Farewell, 2023! Hello, 2024

At the end of every year, I like to go through all of the photos from the previous year, as well as the daily moments of joy and wonder I’ve written in my journal on my phone. I compile a list of highlights from the year. The first one is just for myself, and includes some wonderful things I just want to keep private, and then I like to go through that longer list and pull out a few highlights to share with everyone. Are you ready? Let’s go.

This year on my Patreon I decided to focus more on writing than art. I still created some original, mostly pencil drawings (some with watercolor) for my highest tier patrons, but the main focus was monthly micro-stories a page long that I printed out on fancy manuscript looking paper and sealed with a “wax seal.” I am so pleased with all the little stories I wrote, and it was a wonderful way for me to work on my writing each month. Here are a few of my favorite drawings I did during the year.

In the spring, I went to a lecture by Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass. The book has been hugely inspiring and motivating to myself and many people I know, and that evening was as well. I had made an artwork for her of Muskrat grasping the mud from the water to form Turtle Island, with the page of her book (a photocopy) that describes the creation story behind it and pressed plants and flowers from my local forest walks.

I started a group focused on Faerie Faith and Folklore at the Magical Druid in Columbus. We’ve had three meetings so far, and though the first one was definitely the best attended, I am enjoying the process and hope we can continue to grow!

The adorable Frog and Toad videos by India Rose Crawford introduced me to the singer Tom Rosenthal, and I was quickly smitten with his song “April Fourth” in which the lyrics are made up from submissions fans sent him describing beautiful moments that occurred on that date. It’s a wonderful reminder that beauty is in the little moments. So on April 4th, I went to the local arboretum in the morning and just opened my heart to the beauty of the little moments. It was a wonderful experience and worthy of a place on my list for this year.

In May, I went on a weekend writing retreat to a gorgeous Airbnb outside Athens, Ohio. It was a moment of tranquility and productivity that I really needed. And the location itself really inspired me for a future story. It is begging to show up in some sort of magical fiction.

Wakefield the troll unexpectedly joined my Faemily at the end of May. He and Scampeno immediately took to each other as the best of friends.

For the last three years or so, I’ve enjoyed getting a new dress for my birthday, and the last two years I’ve taken fancy themed picnic portraits in my dress for the year. It’s a fun way to lean into the summer energy of my midsummer night birthday. I really love how this year’s photos turned out.

At the end of June, I came out.

I visited Desiree overnight to go to the woods and take pictures dressed up in some of the faerie accoutrements she sells. I met Troll in person, had a grand old time dressing up, and finally couldn’t resist temptation to get on the list for one of her troll tails.

I submitted an article for possible inclusion on Terri Windling’s Myth & Moor blog, and I was one of four accepted. I’m so excited and honored.

I went to Blackhand Gorge with my friend Rachel and took pictures with Rigby the fox.

One day, randomly searching Facebook Marketplace for keyword “Froud,” I discovered someone down near Cincinnati was selling off their art collection. I snagged eight custom framed prints, all signed, some signed and numbered, for $600 for all of them. We drove three hours round trip to get them, but I wasn’t about to let that slip by.

This wall of my bedroom has bothered me for a while. I have my Brian Froud original Green Man painting in the center between the two shadowy Windling Trees on the walls, and I knew the space needed something more, but I didn’t really want to create a gallery wall since I wanted the artwork to be the focus. Suddenly it dawned on me one day that I could create respectful drawings of some of the Froud faeries done in neutral tones to match the color tone of the trees. This was a wonderful (ongoing) project, as I searched their work, listened to who wanted to spend time at our home, and paid attention to the magic of Brian’s work (totally unreproduceable, but I tried to listen to the faeries as much as I could anyway.)

Elynor Thorn, by Armorel Hamilton, joined the Faemily on August 9th. I’ve wanted one more Adley and Radiphus sized fey being for a while now, and I knew I wanted a larger Fayble, but I didn’t know who. And then one night the idea randomly came to me of a jackalope girl. Armorel also felt incredibly inspired by the idea and had been having swirls of similar thoughts lately. So everything was magically aligned. The night Elynor arrived, I rescued a rabbit from the road and they let me get quite close to it before darting away. And then when I needed a twiggy chair for Elynor to sit in, I found it that day in an antique store, half off.

For Adley and Elynor to get to know each other, we had a dress up tea party with cupcakes and apple juice in fancy teacups. Everyone got crowns, including Lady Hawthorn.

I went back to Michigan to visit Desiree at the Michigan Renaissance Festival, and had a massively lovely time.

While I was there, I picked up……….my own troll tail. Lovingly and magically made by Desi, D.M. Anderson.

One morning, I decided to dress up and go to the woods in my new troll tail. That morning as I was listening to Spotify, I heard a new song I instantly adored. (I actually would love to do a blog post all about it if I get time.) It’s called “Only Desire What You Have” by Kate Rusby. I listened to the song all morning, in the car on my way to the park, and then danced to the song in my tail in the middle of a clearing in the woods. I was filled with so much joy and happiness, it overflowed in a way that makes it a standout of the year. And the troll tail? I love it. I rank it among the top magical items I have in my possession.

The next day, I called Virgin Atlantic because I was thinking of going to England in March. I wondered if there was any slim chance I still had credit from my canceled flight in spring 2020. I did. Full credit. IF I took the trip in 2023. So began my plans for my first trip to England in November.

Two nights before the day I left for England, Desi and I went to see Loreena McKennitt in concert. We both dressed up, and got lots of lovely compliments. Our seats were the best I’ve ever had for one of her concerts, and we met her at the stage door afterward. She saw us and said “look at you two!”

And then it was my trip to England. The experience of a lifetime, curated by a beautiful and lovely kindred spirit. I hope in the new year to start working on sharing my experiences from this trip as I prepare for my next one in March. But suffice it to say I’ll never forget the experience. I saw a hare in person. Several. Right in front of me. A few feet away on the other side of a window. I fell in love with York. I lifted a chalice high in a Druid’s temple, walked where the Brontë’s walked; and wore a mushroom on my head among standing stones. All that and so much more.

After I got back, I threw myself into Christmas. I did 32 days of Christmas Clothes.

I decorated my house from stem to stearn, even more so than ever before, and filmed a house tour video.

And I finished off my Christmas ensembles with two big finales. One, meet Gjest the Tomte. This was just so darn fun to portray. I was trying not to laugh, and to act like a grumpy tomte.

And finally, I was able to visit Old Mr. Bailiwick’s store in a nearby town for the first time after hearing about them a couple of years ago. And it was love at first sight. The owner graciously agreed to let me take a series of young Mrs. Ingefaer Claus photos in the shop, giving me just about carte blanche to run around and take pictures. I was truly a kid in a candy store. (And I have yet to leave there without buying something. If you find yourself in central Ohio, his shop is absolutely worth a drive.)

And now, here we are. At the end of an incredible year that I must say…treated me very kindly, despite horrendous chigger bites all over my legs in early fall, and a bad burn in December. The year was, however, filled with all sorts of faerie magic, gifts from the universe, moments of joy both large and small. If 2024 is anything like this year, I truly look forward to stepping forward across the threshold.

I recently saw a meme that said a good way of looking at it is to try to live up to your favorite self. Not the best, or the highest, but your favorite. My favorite self this year was the me that ran around barefoot in the cold air of April 4th padding across stones above the water, and the me who danced like no one was watching (even though yeah, some hikers were) in a clearing of the woods in a troll tail in autumn. More moments like that, please. I will open myself to them by being open to wonder every day I possibly can.