catalyse some of my disparate thoughts!
My friend Molli from work is a writer and shared some really helpful resources on how to structure my thoughts so this year I expect to make better progress on my story about Mary, Helen and Leda!
My typewriter
For some time I’d imagined having an old typewriter to have a more analogue and deliberate writing experience. I actually don’t recall now what triggered me to make the purchase, though I wish I did. I’d also been taking photos on film earlier in the year and feel that might have had something to do with it, a yearning for more analogue experiences.
Well on June 28th I ordered a 1969 Olympia Splendid Typewriter refurbished by Charlie Foxtrot Typewriter company based in England. They do wonderful work and provide a great employee experience, so if you’re in the market, I definitely recommend them!
I’ve since typed my aforementioned letter to Steve, the poems I’ve written, the rough, entropic drafts of my short stories and really enjoy it. It’s a physical labor requiring a fair bit of hand and wrist strength versus a computer keyboard and is quite unforgiving. It’s a wonderful and deliberate experience which feels so distinct from digital forms of writing.
Travel
We were fortunate to take several trips this year both locally and abroad!
Cotswold in early March for the weekend. We have stayed in the little village of Painswick twice now and really enjoy it. We train to Stroud and then taxi to Painswick then spend the weekend relaxing and walking around the cute streets and rolling green hills. People still get fresh milk delivered to their doorstep here! Feels like a good alignment to the typewriter, analogue life!
The US
In March I had to go to Seattle for work and was able to pop by Texas for a few days on the way there! Short trips with that time zone difference feel like a blur, but both parts of the trip were fun!
Spain
In May we visited Spain (am late here in posting about the majority of the trip!) but really enjoyed it. We started in Pamplona, then went south to Zaragoza (with a day trip to Moixent) and ended in Valencia, on the coast, where we spent my 33rd birthday! We spent different parts of the trip with different parts of family, some who live there, some who were also visiting!
Spain has amazing art, architecture, food (fresh produce!), people, scenery and the best Horchata I’ve ever tasted!!
Paris
Later in May we visited Paris, where my husband took a photography workshop and I unsurprisingly spent the majority of time looking at art. In addition to the museums and galleries, I spent a good bit of time with my cousin Marisa and her boyfriend Tiago who live just outside of the city. We did a bit of the Louvre together, then attended a jazz concert at 38 Riv, which I highly recommend! We finished the night with a lovely Portuguese dinner together.
I made my best attempt to get a Shakespeare and Company tote and after waiting in the long line I found out they didn’t have any available! The clerks were a bit judgy so I bought Stephen Fry’s Heroes.
The garden in the back of the Picasso museum!
Wye (in Kent)
We took a little weekend away to Eastwell Manor to celebrate our anniversary at a Spa Resort just under 2 hours outside of London. It’s an old manor house and was lots of fun. We did the picnic lunch experience and it rained on us but that made it all the better! I did lose my sunglasses in the confusion of escaping the rain though - goodbye!
Germany/France
My parents came for a visit in late September, so I joined them for a little roadtrip where we based out of Strasburg, France, which is only 2 miles from the German border.
It was such a fun trip as we took little day trips in both France and Germany and the little villages are so charming!
We had a serendipitous little encounter with a friend of a friend of a friend, Alison, who I’d met once in Chicago in 2015 who happened to also be in town with her mother. Her mother, also from Texas, hit it off with my parents and now they keep in close touch with plans to see each other again!
Amsterdam
In late November we visited Amsterdam for 3 days with my in-laws. I’d been to Amsterdam for 3 days in 2011 and it was nice to visit again as a non-student. That city has such a strong vibe. From the architecture to the fashion to the unending flow of bicycles - it feels distinctly its own!
We took two day trips and spent the third day in Amsterdam itself which was spent at the Rijksmuseum and then lunch before heading to the airport. We saw snow on windmills and visited a farm where we sampled (and bought plenty) of fresh locally grown fruit. Yum!
Back to the US
We spent almost all of December back in the US between Houston, Austin and New Orleans. Saw lots of family and plenty of friends from years ago (Amber, Kate, Ariel, Bridget, Kelsey Peterson, Caroline, and Kelsey Carter) and many of their little ones!
We played board games and video games and went to H-E-B multiple times. We ate plenty of Mexican food and Cajun food and enjoyed our time being “home”.
Fitness
I spent the first half of the year doing a dance class or two per week at Pineapple Dance Studio and in May I signed up at Virgin Active Gym and have gotten back into Body Pump for the first time consistently since Kate and I used to go to in Oklahoma City in 2014!
It’s been really nice and I have been consistently going to a few different classes per week!
I did start going to the Chiropractor in January and after an intensive few weeks go about once a month now! Goal is to reduce pain in my shoulder and lower back which I self inflict from how I sit when working and sometimes sleep!
Work
The economy has been pretty wild this year with hundreds of thousands of layoffs in tech, but I am luckily still employed! In Feb of 2023 my VP of CS left and I then took on the Customer Success Team for the full EMEA region. In October we had a reorg which meant I no longer had a team to manage but had customers to manage personally but I was up for the challenge. Shortly after a role on the sales team opened for which I applied and will now start my first AE quota carrying role on Feb 1!
Onward
This post took a long time to write! Several hours over several weekends combing back through my mind, calendar and photos to remember the key details of the year. It’s a great way to reflect on what’s happened and help shape what I want this year to look like!
