In the Artist’s Studio: Intentions, Adventures, and The Road Ahead
At the start of every new year, it seems a lot of people get the urge to sit down, reflect, and set resolutions for the New Year. I don’t know when the term “New Year’s Resolution” began, but what I do know is that I’ve never been able to keep one. I tend to set resolutions so strict and impossible that when I fail to meet them just once, I feel like the whole system has broken. And then I usually give up 2-3 months in. It seems resolutions are too rigid or firm for me to sustainably adopt.
To give myself grace this year, I sat down to make intentions. A plan for a fulfilling, engaging, and colorful 2024. I didn’t have these intentions formed into words until I saw my vision board altogether, which happened on a Sunday night surrounded by my family. Every so often, the women in my family get together and have “girls’ days”. Each of us takes a turn choosing an experience to try and so far we’ve done glass blowing, taken a food walking tour, gone bowling, and now, we gathered to make vision boards. Here’s the one I created:
Each of us had a different goal for their vision board: my cousin created a fun art print, my sister hunted for an aesthetic, my aunt chose to cut out things she enjoyed, and I tried to find things that represented what I was going to do this year. So I guess I took the most direct approach if we’re talking about a traditional vision board.
After taking in my vision board, I noted six themes or images that seemed to stand out amongst the rest of the cutouts and stickers. Can you guess what they are? In this blog, I’m going to break down my top six intentions for 2024 along with why each is part of my journey this year. Also yes, I know that it’s February. I’m a little late to the game of vision-boarding, but regardless I’m excited to look at this vision board every day moving forward and take in all its goodness! Without further ado, here are those six intentions:
1. The Final Frontier: I have three courses left in my master’s program. By the end of August, I will have graduated with a degree in Museum Studies! My school journey is illustrated with the woman on the laptop, with books spread about and a hot cup of coffee. This is me except I’m usually in my bed and my coffee is cold.
The final frontier felt appropriate to represent this last stretch of schoolwork because the previous year did a number on me. At some point, I felt like school and work started to run me over and I was operating on autopilot. This year, I’m trying to make intentional choices and remind myself that it really is a privilege and opportunity to be in my program. My professors and classmates are all smart members of the museum community and our experiences vary in an inspiring way. Somehow we all got here because we feel that museums are a way to help change, influence, and connect societies. Of course, each of us has our own passions, but this belief that we are moving into a field that matters is universal.
As mentioned I have three courses left, two in the Spring and one in the Summer. This semester I’m taking Museums in the Digital Age, and Museums in a Changing Time. The latter is a virtual seminar course which is seen as a culmination class; it requires more reading, collaboration, Zoom meetings, group work, and a final paper. Right now we’re talking about resilience and it perfectly synced with how I’m trying to tackle this year. The videos that we watched included a couple from Seema, which was fun for me since I first discovered her from TikTok. The videos that she makes about art, museums, and relevant topics are always directly to the point and prompt people to think deeper than the surface issue presented.
Anywho, my last course is up in the air, so I’ll get to take a look at what will be available in a couple of months and make a game-time decision. All I want to do when I finish my last assignment for this degree is frolic through a field of wildflowers without a care in the world.
2. California Roadtrip: For my spring break this semester, I’ve decided to plan a road trip from San Diego up to Monterey Bay. In total, that trip is about 7 hours one-way, but I’m going to spread that out over a week, stopping in Los Angeles, Morro Bay, Carmel Valley, Monterey, and then down into Big Sur. With the way I’ve planned it, driving up will require 2-3 hours of driving every other day, and then on the return trip, we’ll do a 5-hour drive back to Los Angeles, and make the rest of the drive to San Diego the next day. It’s a 9-day trip in total and I’m very excited as it’ll be my first time taking the camper van out on a true adventure!
Yes, you read that right. As my dad entered the retirement realm, one of the things he invested in was a camper van, fit with solar panels, a fridge, electricity, a bed, swivel seats, and more. It’s intimidating to drive at first, but once you settle in, it’s very comfortable. I’ve driven a bachelorette party into Joshua Tree with the van, but we didn’t sleep in it and camp as I intend to do this time around. The only thing I’m really nervous about is driving around Monterey Bay, and entering one of our campsites in Carmel Valley. I’m glad I looked at the fine print of my reservation because our campsite recommends using a different route different to Google Maps. Other than that situation, I’m mostly excited to just enjoy stops in national parks, beaches, small towns, The Madonna Inn, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and more. I hope that having something like this to look forward to is also going to help motivate me during the semester.
3. Discover Virginia: For Christmas, my parents gifted me a plane ticket to visit one of my best friends, Morgan! I’ll be taking this trip in August after I graduate, so I’m looking forward to feeling refreshed and renewed around one of my favorite people. This trip might also allow me to meet some peeps from my program or visit some of the museums that we discussed throughout the semester.
