A New Year Begins

At the end of each year and the beginning of the next, I like to sit and reflect and consider what I want to bring into the next year and what I would like to leave behind. Some years I pick a word of the year to carry with me as a mantra and a focus for the year. Other years, like last year, I forgo a word and focus more on the goals that I want to achieve for the coming year.

For 2026, I have decided to pick a word of the year and the word I have chosen is REFLECT. Through reflection and consideration, I am hoping to have a gentler year in 2026. I can reflect and connect while spending time walking in the park with friends and family. I can reflect and observe while spending time at the botanical gardens sketching and painting flowers. I can reflect and rest through journaling, reading books and practicing yoga at home.

With reflection and thoughtfulness, I am hoping to leave what doesn’t serve me in 2025 and to carry what does into 2026. Painting outdoors is one of the things that I intend on continuing this year and would like to do more of and I have been thinking about doing a series where I paint the streets and areas around my neighbourhood.

I would also like to make a greater effort towards a daily sketchbook practice; not something that I rigidly would need to stick to where it would feel like an obligation, but something that would provide a moment of reflection and rest during the day. I enjoy creating art daily, but in the past I have felt a pressure to record the creating process. This pressure to film has placed a barrier to the process where I felt less inclined to want to set up the camera, get everything in place and then start to paint. This barrier has hindered my art process and it is something that I am willing to let go in 2026. It doesn’t mean that I won’t share my artwork, it just means that I don’t intend on pulling out the camera every time I want to create, which in turn means I will have more flexibility with where and how I make art.

Currently I am experimenting with sketching in watercolour pencils. I am enjoying the way I can sketch out the image, either dry or wet and the painterly quality of the results after it dries. I also like to see how the paint mixes similarly to watercolour paint, but there is a different quality to how the paint is controlled with a pencil vs a brush that is interesting and fun to experiment with.

Another thing I am hoping to bring with me into this new year is to read more books. In the last couple of years, I have not really enjoyed reading fiction books. I’m not sure if it is that I haven’t found a lot of time to sit and read, so I can’t get into the stories or if it’s just a matter of my attention span has changed. What I have found is that I have been more successful in reading non-fiction books, where I can pick them up for 15 minutes and read a few pages without needing to carrying on the information into the next time I pick up the book. Most of the books I have been reading and enjoying have been about creating art, colour theory and the creative process, which may also be a reflection of my interests.

While I don’t know what the next year will bring, I do know that a gentler and more reflective year sounds wonderful right now and reflect feels like the right mantra to carry with me.

Until next time, I hope that you are having a good start to 2026 and I look forward to sharing more with you over the next year.

All the best,

Laura

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On my screen: The Stringer: The Man Who Took The Photo

This documentary is about a photo taken during the Vietnam War called The Terror of War which has also been known as Napalm Girl and the photographer who took the photo. This story is about injustice and ultimately it is about being credited for one’s artwork. There is a photographer who was credited to taking the famous photo and there is also a photographer, the stringer, who is believed to have actually taken the photo. The documentary employs forensic investigators who review photos and film from when the photo was taken and come to a conclusion of who actually took the photo. Without giving away the ending, the documentary has given me a lot to think about and I think it will do the same for you.

On my bookshelf: Botanica, Volume B by Uppercase

This book is one of the volumes of the Encyclopedia of Inspiration series by Uppercase. This volume in particular is about botanical art in all its forms from paper and clay flowers, printed ephemera, floral arrangements and paintings and art created using botanical materials. This book is exactly as it is advertised, as I have found it very inspiring to read and I am looking forward to reading other volumes from this series.

In my ears: Good Content with Shannon McKinstrie

This podcast is hosted by social media strategist and marketer Shannon McKinstrie where she gives advice for how to better connect and create content for social media. I have been following Shannon for a while on Instagram before I discovered her podcast and her advice is simple and adaptive for anyone who shares content on social media.