End of Year Journal 2022
The year of 2022 turned out to be fulfilling and transformative but, I’ll keep it short. I tried many new art forms and styles such as abstraction, body painting, and sculpture. I went on new adventures to expand my artistic views with some amazing people. And I spent many nights in the studio painting. While all these were invigorating, reconnecting with loved ones fulfilled me the most. This reconnection with loved ones is the next phase in my life. I’ve focused only on my art education the past three years but with graduation on the horizon, I see the chance to be with the ones I love now more than before. I’ve distanced myself so much from them to find a connection with my art, yet, those connections fuel my art the most. While we’ve all seen how denied human connection affected us in quarantine, sometimes we deny ourselves human connection for selfish reasons. I spent so much of my young life taking care of people around me so, I took the chance to move somewhere far away to take care of myself, go back to school, and build my relationship with my partner. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It helped me to understand myself and my partner more, yet also what the people I love have been through while on their own. My art will continue change as I do, yet human connection will always remain. It is the mess that fuels my art where I make even more of a mess in the process of creating it.
While I can see many paths for 2023, this is the clearest: Making more art, building human connections, and spending time with the ones I love.
Tessa Jeanne
To see more art, #followthemess in 2023
2022 Reading Wrap Up:
Pawsitively Poisonous - Melissa Erin Jackson - The first Witch of Edgehill novel was quite a catch! I love the main character’s quirkiness and the tons of cat references in the series!
Pawsitively Cursed - Melissa Erin Jackson - Things get a little crazy for the Blackwood family in this one! This one will have you wondering who did it? Or rather who really is it Amber’s talking to?
My Cone and Only - Susannah Nix - If you need a romantic read but one that’s not so neat and tidy, this one is a great pick! I love the back and forth of character povs in this! Can’t wait to read the others!
The Bronzed Beasts - Roshani Chokshi - The final installment in the beautiful trilogy will have you laughing, crying, and angry to the point of having to pause for a minute while reading. Absolutely a must read series for people of all ages.
Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner - I can’t express how much admiration I have for this book. Yes, it undoubtedly brought many tears but, it brought me so much more. All I have are thanks to this book.
For the Wolf - Hannah Whitten - I read this last year saying, “This is the first book in the series and I seriously am dying to get the next one already!!” So when the second one came out, I had to dive into this one again!
For the Throne - Hannah Whitten - Hannah does it again ripping my heart to pieces and mending it back together in this final book to her duopoly filled with the magic, turmoil, and love. These books are forever in my reread pile for years to come.
The Darkest Minds Complete Collection - Alexandra Bracken - Did you ever feel like being different could be the death of you? In this series, this has become the reality for the remaining kids in the United States not taken by IANN. This series will have you flipping pages like you wouldn’t believe from the main trilogy to the novelas that accompany it. My heart only grows more fond of this series each time I read it and I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel, The Darkest Legacy, for my birthday.
