Nearly a year since I moved to West Midland. The journey of collecting memories and gleaning lessons from life seasons continues.

When it comes to my little creative venture, I am very thankful for what the Lord has done in 2024. At the beginning of this year, I found myself paralysed in self-doubt and fear; re-opening my small business felt like a very impossible task. It took me 9 months to gather up my courage to combat my fear. Thankful for random customers who purchased my handbound journals from listings I forgot to end on another platform. They helped spark a little motivation to keep going.

At last I officially re-opened my shop in November and had my first online market. I am grateful that I have sold more journals within 2 months of re-opening. 

The end of 2024 is here and I think it is fitting to start thinking and planning for my next creative moves for 2025. I have a few creative goals in 2025 and see where the Lord will lead me on this. I won't list every single goals here, but two major goals I will be working on next year are submitting paintings to galleries & joining market.

 

From Programming to Art

The process to reconsider art in itself was a long and providential one for me. It started in mid 2023 after a life season when I had to return to work as a teaching assistant at school to earn a few extra income. As much as I love teaching kids, I hated to witness and to be involved in an education system I consider unhelpful. It was a constant battle against my conscience. Thankfully, I was able to quit.

That season had made me consider to learn a skill that will be helpful when similar situation arise in the future. Something I could do from home without betraying my conscience or being away from my home ministry. The first thing I thought would be ideal was programming. I took online courses and was able to do some collaborations with other novice coders. Did I enjoy it? Yes and no. Yes, I love coding, however it was so overwhelming. I couldn't switch my mind of it and constantly thinking about codes and projects —even when my screen was off. Soon I realised it was far from ideal for me. 

Then I reconsider art. I begun to paint and learn how to paint. It's more sustainable. As I paint I can listen to sermon or podcast, and I can switch off easily anytime I need to attend to my priorities. 

 

Things to Figure Out

The decision to do art as a back-up income source doesn't come without the challenges. I am fully aware that being an independent artist comes with the demands not only to improve my skill but to be able to self-market —which I am not good at. Honestly, I have no clue at all what to do. Social media obviously one of those helpful tools to market my works, but social media marketing is a giant mammoth to learn in itself. Showcasing my works in small galleries, art submission, local market, what else should I consider? So many things to figure out. I must remind myself again and again to take one step at a time to prevent burnout. This is why I set up my creative goals for 2025.

 

Christian Artist

“We were free to create, as long as we never forgot that we are slaves to Jesus.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

 

As I tried to understand what it means to be an artist, I found myself on the brim, wandering if I ever would be one and if my art is valid. But through prayers and reading some good books, the Lord in his grace has given me clarity on where I should stand and what my Artist Statement should look like.

I believe art is projection of the artist's worldview and certainly mine will showcase of my Biblical worldview as I strive to live a life biblically. I pray that the Lord will be glorified through my art.