Finally, a blog post in 2026! (aka. Where have I been?)
- thathungryartgirl
- Apr 5
- 5 min read
Well hello there people! Happy 2026 and Happy Easter! 🐰 I know, I've been a 'bit' absent recently (understatement), since the last blog post I made was back at the end of 2025! I originally had plans to continue making art and attend the odd fair or event this year, but that hasn't really happened, has it? And while I have made a few posts on Instagram, they've been quite specific to life in general, and I've been very quiet on all my other socials too. In my defence, a fair bit has been happening in my own little world of late, and my post today will attempt to address some of the more important aspects of that.
To start, the main reason for my absence has simply been due to a form of creative burnout.
With all the work I managed to do last year on top of my day job, I've just honestly not felt up to making anything new. The lack of inspiration doesn't help either! This isn't new territory for me sadly. as I've had much smaller spurts of creativity in the past (often lasting only a few months) that then lead to a good few years of not being able to think of anything new to make. I've never been too sure what has caused it previously, but this recent one likely has to do with the current state of the world. I'd also say that with such easy access to the internet and social media, it's hard to even start making something when there's so many other people out there that seem to make their art with such ease, and for them to receive far more adoration and praise than you ever have. Yes, I understand that I shouldn't compare, and stuff on social media doesn't paint the whole picture of someone's life, but on some days, you just can't help but get sucked into it all.
Will I manage to make anything new this year, or attend any new fairs or events? I can't say, as I don't want to make any promises. But what I can try to do is keep you all in the loop when that does happen. And who knows....maybe I'll release some archived art works from years past on my Etsy, so you can have the chance to get our hands on something more 'vintage' and 'authentic'. We'll just have to wait and see.
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, you'll see that I've mentioned that the 'burnout' was the 'main' reason for my absence recently. Well, there are others....two others to be precise, with the second being all about health. 🫀
Everyone who knows me well will be aware of my ongoing heart condition. If this is your first time hearing about this, then apologies for bringing it up out of the blue, but over the past month or two, I've been having a few tests for it, with the most important being a 48 hour heart monitor, which originally was scheduled for last year. This is also something that isn't new for me, as I've had it since birth, and my body is very used to having to deal with the condition, to a point where I can live a relatively normal life. I won't go into too much detail about it here, as I want to dedicate a full post to it at a later date, but lets just say that it's taken up a bit of my time, and I should hopefully be hearing about the monitor results next month. This will ultimately determine whether I can carry on as I am or if I need any medical intervention, so fingers crossed all is well.
And just when you thought it was only MY health taking up my time, you'd be wrong!
Back in early February, I remember my husband Jake voicing concern over some soreness in his back, and thought it was just muscle aches. Cut to later in the day, he's in excruciating pain, and after some talks with the doctors, it's discovered that he's developed terrible nerve pain from sciatica, that could take 8 weeks to resolve! Well, needless to say that he needed a fair bit of help in the first few months, so I made sure I was around as best as I could. Thankfully, he's seeing the end of it now, but it was not a fun experience. I'm just glad he's feeling much better now, and we can plans some well deserved days out together soon.
Oh, and the other reason why I've been absent? It's a bizarre one.....
It's a bit strange that I'm still in the UK to be honest, as if this plan went ahead, then we'd be on a plane right now. Unfortunately, that is no longer the timeline we live in. Basically, we had finally planned to visit Australia again for the first time since the 'pre-Covid' days, and were originally due to fly out this morning. We were keen to get back to see family and friends, and make up for lost time. However, if you've not been up to date with travel news recently, then all I'll say is that due to the actions of a obnoxious ginger American with too much power, the route we were meant to take has been affected by the situation in Iran, and as such, our flights were cancelled. Even if we wanted to rebook, the price of flights has now gone through the roof, so who knows if we'll be able to get back this year at all. Despite the stress and uncertainty, I'm thankful that we will no longer be travelling through precarious locations, and that we're in the fortunate situation of having everything refunded, so if we wanted to try and rebook the trip for a later date, then we can. Australia can wait, and I now just hope that the situation resolves itself soon, mainly for those that are still feeling the affects of the madness ensuing in Iran, as well as the countries surrounding that area.
Whew, okay, so that's the bigger updates out of the way, thankfully! Hopefully I've managed to explain my absence well? Despite all the madness, I have still managed to do some fun things during the first few months of 2026, such as attending a massive full day D&D session in January (linked to the illustrative journals I've mentioned in previous posts), viewing the amazing Japanese woodblock exhibition at the York Art Gallery (which includes Hokusai's 'Great Wave' print), visiting London to see Paddington the Musical and the Aardman 50 Year Anniversary Exhibition in March, and spending time with close family and friends. We've even made time to watch some great shows while Jake was recuperating, with the most unexpected delight coming in the form of 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms'. Gotta love that Lyonel Baratheon!
I think that will be enough from me for now, as that has been quite the extensive post. As I've mentioned, there will be no guarantees that I will be attending any events or releasing brand new art works this year, but I hope to find the time to release some past works on my Etsy that I hope you will appreciate. I will also aim to make a new blog post every few weeks that may focus on past projects I've been a part of, or even aspects of my life that I'm comfortable sharing with others, like my heart condition or my love of musical theatre.
Thank you to everyone that still continues to support me in all my little endeavours, whether they be personal or creative, and that you'll come back to read my next post. If you're not already subscribed, you can by adding your email to the 'sign up' box at the bottom of my main blog site page here: https://www.thathungryartgirl.net/blog
Until next time, here's to the hope that things will start to calm down a little bit! Best wishes from Laura, aka 'ThatHungryArtGirl' 🍄
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