djamilaknopf

Lots of thoughts and plans for 2024

Added 2024-01-26 15:27:16 +0000 UTC

If you haven't read the last post, please do. It's important!
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Hello friends,

I hope you've had a good week so far! First of all, I wanted to say thank you for the warm response I received when I announced the changes to this page. It's truly humbling to see how many of you are just here to support my work and don't care much for the rewards. Thank you.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

I also wanted to let you know that I recorded an interview about my new art book: https://youtu.be/f0UzpV5HSxE?si=RIISqQrZuD0itiiK

Besides that, I have updated my Gumroad account: https://djamilaknopf.gumroad.com. That being said, I'm going to move everything away from Gumroad and into the shop on my website soon. There will be bigger bundles of 5, so if you want to get some of the single bundles on Gumroad, now is the time. Basically, I just want to streamline things, and have fewer platforms to attend to. Generally, I want to make some changes that will allow me to focus more on painting and drawing at my own pace. It's a new chapter!

2024 GOALS

But now let's chat about what I'll be up to in the coming months, and share my big goals for 2024. Anyone who knows me personally can attest to the fact that I love planning, organising, and making lists⸺even to a degree where the planning part is more fun to me than the execution. My Notion pages and Google calendar are a freak show! So here we are with a list of the big things I'd love to accomplish this year:

1.) have my first solo exhibition with traditional paintings (I already have a slot booked at the creative residency in Tokyo from 3-7 April, with a reception and Q&A on 6 April. If you happen to be in Tokyo at that time, please come by. I'll send out a proper invitation later!)

2.) get my driver's license (I'm 15 years late to the party here, but better late than never. I'm currently taking driving lessons, and if you know how the whole procedure works in Germany, you know that it takes quite a bit of time and it's not cheap.)

3.) make over my garden and create a cozy art studio there (The happiest days when I was a child were those that I spent at my grandparents' garden, so I wanted to reconnect with that feeling, and also spend more time outdoors. I'm probably going to take a whole month off between April and May, and do lots of DIYs, painting walls, logging around furniture, and of course, caring for plants.)

4.) write, write, write (This is something I've been doing on and off, but I've never actively made time for it because my "proper work" was always more pressing and urgent. But I would love to eventually illustrate my own stories, and in order to do that, I need to dedicate more time to actually writing those stories. It's a dream I've had for a long time. Who knows, maybe I'll even attempt NaNoWriMo this year).

Some of these might get derailed for one reason or another, but I'd be happy just to make a bit of progress on them this year. And so far, they all seem extremely appealing to me.

And because I tend to chase after one thing after another, and forget to appreciate the things I accomplish, here's a list of things I made happen in 2023: