Hey All… thanks for your patience as it’s been a while since I have updated my blog OR done a new colouring page. 2022 was a pretty epic year for the most part. It started really strong and I had lots of work… mostly commission illustration work including 2 more coins for the Royal Canadian Mint, amongst other fun creative projects for some really cool clients. The TD Art Gallery Paint-In was a great ‘wake up’ to getting myself back out there and connecting with people again (haven’t done a market since summer 2019 in Tofino) and I got super inspired to get rolling again after a relatively complacent couple of years between Covid and my transition to Victoria following my divorce. When I did have client breaks, my personal projects took a little bit of a back seat at times during the summer as I was really enjoying life and finding myself again…my bike, my hiking boots, traveling and mini adventures all filled my physical and creative well. It had been the first time I’d flown out of the country in AGES… let alone into the Alps for an epic 10 day hiking trip with my sweetie. However, all ‘fun’ aside, I was still quietly plugging away at things albeit at a slower pace. I am in the process of a brand update… switching my professional name from Claire Watson to Claire Victoria (using my middle name), so you will start to see that switching around on all my print and digital presences. I was struggling with coming up with a business ‘name’ as Watson just doesn’t resonate with me anymore, but when it all boils down to it my middle name has been with me all my life and will continue that way (it also helps that’s where I live… bonus SEO)!
Well everything was cruising along all tiddly boo until last fall when everything came to a screeching halt. My mum got sick with an agressive Cancer and that put work and life pretty much on hold for us all. She passed away just before Christmas and although it was a really a hard thing to watch someone you care about go through that (especially so fast), I am grateful that my brother came out from Ontario so we were both with her through the tough stuff. Needless to say there were no new colouring pages through the autumn months, terrible email communications, crap social media upkeep (although I’ve never been amazing at that)… all creativity was gone of course and it was challenging enough keeping up with client work. But… now that things are settling, by mum (who was a determined workhorse) would want me to get my act together. Watching her go through that made me really see that life is short, and you never know when your number is up. She was healthy, fit (a super long distance walker at 78) and and an active community member and yet Cancer still found a way. I want to make the most of the time I have on this planet… I am inspired and motivated to get out there, make mistakes, learn some lessons and just try. Try everything. Why the F not?
I have applied for a couple of festivals this year, cross my fingers I get in. I’d love to attend the Sooke Fine Art show (never really done a big show like that) to between all that I will have a lot of work cut out for me in preparation (needed to give myself some deadlines). Oh, and I signed up for a bike race… a 6 day stage race in Sardegna Italy in April (because why not make your first bike race a 6 day stage race in Italy? lol). We also plan to hit up Barcelona and the Amalfi coast. The West Coast Trail is on my list… some bike packing too, as well as some local cycling events. We’ll see how it goes! Yes yes… my playing cards are too… and a few other ideas that have been stewing over the past while. Time to get moving and get ‘er done! If you have ideas of things you’d like to see then let me know!
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For those who are new to my site, each month I offer free west coast inspired colouring pages that are published and distributed in Tofino Time Magazine. They are also available for download as a high resolution PDF here (scroll down to the button below). If you would like them to come straight to your inbox when I occasionally send out a newsletter, please sign up for my mailing list (yeah, that annoying pop up). Personally I hate getting a bunch of spamming emails, so I promise to keep it to a maximum of once a month (more like once every 4 haha)! Please feel free to download them for personal use. If you are a restaurant, school, organization or business that wants to print them for your clients, customers (or to keep their kids happy) or students then I am totally fine with that too. All I ask is you leave my contact info at the bottom of the page please. Enjoy!
