2025 recap + plans for 2026 ✨

Hello dear Patrons,
Happy new year ! ✨✨✨
I hope you were all able to take some time to rest, I hope you're healthy and happy !
I wish you all the best for 2026 !!

Here's a little 2025 recap, I love to sit down and reflect on what happened during the year. I am going to be transparent with you guys and talk about the downside of owning a small business (it was my toughest year so far to be honest). I don't like to complain so I usually don't elaborate too much on what's going on in my life on social media. But I think it's time for an honest recap !

January - March : prepping my solo show at Gallery Nucleus

The year started with a solo show at Gallery Nucleus planned for April. I remember still having a few pieces to paint for this exhibition, and being quite stressed because I just didn't have any inspiration for it - from January to March, I struggled to find original ideas, and kept drawing and painting until I found compositions and colors that I liked.
It wasn't fun for me because I really wanted this solo exhibition to have lots of beautiful pieces but I ended up giving them some of my old works as well because of this lack of inspiration. I shipped 20 of my paintings in March.

Before sending out the paintings to Nucleus, I hung them all on my wall and asked my sister to take an artist portrait

I chose the title Interlude for this solo show, and decided to make a new artbook for this special occasion. I designed the layout and my sister Apolline created the book in InDesign. We ordered 400 copies of this book, received them, noticed something was off... the paper inside the book was crinkled. Not one book arrived looking okay, so I had to find another printing place and ordered another 500 books.
I wanted the artbook the be available during the show at the gallery, but because of this I wasn't able to send them some copies in time for the opening.
Thanks to you, the second edition of Interlude is sold out !! And the 400 B grade copies are currently on sale in the shop.

April - solo show !!

I flew to LA to be at the opening of my solo show. It was my second solo show at Gallery Nucleus, last time was in 2021 but I couldn't go because of Covid. This time, I was excited to finally be able to see the paintings displayed at the gallery and meet some of you !!
As some of you know, Apolline is always by my side when I travel for work. My mom, who is my number one fan, came along and it was quite touching seeing her there, looking at my paintings up close. She even bought prints and stickers from the gallery 😭

More exhibitions I've been lucky to be part of

I was lucky enough to be part of 4 other shared exhibitions : an anime show where I got to choose the manga I wanted (I picked Nana), a tribute show to Arcane (I painted Vi), a Naughty Dog show (I painted Abby - the creator of The Last of Us ended up purchasing my painting so it made it so worth it !!), and the annual PS Show at Nucleus Portland (I painted the little fairies + their mushroom).

Creative struggle & burn out

This year was tough creatively speaking- I know I am super lucky to be an artist and do whatever I want, but I struggled with inspiration and motivation this year, probably because I put too much pressure on myself. I want my art to be fun, but also beautiful, but also meaningful... which is a combination that doesn't always work. I am pretty sure I was burnt out for a few months after my solo show, and felt like I had nothing more to give once the show was over. I slowly started having fun with drawing again in October, but finding new ideas is still something I am struggling with. Comparing my work to other artists' doesn't help either ! And seeing my Instagram stats reaching a new low every time I post is demoralizing. But I'm so glad to have you guys on Patreon, because your comments always makes me want to keep going when social media makes me want to stop and give up. You are the reason why I keep doing what I do and I'm so grateful for your love notes and support 💞

US tariffs and how it affected my business and my hopes for the future (so dramatic)

The other impromptu event that happened this year is the French postal services making it super complicated to send mail to the US. Since September, it's now almost impossible for us to send mail to the US, which is something that will affect my business in the near future. We need to find a solution to make this process easier - right now we are thinking about sending 2-3 months worth of rewards combined in one mailer and ship your rewards 6-3 times a year instead of 12.

I'm going to be transparent with you - this issue really stressed me out these past few months, because nothing makes sense anymore and this tiny restriction changed the whole future of my online store and my Patreon page. My US based clients/Patrons are such an important part of my small business - I want you guys to be happy with your rewards, to receive them safely every month... but because of this I'm not sure if my business will survive another year - what if some of you get tired of waiting for your rewards ? What if you don't trust me (and Apolline) with your monthly prints and stickers anymore ?
I know most of you will patiently wait for your rewards (you're the best), but these thoughts keep popping in my head and if things stay the same, I'll probably have to rethink my business at some point.

Plans for 2026 !

• I want to travel more, get out of the house and be inspired by outside beauty and nature

• Create a tarot deck - if anything goes as planned, it will take at least 6 months to paint the cards and launch a Kickstarter in September

• Something I have struggled to do for years : take 1 or 2 days off a week

• A solo show in Paris, probably in May (I will give you more information in January/February)

• I want to spend less time on my phone ! Reading helps a lot, so I will keep doing that this year + enjoying being outside with my dogs, exercise more and maybe start learning Italian properly (I know the basics but since I live not too far from Italy, speaking the language could be super helpful !).

• And last but not least... I want to (finally) pass my driver's license ! I've started in December and just bought my first car to practice for a few weeks. I should pass the exam late January/early February !!

I think that's pretty much it !
I want to thank you again for your support on Patreon, for your lovely comments, for always being so supportive and nice to me ! For liking my work and making me want to do more every time I post and read your feedback. Thank you for being patient with me, for your love for art and for being enthusiastic no matter what. You might not realize it but the comments you leave always brighten my day and you are the reason why I keep painting and drawing. In these strange times where social media (and basically everything that's happening in the world right now) sucks , your presence on Patreon helps me to continue and motivates me to always do better. 🩷

Hugs,

Sibylline