Preparing for the Holiday Season: Exhibitions, Calendars, and Gratitude

Preparing for the Holiday Season: Exhibitions, Calendars, and Gratitude

​It’s hard to believe that 2025 is already coming to an end. Once October fades and Halloween passes, November slips by quickly, and before we know it—Christmas arrives. Somehow, Christmas always feels like it comes faster than expected. Around this time of year, my studio becomes alive again with holiday exhibitions and year-end projects. This season, I will be showing my work at four different venues: Mills Pond Gallery, Gallery North, Port Jefferson Gallery, and Emma Clark Library. Some are group shows and others are solo, each with its own mood and space to consider. Preparing for these exhibitions means framing my paintings, coordinating deliveries, and paying attention to every little detail. Though physically demanding, these preparations always bring a quiet sense of fulfillment—the feeling that a creative journey has found its shape.

As always, the end of the year also means it’s time for my annual calendar project. The theme for next year’s calendar is “Frogs of Joy.” I chose this subject with the wish that the coming year will bring more laughter and lighthearted moments to everyone. The image of a frog leaping freely, full of energy, carries a sense of simple happiness and hope—something I want to share through my art. Creating my yearly calendar is also a reflective process; it allows me to revisit the works I’ve made throughout the year and see how my colors, lines, and thoughts have evolved. This year, however, I plan to send the printed calendars mainly to my VIP clients who have supported me throughout the seasons. With inflation driving up the costs of printing, framing, and packaging materials, I’ll be reserving the calendars as a special token of appreciation. For friends and close acquaintances, I’ll send hand-painted watercolor cards instead—each one small, personal, and made with gratitude.

This time of year always brings mixed feelings—fatigue and excitement, stress and gratitude intertwined. Yet, I know that all the effort poured into these final months forms a circle of appreciation and renewal. As an artist, preparing for new exhibitions and wrapping up a year’s work is both grounding and inspiring. I’m deeply thankful for everyone who has supported my art in 2025—for those who visited my shows, purchased my work, or simply shared encouraging words along the way.
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As winter approaches and the new year draws near, I wish for more laughter, beauty, and warmth in all of our lives. I’ll be spending these next few months, as always, in front of my easel—painting with hope, and dreaming of the bright things yet to come.