A Quiet Closing of the Year

There’s a moment every December when the studio finally exhales. The paint settles, the brushes rest a little longer in the water jar, and I try to spend even more time watching and listening to the ocean. That’s where I am right now - in the quiet after a year that felt full in the best possible way.

2025 has been a year of big shifts.

Opening Salt & Canvas Studio has changed so much: the way I work, the way people can connect with my art, and the way I imagine the next chapter. Seeing collectors, friends, and curious wanderers step into the space for the first time… it still catches me off guard in the most wonderful way.

There have been so many creative threads woven through the months — commissions layered with stories and fabrics, tiny studies that carried me through the in-between days, new creative experiences, and the first glimpses of ideas I’m only just beginning to understand. This year felt like the foundations of something much larger starting to settle.

And amongst it all, your support has meant more than I can say. Whether you bought a painting, joined a creative experience, wandered into the studio, or simply opened these journal entries with a cup of tea — you’ve been part of this journey. Thank you for making space for my work in your life.

As I look toward the new year, I’m craving slowness, depth, and even more intention. My focus is shifting gently inward: more time exploring new materials, more play, more experimentation, and more behind-the-scenes sharing. That’s why the Studio Journal will become a bigger part of how I stay connected with you — a place to gather the stories, textures, glimpses of process and thought that sit beneath the finished work.

But before we step into the new year, I just want to pause here for a moment. To take in the year just gone. To feel grateful. To breathe. Thank you for being here.

I can’t wait to walk into a brand-new creative season with you.

Wishing you a peaceful, restorative, ocean-soaked Christmas,
Gem x