Reflecting on 2022

A week into the new year is a good time to look back on the previous year.

For some, the first of January acts as a checkmark, a time to reflect on the successes of the previous year and set goals for the new one. For others, it’s a challenge, a point where we feel like we haven’t achieved all we wanted and a door is closing.

This New Year’s I struggled rather than reflecting on the successes of Quirky Fox, the challenges and losses bounced around my head. Repeating over and over, leaving no room to think about the positives. 

Loved ones were lost, buildings leaked and many other moments cast a black shadow over the year. The list of things that went wrong and the challenges faced seemed endless.

However, a week out from that cursed date, I can see the many wonderful things 2022 brought Quirky Fox:

• The direction of Quirky Fox and the style of art we represented become clearer, representing incredible local and international artists.
• The year brought new connections with new collectors discovering Quirky Fox and new artists joining the gallery. Many of these artists took part in our highly successful 10th Anniversary Show, Deep Waters.
• Our 10th Anniversary Show was a remarkable occasion with our first opening in nearly two years being well attended and an incredible array of art finding new homes.
• A work from this exhibition which we framed in the gallery, ‘The Gathering’ by Linda Lunnon, was selected to exhibit in the International Society of Scratchboard Artists where it won bronze in the Masters section.
• Two of our exhibitions sold out while others came close.
• A trip to Australia allowed for new artist connections and existing connections to be strengthened. It allowed me to view the work of artists I had admired from afar but hadn’t had the chance to view and spend time with the inspiring editor of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Danijela Purssey and her co-founder and husband, Richard Purssey.
• A chance to judge the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Art Prize challenged my tastes in art while allowing me to discover incredible artists across the globe, if you are an artist reading this I highly suggest entering this year.
• An increasing amount of customers brought not only beautiful art to be framed but also touching family mementoes from handkerchiefs that survived World War II to pieces of jewellery handed down through generations.
• Our website underwent a significant makeover and made purchasing internationally significantly easier.

Looking towards 2023, I’m sure the gallery and myself will face many more challenges.

Some a continuation of the ones faced in 2022, some new.

Some of these challenges are to the art community as a whole as NFTs and the role of AI in art, challenge traditional artists and galleries while others will be individual challenges.

However, there is also a lot to look forward to with all exhibitions for the year planned and mainly booked, a few surprises we will announce closer to the dates, and new art and artists to discover.