What Really Mattered in 2025....Part one
- loisparishevans
- Jan 7
- 4 min read
Firstly I would like to extend a welcome to all my new subscribers this last year - thank you for subscribing. If there is anything you would like me to expand on or blog about please let me know and I will try and accommodate requests. I am, and have always been, passionate about creating and there are a few threads - excuse the pun - that run through my creative journey. I have always been drawn to stitch and fabric, they were my first love as a child and as I grew up they have remained alongside drawing, photography and printmaking.
And I believe in the power of creativity, not just in a world that needs positivity but also in personal growth..
This is my second attempt to write a blog about 2025! I have read a few social media posts that listed all the achievements of the year and had thought it would be a good way to approach reflecting on the year that has been. However it wasn't until I read an art business blog(artsyshark.com ) asking the question "What Really Mattered in Your Art Business this Year" that I stopped and thought "Yes,... what really mattered to me last year?" I then had a beautiful conversation with John, my husband, who told me what he thought was important, what mattered, and then asked me what was my why?
I have been sharpening my 'why' over the last couple of years since completing a years mentoring program with Creative Bay of Plenty in 2024. What came out of that program was realising my love of creating and exhibiting a body of work, a body of work that tells a story. And 2025 seemed to be about the universe listening and providing me with opportunities to have two solo international exhibitions - one in Australia and one in France, both absolutely great experiences.
Two recent conversations however have me deepening my "why"and acknowledging the importance of creativity over my lifetime. (Yes, I am at that age where we begin to reflect on our lifetime!) I was an incredibly shy and reserved child/ young adult, even as an adult, and being creative has given me a voice. I honed my listening skills as a young person and went into the profession of Art Therapy (which I completely believe in, the power of art to help resolve problems)...however I still didn't have a voice.
Finding my 'voice' within my creativity has given me the opportunity to say what I believe in - both my belief in creativity and my love of the amazing world we live in - the extraordinary in the ordinary. It gives me a balance to my other work, although not working as an art therapist I work with special needs children in an educational setting.
Many years ago I adopted a quote from Gordon Andrews book "Seeing" that deeply resonated with me, and the following is a section of the quote which happens to be at the beginning of my first portfolio -"Visual literacy is uncommon in the sophisticated, technological western world where the dollar sign is seen as of greater importance than the raindrop or a leaf in the forest. If people could be helped to see and understand the meanings of colour, form, and structure as well as growth, flowering and decay perhaps we, the most intelligently capable creatures on this planet, could live in greater harmony." I didn't consciously set out to make that my mantra but that sentiment appears to underpin most of my life's creative work.
What really matters.....What really mattered in 2025....I think what really matters in a creative life is turning up to do something creative everyday even when the creative juices feel dry and unresponsive, or when it feels too hard. 2025 was such a crazy busy year in my family and work life that I would have to capture creative moments when I could.
What also matters to me is pushing myself outside my comfort zone and wow, did I do that last year with taking two exhibitions overseas. Everytime I have a solo exhibition I am making myself vulnerable to other peoples critique of what matters to me and requires a level of confidence that I have to hold onto as I set up.
Contours and Contrasts was my 5th solo exhibition at Timeless Textiles Gallery, in Newcastle Australia. It had been 5 years since my previous exhibition and it is always a delight to return to exhibit there. This solo exhibition was a good lead up to the next stepping outside my comfort zone moment!
So the highlight of my year was being selected to exhibit at the Carrefour Quilt Show in Sainte_Marie-Aux Mines in the Alsac region of France. A very beautiful area of France. If you want to read about my experience at Carrefour read my previous blog. Needless to say that what really mattered what turning up regardless of how challenging it might feel at the time. Turning up meant I had the most amazing experience. Google Translate was my best friend and it brought home to me that language is not a barrier when it comes to art, textiles and creativity. I love that visitors connected with my work enough to take home, and I loved hearing the stories of what it was that people connected to. Connection to others really matters to me...
For example "Emerald Lake" ... a European mother connected deeply with this one as her daughter had been to NZ as an exchange student . She had an almost identical photograph of this landscape.
And many other stories....
To be continued......
