It’s been a while since I posted here – not through lack of interest, just simple lack of time. I meant to get so much done in 2023, but the year is running away with me. I do have a tendency to try to juggle multiple projects at the same time (maybe I worry that otherwise I’ll run out of ideas?). So, a few deep breaths are in order. I have a birthday coming up in the first week of June – not a significant birthday (though aren’t they all?), but I think it’s forced me to reflect on where I am and where I want to be. To be honest, there’s not a huge gap between the two. Where my art is concerned I’m very ambitious, but ambitious in the sense of wanting to be the best artist I can rather than needing recognition of the fame-and-fortune type.

(c) Helen Kitson. My most recent sale on Etsy, mixed media collage on 30cm square wooden panel

That said, and bearing in mind my post earlier in the year on impostor syndrome, recognition in some shape or form is important. At the most basic level, it’s validation. It’s also an indication of how far my work is travelling. Without that, you can end up feeling as though you’re shouting into a void.

I am very grateful for the opportunities that have come my way this year to share my work. I exhibited at the Kimpton Art Show and my work is currently on display at the IMAGO Gallery in Warren, RI. These are opportunities I would never have dreamed of a year ago. It took a large amount of courage to submit my work for exhibitions, competitions, etc, and I am taking this process very slowly rather than applying for every potential opportunity. I don’t want to lose the joy I get from making art. I don’t want this to feel like hard work.

My work on display at the Kimpton Art Show

Meanwhile, my Etsy shop sales have exceeded all my expectations and I’m delighted to have sold work to collectors in Australia and South Africa as well as to the UK and the USA.  I hope my pieces are being enjoyed in their new homes, because that’s really what it’s about. I don’t make a huge amount of money from my art (and I deliberately keep my prices affordably low). Most of my earnings fund my art supplies so that I can continue doing what I love the most, which is sticking bits of old paper to other bits of old paper and, on a good day, creating something that someone will love.