Work In Progress
My last blog post was in 2022. That’s three years ago, and honestly, it’s wild considering how much I love writing. But today, I plan to change that. Right now I am in the middle of a year of “creating” which means that I have created something everyday for the year so far (and counting.) I’ve tried drawing, painting, photography…so now to add in writing to the mix. What began as a 100-day drawing challenge has evolved into a full-blown, year-long creative commitment I’m calling Everyday Artifacts. So the point of this post is more to get back into it, and hopefully add back writing into one of the things that I regularly do.
I will use this space today to give a brief update on what I have been up to this year so far. The biggest thing this year has been the opening of my own Gallery|Studio space in Trinidad. I got the space on January 1st and after 7 weeks of renovations, I officially opened the space on February 23rd. So far it has gone really well and I am super appreciative of all the people that stopped in, took a lime, looked around and of course, all those of you that purchased work off the wall. With digital art, it is important to have a physical version of the pieces as it brings to life what is otherwise a digital object. The work is not meant to be seen 3 inches wide on your phone…it’s meant to be seen printed, framed and hung up on a wall! This new space allows me a permanent space for people to interact with the work as it was intended.
As I mentioned earlier, I am in the midst of doing a 365 day challenge where I am making one creative output per day. The first 100 days was a massive undertaking because I did one watercolour painting from life each day. For the remaining days, I am not putting any pressure on myself to do one thing or the other…just make something. That means that the last 265 days should be a little bit easier, as I can do a quick sketch or doodle and it counts. These daily challenges are really fun for me as they encourage me to keep pushing and keep working. Art and Design is a practice, so of course, you must practice it. Every day I see small improvements in my work and some days I will do something that turns into a series of work, or inspires something else that I am working on. To any fellow creatives reading this: try a daily challenge. Not to be productive, but to see what shows up when you make space for creativity, consistently.
I have also been working hard at my “day job” aka Backyard Design Co., my design agency. We have been doing some really cool and fun work for different companies this year. So far we’ve done quite a few brand identities, murals and packaging designs. We are also about to sign on 3 new clients for 3 really cool and really different jobs. BDco allows for me and my team to always be working on very different things…a restaurant, a hotel, a mural for a health center…the variety keeps us fresh, nimble, and creatively sharp. One big focus this year has been content, we have been making a concerted effort to post more on to our social media and document our projects this year. It’s funny how easy it is to pour creative energy into clients and forget to give your own brand the same love. But we’re changing that. Make sure to check out the Backyard Design Co. Instagram account to see some of what we have been up to.
I plan to start back up this “journal” and to start posting articles at least once a week, so make sure to stay tuned. If you have any topics you’d like for me to cover, make sure to leave a comment or send me a DM on Instagram! I want to do tutorials, articles on design and illustration, updates on what I am working on, as well as other topics. I love writing, so all in all, I am looking forward to it!
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading!
Nick