Looking Back on My Year in Art – 2024 in Review

When I think about a word that most accurately defines this year it would be ‘bustling’. With 27 new paintings created this year, shows, travel for art and a new book in the works, the year was filled with achievements both professionally and personally. This is my 2024 in Art review.

January

I was still filled up with the essence of Newfoundland from my residency in late 2023, and I continued to pour it out on the canvasses in my Victoria studio.

February

My impressions of Newfoundland continue to feed my work. While grey outside, the tone in my studio is filled with vivid colours of Saltbox houses and East Coast dories.

March

A collaboration opportunity with a new shoe company – Grounded People in Vancouver invited me to come on board as one of their Artists and I put paint to sustainable vegan high top boot. With the opportunity for clients to get their own custom ‘Brandy Saturley’ kicks. Pretty cool. In March there was also a show in Toronto with the John B. Aird Gallery – a group show titled ‘Wildlife’, one of my polar bear paintings joined this show.

April

With Spring in the air I sent my Canada150 tulip painting to a group show with Summer & Grace Gallery in Toronto. A beautiful Still Life, celebrated the tradition of still life painting. While their were many traditional takes on the subject I offered and contemporary and modern take on still life with my pop realism tulip.

May

This month was all about an art road trip for the ages. With a 25ookm drive one way, we headed out to Santa Fe, New Mexico – driving from my home studio in Victoria, BC. This trip had the ultimate destination of the Santa Fe Art scene on Canyon road, but on the way there and back I added a number of inspiring stops to the itinerary. We covered 6 states on this trip including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. With a major stop in Moab, Utah and arches National Park.

Our scenery flowed from farmers fields in Washington to the red rock of Utah and the warm pastel landscapes and otherworldly rock formation of Utah and New Mexico. In New Mexico we made the drive to Abiquiu to visit the home and studio of American painter, Georgia O’ Keeffe, perhaps my favourite historical painter of all-time. This trip was all about Art and landscapes, with moon-like terrain on the Salt Flats at Bonneville – we experienced the full spectrum of colours and shapes of landscapes on this tour across the Western USA.

June

June came with news of being elected to the Society of Canadian Artists. Fostering the visibility and stature of the visual arts in Canada, the SCA is a national, non-profit artists’ organization dedicated to expanding the visibility and stature of the visual arts. We are a collection of some of the country’s most committed traditional and new media artists and we welcome the new, the up-and-coming and the established.

July and August 

Taking a bit of a break I concentrated on painting and sketching and enjoying my garden as my work for the year continued to develop. With my recent trip to Santa Fe I had landscapes and nature on my mind and focused in on the now and largely shut out communicating online. Time to go deep, experiment and leave the world behind for a bit.

September

With the Art season warming up a group show launched in Newfoundland titled WOMAN. The Woman Art Show, has become an annual exhibition of some of the best figurative painters from around the world. This well known figurative art show is produced annually by the James Baird Gallery in Pouch Cove, Newfoundland. One hundred figurative painters from over twenty countries exploring the theme of woman. As in past years we are spanning the globe with outstanding artists and their practices. I am proud to have one of my paintings included in this important show.

October 

Full steam ahead! Lots of painting to do and preparations began for my upcoming Art Book and solo show in Newfoundland in 2025. This month I am also celebrating one year on ARTSY with James Baird Gallery. Artsy is a place for the future of art collecting. As the leading marketplace for art by the world’s emerging and established artists, they have made it easy for new and experienced collectors to discover, buy, and sell art—and so much more.

November

While my studio is filled with a number of canvasses in various stages, on the business side I found myself collaborating with a Toronto Art Agency on a digital installation in Toronto at 2 Bloor West. My painting, ‘I’ll Carry That Weight’, is presented prominently on digital screen in the lobby at 2 Bloor West, in honour of Remembrance Day. I also began work on an oversized landscape painting commission for a client in Calgary, Alberta measuring 4×10 feet.

Digital Installation in Toronto Highness Global X Brandy Saturley

December

Lovely to have some sales complete in December and deliver paintings to new homes in Calgary and Minnesota, via my Banff dealer Willock & Sax. This month I am also celebrating 2 years with Willock & Sax Gallery, my trusted dealer in Banff, Alberta. I was also honoured with a Certificate of Artistic Achievement from the Luxembourg Art Prize.

Another year in the books and on the canvas. I think the most important reason to share these year in review updates is to show you that an art career is multi-faceted and the building never stops. Although I am a primarily a painter my job is more than just laying down paint on canvas. It is important for me to get out of the studio and stay connected with the Art world at large, which is why I take these road trips for art, exploring new landscapes and new potential markets for my work. Part of the job is also showing the work and planning shows and planting seeds for future opportunities. On the commerce side of art there are sales, and shipping of Art. There is inventory and bookkeeping and keeping up relationships with representatives of my work. Lastly, there are collaborations which help to push the work to parallel markets like collaborating with clothing brands and art agents and agencies. You never know where you will find my work and I enjoy introducing the work to new audiences.

So, while I am a professional Artist and painter my work relies on the use of other mediums such as photography, video and writing to bring it all together. To be successful in this field, you have to reach out in many directions and also allow the work to pull you where it wants to go, this is the beauty of this profession and there is never one road to take to become successful in this field.

While I set the course ever year, the course sometimes takes me on backroads and off the beaten path to discover new depths. It’s like surfing and riding waves, it’s a beautiful experience that you must give yourself to fully and trust in the course.

Thank you for being part of my year and for allowing me the privilege of continuing to pursue my dream through supporting my work, a dream that was born in childhood and I am just a bigger kid now.

Cheers to a bustling 2024!

Sincerely Yours,

Brandy Saturley