The “Discover Virginia” part comes from the fact that I’ll be going to an Avril Lavigne concert in Virginia while I’m out there. You read that right, Avril Lavigne in 2024. The silly thing is what I’m most excited about during that concert is one of the opening bands. The even sillier thing is that I’m only excited to see that opening band because one of the members is a host on an MTV show that I completely binged all the episodes of. I don’t know how it happened, but I have a crush on both of the hosts in the show so getting to see one of them IRL has me giddy like a twelve-year-old girl. (But not as excited as I would be to see The Era’s Tour again, see #6). Of course, all of this excitement is not surpassed by how excited I am to see my friend, but we can feel multiple things at once.
4. Being Social & Having Fun: The “and” is very essential here. Last year, I didn’t seek out many opportunities to be social and I feel like the social events I did go to didn’t fill up my cup, if you know what I mean. Although I feel comfortable being independent, I recognized during some reflection that I was feeling closed off from those nearest to me. I want to be intentional this year in seeking out connections with friends, families, and new acquaintances!
I’m doing this by responding to texts in a more timely manner, setting Google Calendar events for meetups, and saying yes to more outings. Just tomorrow, I’m set to go to an artist meetup in San Diego. I’m nervous to go and put myself out there, but I know it’ll be a good experience for me. I feel so anxious about going that I haven’t actually let myself think about it and typing about it now makes me think about maybe not feeling well enough to make it. Why does my brain do that? I was invited, it’s a cool thing, what’s the worst that could go wrong? *hesitant laughter* (I didn’t end up going, opting to do homework instead… it’s the thought that counts, right?)
The “and having fun” bit also requires me to be more present in the moment. I think I didn’t enjoy many social moments last year because my brain was always off to another land, worrying about deadlines, assignments, or orders to ship. I’m working at putting my phone down and focusing on the person, game, or activity in front of me. This is difficult to do, as I really enjoy distracting myself. But that’s not how connections are made and I need more of that in my life!
5. Paint More Murals: This is a goal that shows up year after year for me. Although I did quite a lot of painting last year (bicycle, the Mandalorian, Winnie the Pooh mural) I always want to strive for bigger walls and more intricate designs. I don’t have any large paintings in the works yet, but I would love to paint one mural for a local business in North County, San Diego. I almost DM’d a coffee shop moving into a place near where I live. I wanted to send them a quick message about my mural services. I chickened out in the moment, but maybe the fact that I’m mentioning it here means that I should send them an email. I really love their coffee and it would be so fun to create something fun for a business I support and enjoy.
I’ve also gained approval from my parents to paint one exterior wall of their house. The wall I chose faces their backyard and is where my dad built his outdoor grill. The barstools face this wall of the house and it made me sad that people would have to look at a boring wall instead of nature. I have an idea of painting plants and animals local to the area, but have yet to come up with a serious sketch or idea. I think I want to challenge myself by creating something without linework, which is what I usually do. I’d love to make this a project I design throughout the year and then paint in October or November when I have free time and the weather is less hot. We have hawks, owls, coyotes, hummingbirds, cacti, poppies, and other unique fauna to include, and I’m excited about the potential for what it could be!
6. Going to the Eras Tour: This one is the most unrealistic, but most yearned-for item on my vision board. My sister and I had a wonderful time at our concert in LA, but surrounding events on the day made it very stressful, and by the time we reached our seats, we were exhausted and the concert had begun. Getting back to our hotel (which was close to the venue) took hours and at one point I was sitting on the curb in downtown LA, and waiting for an Uber outside of a closed McDonald’s. I know the tour is going to Canada and the East Coast at the end of the year, and I would just shoot to the moon if I got to go again. Somehow I think I’d be more excited for a second run because I wouldn’t be worried about parking or getting merch. I would get there so early and just focus on connecting with other Swifties, trading bracelets, handing out exclusive merch, and sitting in my dang seat for, like a whole hour before the show starts.
Whether or not this vision comes true, you bet I’ll be watching the concerts live on TikTok, thanks to our fearless leader Tess. Who, if you don’t know, curates Eras Tour live streams in one place so that viewers don’t have to toggle between streams that end abruptly, Tess does it all for you while letting you know when the secret songs are happening. She’s a real one.
And just like that, these are my visions; my intentions for the new year, and my hopes for a good time. In between the large moments mentioned here, I’m also creating smaller goals to look forward to, like getting a new tattoo or buying concert tickets. Taking it day by day and treating myself with kindness is going to be how I tackle 2024. One month down, eleven to go!
Reflection: Do you set resolutions or intentions? If so, what are your intentions for 2024? If you want to try making a collage like the one I did, gather 5-7 magazines, poster board, scissors, tape, glue, ribbon, stickers, and anything else you’d like to include. Cut out any colors, images, or words that inspire you, and get collaging! Rip some edges, overlap images, and follow what feels right. Try not to take yourself too seriously, and maybe put on some music so you can zone out and get into a flow state of creating. If you do create a vision board inspired by this blog, I’d love to see it! Tag me on socials @BeccaDwyerDesign.