A Review of 2024

Unsurprisingly, I got side-tracked from my proposed plans for the year, particularly with another attempt at painting with coloured sand (which I had tried previously and discounted) because I thought it would be quicker, cheaper and easier for creating larger artworks. I did three sand paintings, which I displayed at the 'Touch of Spring' event in September. They took a lot longer to complete than I thought and because they needed to be sealed with varnish, to make them durable, they lost the raw sand look. So once again, I said no more sand paintings, I would return to the polymer clay mosaics that I enjoy creating.

On 1 June 2024 I launched an online store called GLOW CREATIONZ, selling a range of functional and novelty products designed to glow in the dark. Although the main idea was 'Glow in the Dark Christmas Tree Decorations' because this is a very seasonal product, I also designed Emergency Tags, Bag Tags, Key Rings, Hanging Ornaments and Novelty Gifts (e.g. Glow Dinosaurs).

I spent a lot of time photographing and writing the listings for these items and was proud of the way my online store looked on felt.co.nz. It was disappointing to have only one online sale through Felt (7 December 2024), and no interest when I tried the products on TradeMe, I actually sold more of these items at the local market in Whangamata. The attempt at selling online took a lot of time, effort and expense but it has confirmed that it is not for me. I much prefer to have the real customer contact and see their reactions, even if it is only at the local market.

As I write this, I am half way through creating a polymer clay mosaic picture, titled "A wonderful day to remember". It is based from a photograph I took on a cruise ship stop at Mystery Island, over 11 years ago. I have always wanted to do this picture (in some medium/format) and I thought it would fit the theme of the Harcourts Challenge, to be judged on 24 January 2025. 

As I have been been spending hours working on this mosaic picture, it has made me question the wise use of my time. Although I enjoy the creative process, I think I enjoy the 'buzz' of market sales and customer feedback on my creations more. So, I have finally conceded that I am happy with market rather than exhibition sales, even if the financial reward is not large. The creation of Swirl-StoNZ is less time intensive, which puts less pressure on my aging body and gives me more time to spend with my husband who is now retired. So my plan for 2025 is to focus on Swirl-StoNZ, and see how that develops, I still have many new ideas and thoughts on refining my existing StoNZ.

I will wait with interest to review 2025 at the end of the year, and see how it turns out compared with my proposed plans. Hoping that 2025 will be the year of Swirl-StoNZ.

Harcourts Challenge 2025 - Entry 2 is progressing very slowly

This will be my main entry, under the category Sight. The mosaic picture, titled "A wonderful day to remember", is from a memory. It is progressing very, very slowly! I have only completed the bottom third of the picture, as I write this before Christmas, and all the palm tree leaves yet to come are daunting. There is only a month left until submission and am seriously worried that I may not get it finished in time. 

I think this is likely to be my last dot mosaic picture, due to the time-consuming nature of the medium, so I have to get it finished for this competition. As I have been spending all my time on this artwork, I have not managed to create any new work to sell on my stand at the Big Arts Day Out, so this entry needs to be impressive.

Polymer clay UV light fastness trial - after 3 years

I started this trial on 12 December 2021. Six months on, I looked at the tiles after cleaning off all the sticky residue from the black masking tape (top row in photo). There was slight yellowing of the exposed area on the white and purple tiles but this is not easy to see in the photo. The neutral tiles showed no noticeable change to the colours but the varnish has attracted a lot of dust/dirt, so I would definitely not use varnish on items intended for outdoors.

The bottom row of the photo shows the tiles after three years. The heat of the sun on the black masking tape had almost welded it in place. I decided it wasn't worth the time it would take to try and remove the tape and clean off the sticky residue. It was quite clear that all the colours had faded and the white, pearl and translucent colours had discoloured considerably. The white had yellowed (not so easy to see in the photo) but the pearl and translucent had almost gone brown.

Sadly, this experiment has confirmed that polymer clay is not suitable, in terms of light fastness, for long term use outside.

Harcourts Challenge 2025 - Entry 1 completed

I have completed my first entry for the 2025 Harcourts Challenge. The theme is 'The Senses' and there are four categories: Sight, Smell, Taste, Touch. My piece is "Kakara" and will be entered under the Smell category. I will post photographs once the competition has been judged on 24 January 2025.