2022 – A Year in Review

It’s been another year. A special year. A brilliant, sparkling, and heart-breaking year!

I’ve reread all my past yearly reviews and each and every year seemed to be such a winding road. Thinking back, I might have never had a totally smooth-sailing year where there is only sunshine, except maybe before college? I feel a little ashamed for it makes me look a little bit weak when faced with hardship and grievance. Life is unpredictable, and ineviable with both glory and pain. The truth is, I should have take it all in with calm and gentleness, and that’s how you grow and thrive. That’s how you are kept in check, to be humble when winning, and resilient when losing.

These days, I spend sometimes to ponder over my previous months and over the coming year. Come what may, I try to find a little light, a small happy corner inside me to keep on going. I have piles of beautiful, breathtaking books around, waiting for me to discover and savour. I have art to pour my heart and soul over. I have growing plants that are flowering and bearing fruits thanks to the hard work I’ve put in through the years. I am clothed and fed and sheltered. So I’m grateful. For being able to live and experience, to appreciate every sunshine and flower, every warm hand and kind smile, but also every rain and storm, every ugly truth and misfortune.

This year, I have learned so much, about my career, about art, about the industry of art, about business, and most of all, about me, my limits and weaknesses and my strengths, too. Luckily, I have succeeded in all the resolutions for 2022. I’ve finished my Flowerchild Collection, finished a long-awaited silent picture book I’d been meaning to make for the longest time, opened my online shop, got to sell my artworks, started a Youtube channel, reached out for art friends and approached publishers, and I have started to build another dream. These are small steps and as slow as I can be, I’m on my way, pushing through.

There are a lot of questions on my mind at the moments on how I can advance ahead. What route should I take? What should I focus on? How can I progress and grow? How can I find (or found) my artistic voice? It’s overwhelming to see how little I have achieved at the beginning, but also it’s somehow less burdensome now that I’m one leg in, getting to know everything and trying to make something out of it. Hopefully, by this time next year, I’ll be happy to have grown closer into a person I’ve always wanted to be.

Best of 2022

Books

• Kim Ji Young, born in 1982 – A harsh, bare cry on the gender discrimination in South Korea that can resonate with many around the globe. I myself was surprised at how accurate some of the parts in the book ressemble my life. Several times I had to stop and cry as it provoked painful memories. The book is considered feminist and controversal, but I think it only describes the ugly truth we are not ready yet to face.
• Tottochan, the Little Girl by the Window – not a new book, but I reread it this year and found it as touching and tender as ever, basically cried my heart out when
• Where the Crawdads Sings – a year-end treasure, beautiful, poignant and lyrical. I have yet finished it but it’s worth every minute of my life. It’s been quite a while since a book could hook me in this much.
• The Golden Rose: I cannot recollect how many times I have read and reread his short stories. But this is the very first time I read his writing about writing, and it was amazing! I think I can only relate to it now that I have put one foot in the artists’ realm of creativity, the struggle, the creative process, the voice and heart.

Movies & Dramas

• The Great (2020) – I didn’t expect much since Elle Fanning wasn’t highly regarded but the series (ss1) was surprisingly good! Such a gem of satirical dark humour, with so much wit and occassionally notes of cuteness >”<
• My Liberation Notes (2021) – It’s slow and heavy, sometimes even a little dark, disguised in a slice-of-life peaceful surrounding. But deep down inside, it’s a comedic satire yet hopeful and healing piece just the same. I’ve never resonated as much to almost everyone in a series before.
• The Lord of the Rings 1, 2, 3 – I finally watched the triology (!) and was mesmerized by it. Such richly embroidered imagery of a fantasy world with layered stories and interesting characters. Fantasy isn’t my thing but this is really well-written and well-made.
• Sense and Sensibility (1995) – I rewatched all Jane Austen’s adaptations recently and this movie by Ang Lee which I saw 2 decades ago was so freshly modern, cleverly rewritten and beautifully shot that it quickly landed among my favourites.

Music

• 봄여름가을겨울 (Still Life) by Big Bang – I can’t remember if there’s any other song that I played nonstop for weeks like this one :”>

Experience:

• My trip back to Vietnam – I really wish I could stay longer and spend more time with my family and friends, without rushing or stressing out
• Salon de livres jeunesse à Montreuil – My 2nd salon, but first time approaching publishers and presenting myself as an artist. I’d told myself to get my skin a little thicker, whatever happened it’d be a good practice!

2023 Resolutions

• Find a shared studio to practice and socialise
• Use my own reference photos to create
• Finish the Waterflowers collection
• Finish 3 illustration projects
• Study Art history
• Keep up with Youtube channel: 1 video/month
• Learn Japansese: Get to N4
• Practice Nerikiris monthly
• Read at least 1 book/month

That’s all for now! Let’s live and love with grace and beauty in 2023 ❤️

Une année à Paris – par My Little Paris

Encore une année à Paris
Encore une année qui finit
365 jours de métro, boulot, travaux… trop d’travaux,
Trop de ramdam dans les rues de Paname
De zigzags sous les échafaudages

Vies pressées, vies compressées, vies stressées, et… c’est tout ? C’est tout ce dont vous vous souvenez ?

Paris, Paris,
C’est le parfum des croissants en sueur
L’odeur du café aux premières lueurs
C’est la pluie qui danse sur les toits
Le soleil qui brille sur les pavés

Le visage de la Tour Eiffel
Qui chaque soir se réveille
C’est la ville qui met au monde
Des milliers de rêves

Qui provoque
Des rencontres à dormir debout
Des amitiés nouvelles entre inconnus de la veille, qui ricochent de bar en bar
Et des soirées, des soirées qu’on n’oublie jamais

Parce que Paris, c’est la puissance des foules qui fait grandir le monde

Paris, c’est
Des spectacles qui adrénalinent
Des théâtres qui raniment
Des opéras qui fascinent

C’est prendre les premières gouttes de soleil sur une terrasse
Les dernière gouttes de sommeil dans un parc
C’est la belle vie à Belleville
C’est la pagaille à Pigalle

C’est se frayer un horizon sur un pont
Tailler la route sur l’île Saint-Louis

Parce qu’il n’y a qu’à Paris
Qu’un simple regard peut faire se déplacer le monde entier

C’est une histoire qui ne finit jamais
On ne sait pas où elle a commencé
Mais on sait qu’elle va continuer

Voilà pourquoi j’habite Paris.
Vivement une année, une année à Paris.