2021: A Year In Review

Well, here we are in the dwindling days of 2021, a year really unlike any other in history. I guess that can be said for all years, but this one felt especially different. If you’re living on planet Earth, we’re still in the midst of a global pandemic that hasn’t really shown signs of slowing down (in fact, the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is ripping through just about everywhere as I type this). It wasn’t the best year ever, individually or collectively, but there were some great moments along the way.

In 2021 I had the pleasure of continuing my work as a creative mentor and teaching artist for Revision and ArtReach. I kicked off the year with a remote residency at Discovery Elementary that ended up being one of my most favorite parts of the week. From January to May I was able to serve 5 classrooms and create so much fun art together. It was a unique time where I got to see the students in their element, with siblings, pets, and parents in the background. Teaching art classes on Zoom was definitely an experience and I have to say that sometimes I miss it! It was also quite fun to work from home side by side with my husband for the beginning half of the year. I am pleased to be going back to Discovery Elementary, this time for in-person classes, starting in February 2022!

In June, I was offered a full-time position as a Resident Teaching Artist at ArtReach which was amazing news after a whole year spent working three jobs. I was able to quit my retail job at Madewell after 8 years with the company. It was bittersweet as I did love a lot about working there and that job was able to afford me a lot of financial independence and I met lifelong friends while working the denim bar. However, it was definitely time to move on and I am thrilled to be working at a job that aligns with my values and makes me excited every day. Getting the job at ArtReach also meant leaving my job at Revision, which was very sad for me. I loved working there, for exactly one year, and really miss my weekly time with the artists. I will forever support their mission of giving people with disabilities access to a creative workspace and mentors to help them bring their work to life.

The rest of the year passed largely in a blur. I completed several residencies with ArtReach in my new role. I’m right in the middle of my year-long residency at St. Rita’s which has been really fulfilling and fun. We have been making some great art over there with students! I can’t wait to see what else this role brings me in the coming year.

Personal art took a bit of a back seat in 2021. I was able to participate in one art show with Little Dame in July. I made some collages I’m super proud of and am excited to continue in this aesthetic direction in 2022. Art is always part of my life, but I didn’t feel like I worked so much on cultivating new artwork this year as much as in previous years, at that is okay! I am learning to be okay with not being productive or generative 24/7. Also, I realized I’m totally lying to myself. I did make a lot of art in 2021. I created, developed, and implemented tons of art projects for students throughout San Diego. There is a little piece of me as an artist in everything that I do with students, so I can’t say that I didn’t make a lot of art this year, I just made a lot of it with kids. I definitely want to share more of my teaching journey here in 2022.

But back to my original point, I definitely didn’t make as much of my own art this year and I’m cool with that. This year was deeply reflective. Throughout the whole pandemic, I’ve marveled at how much time I’ve gotten to spend with myself and my thoughts and really think about why I am the way that I am. I’ve grown so much and I’m excited to continue that journey of growth in this upcoming year. Although I didn’t make a ton or really share a ton on social media, I did spend time cultivating my creative vision for myself, and where I want Stardust Coyote to go. I hope you all want to stay tuned because I’m feeling like 2022 is going to be a good year for art!

Even though collage has taken a bit of a backseat this year, I did get creative by designing and building some awesome studio furniture with my dad. I conceptualized three pieces, a printer stand, a desk, and a cabinet. I finished building the cabinet last weekend and am so pleased with how it turned out. I have so much more storage place and everything looks so much cleaner and grown-up. I am excited to finish the desk in the upcoming year and add all the finishing touches to the studio area. I’ll be posting pictures here of course.

We didn’t do a whole lot of traveling this year due to the pandemic but Christian and I were able to go out and explore our great state of California numerous times. We went to Desert X for the second time, checking out all kinds of art in the desert and packing the most delicious picnic lunch ever. We also made a trip to Santa Barbara and had a great time relaxing, eating, wine tasting, and exploring. We went to LA to check out the Hollywood Forever Cemetery at the beginning of October. I also got to go back to LA to explore the Huntington Library Botanical Garden and the MOCA with my friend Dustan in November. I kept up my walking ritual in 2021, going for tons of walks around my neighborhood loops either alone or with friends. I hit 100K miles in my car, which is one of those tiny, poignant milestones, ‘cause you think about everywhere you’ve been. One constant of 2021 (and the last 10 or so years) is taking a lot of pics in random places with Dustan.

As many of you who are reading this know, I made the decision to completely log off Instagram for the entire calendar year of 2022. This decision was spurned by just the dwindling of positive experience Instagram has become for me. While I do still find inspiration and community on there, I feel like my time doomscrolling has become more about avoiding uncomfortable emotions or giving myself a little hit of attention or entertainment. It’s difficult for me to articulate exactly what I’m feeling about Instagram, but I want to make art about it. Giving it up is kind of scary in a way. I wonder if people will forget about me or if this means I’m taking myself out of art scene relevancy forever. But ultimately it’s about learning how to exist without it. I’m really into the concept of self-denial, voluntarily living without something, and am just leaning into this specific type of it now. Because I’m leaving Instagram, I’m starting a newsletter to keep connected with a small circle of friends who are interested in my ramblings and art. If you’re interested in that, you can sign up here. I want it to feel like a little webzine where I share art and things I find inspiring.

The past month has been a little difficult for me after I was bitten by a dog while out walking and some unrelated health issues I’ve been having. Never a big fan of the holidays, I enjoyed some parts of the holiday but was largely excited for them to be over this year. I’ve been resting a lot the past few days and enjoying time off work. I got a beautiful new notebook to write down my goals and ideas in. I’m not making specific resolutions for 2022. I’m doing a couple of self-denial experiments (I’ll talk more about those later) and just trying to learn from the mistakes I’ve made. Kind of leaning into the uncertainty that 2022 has to be honest. It’s been a humbling year for me in a lot of respects, and I mean that in the best way possible. I hope you spend this upcoming New Year’s Eve doing something you love and being kind to yourself for getting through another year on planet Earth.