If you had told me in January everything that I'd achieve in 2023, I wouldn't have believed you. At the start of the year, I was in the depths of a months-long burnout. I was in a constant state of lethargy which was having a massively negative impact on my mental health, and I generally wasn't coping well with life. I had no energy for anything that usually brings me joy, and started withdrawing myself from my friends and family, my hobbies, and my art.

At this time, I was going through the process of my Autism diagnosis, and I decided to permanently drop from full-time to part-time work at my job to see if it would in any way help. To my surprise and relief, it did, and over the course of the next few months, I slowly drifted back to life, and I eased my way back into sculpting.

As a result of all of this, I had no real goals or ambitions for my art for the year other than to just create what

and when I could, because that was more than a win for me. But then in June, an opportunity was thrown into my lap to attend my first in-person event! Ashley from Scales and Stitches was going to be attending the Fantasy Festival at Old Petrie Town, and she kindly invited me to share her vendor space with her.

With only a few short weeks' notice, no real backlog of available stock, and the knowledge that (despite its name), the Fantasy Festival wasn't going to be quite the right demographic for my art, I got to work prepping stock. My focus was solely on making some smaller, easier-to-manage pieces such as hatchlings and earrings! It felt invigorating to have a creative purpose again, even if it was only small.

As I had suspected, the event was a bit of a flop, with only 7 sales - 4 of which were to friends and family. I still had a great time though, and was very appreciative of the opportunity to try my hand at selling in person!

The following months had me slowly chipping away at sculptures again with no real goals, other than trying to clear through my small backlog of owed commissions and art trades, and not losing momentum. I also discovered a new love of crocheting, particularly amigurumi - crocheted plushies! I've still got a lot to learn, but I've been enjoying having a new hobby that allows me to switch off while keeping my hands busy and bringing adorable little creations to life!

When September hit, the most exciting thing happened! Ashley reached out to me again, asking if I would like to table with her at Supanova - a pop-culture and gaming convention here in Australia, similar to Comic-Con! How could I pass up such an incredible opportunity?! This was going to be massive, but with Supanova not happening until November, I had a few months to prepare at least!

Whilst being very mindful that I was still in recovery from severe burnout, I got to work. I don't think I've ever been so motivated to sculpt in the entire time I've been working with polymer clay! Trying to keep a balance of not pushing myself too hard, whilst trying to prep enough stock was difficult, and I made the call to stop when I had amassed a total of 28 full-sized sculptures, and around 100 hatchlings - a lot, I know!

November rolled around, and sadly, the state of the economy made itself known, and sales at Supanova were slow. Many of the other vendors I spoke to were experiencing very much the same, which is extremely unfortunate, but it was a relief to know it wasn't just me. After all, I had so many people stopping by, admiring my work, and sharing so many kind words about my art, and I still managed to make back my table fees four-and-a-half times over throughout the course of the weekend! It was still a bit disheartening though as I'd spent so much time and energy prepping stock in the lead-up to the con.

One of the biggest highlights of Supanova though was having one of my favourite authors, Lynette Noni, come up to my table on Sunday afternoon and absolutely gush about how much she loved my dragons. That alone made the weekend the most rewarding experience! And despite the slow sales, I would absolutely love to do it all over again!

About two weeks after Supanova, I then received my biggest order ever out of nowhere! After a brief panic, it began to sink in that this was real, and it was the best feeling getting to send so many dragons off to their new home. This sale alone cleared through a good chunk of the stock I'd prepared for Supanova, which made up for the previous lack of sales. I'm so incredibly grateful, and I'm still gobsmacked about it to this day!

And that brings us to now! I've done very little in the way of sculpting since Supanova, which does sadden me a bit, but I've been taking time instead to enjoy some reading, and playing video games which is something I haven't managed to do much of this year at all. I'd rather spend the time resting up now so that I start 2024 off strong!

I don't want to over-commit myself to anything next year, but I do have a few things I'd really love to work towards including:

• Host my first Instagram live sale (hoping to do this for my first shop update of the year)

• Start posting on YouTube (full time-lapse videos and maybe some tutorials)

• Design some new stickers (or possibly look at commissioning someone)

• Table at Supanova again (and revamp my display)
  

My first batch of dragons planned for the New Year is based around desserts and sweets! I have some exciting ideas for this which I can't wait to bring to life and share with you all! This will also be the batch I plan to launch as a live sale!

At this stage, I don't plan on attending any in-person events other than Supanova in 2024, but this is mostly because I don't know what's out there (and I'm also a little bit scared of pushing myself too far). I'm definitely open to any potential opportunities that might come my way though! And as 2023 has shown - you just never know what might happen!

I hope that 2024 is kind to you all, and I wish you a happy start to the new year.

Stay weird!

-Kristy (: