I might be an artist, but I’m a weirdly analytical one. As a numbers nerd, I always enjoy a little look back at the beginning of a new year, even if I have to hold my nose like I do when I gaze at the stink that was 2020.

Despite the many challenges I do not need to revisit here, 2020 turned out to be my most successful sales year to date as an artist – I actually blew all my other years away. I’m certainly still far from being anything other than a starving artist, but it feels good to make progress on further establishing myself and to know that my work is resonating with people. In all, I created 44 paintings during 2020 and sold 23 of the paintings I created during the year. I sold an additional 33 paintings created in previous years, for a total of 56 paintings that found their forever homes.

My printed merchandise also had a successful year. I sold 65 packs of cards and thirty 2021 calendars. I received proceeds from a variety of items purchased with my designs on them via Redbubble (p.s. - I’m generally open to adding additional artwork on there. If you are looking for a specific design, just email me and let me know: me@teressaljackson.com). I also collected royalties for sales of my photography on AdobeStock. The approach around here is all about multiple streams of income!

In more of a qualitative realm, I changed artistic styles a bit during 2020, straying from realism and returning to some of my traditional loves of bright color and bold pattern, an approach that dates back to my high school years, if not before. I’d like to think I’m incorporating more of myself into this work, and that this is resonating with people. Regardless, I’m having fun creating it!

Despite the pandemic, I did enjoy a few opportunities to show my work. Before the coronavirus hit, I had a solo exhibition at Industrious Scottsdale Fashion Square and had a painting in Salon Forty Eight, a group exhibition at Mood Room in Phoenix. Unfortunately, my solo show at Agua Caliente Ranch House Gallery in Tucson that had been scheduled for March 2020 was postponed, and remains postponed indefinitely. During the pandemic, I participated in three virtual exhibitions: Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop’s Corazones Unidos and Regalitos shows and the Arizona Watercolor Association’s COVID Virtual Show.

Last but not least, I did enjoy some media exposure in 2020. I was featured in a ShoutoutArizona feature and had my Quarantine Queen painting featured on the cover of and reviewed in the September 3, 2020, Tucson Weekly.

Personally, it was a sometimes (many times?) challenging year. Like most people, I felt stressed, depressed, disheartened, unmotivated, and dehumanized at various points. The Arizona summer was the hottest on record, making it nearly impossible to enjoy time outdoors which is the only real reprieve from a pandemic that seems to exist and one of my greatest joys even in “normal” times. Our dog Lola, adopted in January 2020, provided us with a lot of laughs, a few curse words, many hugs, and abundant cuddles. We purchased a home in Phoenix that gave us more of our own space, a yard, and a neighborhood that has served as a bit of a muse for me.

In closing, I’m not sure what the final score is for 2020. It was actually very good in some ways, but the absolute worst in others. I suppose I will just be grateful that I made it through, that there was some good, and focus on what is ahead of me. That’s all I can really try to control, anyway.

I’d love to hear what the highs and lows of 2020 were for you. I’d also be interested in your thoughts on why this year was such a successful year for my art sales. Let me know in the comments section!

"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us." ~Hal Borland

The year's end is almost inevitably a time when most of us look back and reflect, although my favorite direction remains squarely in front of me. I don't like to live in the past or dwell on things, and that's probably good since I have a pretty terrible memory.

Several people have suggested that I author a book, and I haven't written off that idea, although I tend to think that I am, in general, not all that exciting or interesting. However, 2017 has certainly been one of, if not the most, eventful years of my life.

I'm a numbers person, so I'm going to indulge in a little breakdown here in that regard. Since embarking on my extended road trip on October 22, 2016:

I've laid my head to rest in 70 different places.
I've created 113 pieces of original art, and sold 84 of them. Seventeen remain for sale, and I'll probably crank out a few more before 2017 leaves us.
I've visited 31 national parks and monuments.
I've traversed four countries - the United States, Belize, Mexico, and St. Martin/Sint Maarten.
I missed a catastrophic hurricane by a mere three days.
I've driven approximately 30,000 miles.
I've traveled by car, foot, airplane, water taxi, repurposed school bus, bicycle, taxi, scooter, colectivo, ferry, motor coach, and teeny tiny prop plane.

In my life, whenever I've left one environment for another, I'm interested to see how relationships change - with whom do I maintain contact, with whom do things diverge, and how to the nature of those relationships that continue become different? Having lived my whole life until now in one geographic area, I'm mostly referencing academic and professional transitions. This time, this occurred on a much broader scale.

There are certainly more than a few people with whom I feel that I've lost touch since leaving home. I never know what to think when this happens, especially when I become disconnected from people about whom I care deeply. I won't blame myself, but I also don't blame the other. I've always said that "the phone works in both directions," and it (and e-mail, text message, etc.) truly does. To those people with whom this sentiment resonates, I'd just like to say that I welcome the opportunity to become a part of your life again, even if I can't seem to figure out how personally, and even though we now reside 1,500 miles apart.

We've lived in Tucson now for over two months, and I'm enjoying slowly settling into the routines and surroundings of this Sonoran Desert wonderland. I took a Korean cooking class at the Jewish Community Center, am becoming involved with the Humane Society, and I'm hoping to take some art classes at the nearby Northwest Art Center in 2018. Most importantly, I almost never miss the opportunity to watch the sun's final light show each evening.

I've yet to find a fantastic spot to eat Indian food, but was pleased to discover some amazing Chinese dumplings at China Pasta House, something I could never locate in Louisville. I'm set on sampling all of the taco shops, taquerias, and Mexican eateries that exist here. If you Google "Mexican restaurants in Tucson" you get 2,440,000 results, so I might be just a minute. Stand by...

Aaron and I are currently sharing the use of one car, and for the most part, I'm enjoying that challenge and opportunity to rethink what's necessary. He requires the car for work far more than I do, but I honestly haven't felt very hobbled without unlimited access to motorized transportation. The area where we live is close to everything I could really need except a post office, we are close to a nice walking and biking trail, and the climate is pretty much perfect for being a pedestrian. I've also considered getting a bicycle, and still might (although I'm slightly daunted by pedaling up hills... er... mountains).

I continue to receive reminders that life is short and precious, and that we should accept risks and opportunities and give love and forgiveness as much as possible. I'm not much for the holiday season, and it's been nearly unnoticeable here in sunny Arizona, but these are the gifts that keep on giving no matter what time of year it is.

Much love and merry everything to you all!

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"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us." ~Hal Borland