As the year comes to a close it is pretty common for artists who use Instagram to look back over the year at their most popular posts. As I look back it is obvious that “Likes” are not directly connected to the quality of the art, they are often about the content, and probably one’s choice of tags. Yet it is an interesting pursuit and this year it has been a bit indicative of how my life has changed.

What follows are most of the Ten Most Liked sketching posts of mine on Instagram, in a loose chronological order with a few observations along the way.

It is interesting to note that the instagram post with the most positive responses was actually a photo that Tricia – check her blog – took of me and Neville in the back yard of our new habitat in France. I suppose that is fitting since the move from Mukilteo to Normandie was the big event of 2022 which a lot of people were following and responded accordingly.

In January I was busy with French Visa arrangements and Neville’s paperwork so he could enter the EU. Most of my art was on my iPad, and being winter, snow scenes were prominent. These three all ended up in the Top Ten, I was pleased that folks enjoyed them as much as I did.

By March we had sold our condo in Mukilteo and were staying for a couple of weeks with Tricia’s sister’s family in Ballard. We were booked on a flight from Seattle to Paris on 13 March, the day before the flight I had coffee just down the block from where we were staying.

Six days later our outlook on the world had changed dramatically. This is the backyard looking out from our cottage. The photo of me and Neville was the most liked in 2022, this was the second most liked post, a testimony to all of the people who were wishing us well on this new chapter of our life.

In May my oldest friend Tim along with his soon to be wife Lisa, (they were married in August) came for a visit. After two months we were still getting settled in and were quite thankful for their presence. We all took a trip to Blois in the Loire Valley, I did this sketch of the Keep at Chenonceau.

We made plans to return to the US in August to go to the wedding, but COVID and total chaos in the Paris/London airports resulted in us cancelling our plans. We ended up with a train ticket from our nearest station in Flers to Paris so decided to go there for my birthday. Just a block from our hotel in the Montparnasse area I sketched with un cafe.

Since August we have been to Brittany, gone on a cruise in the Mediterranean, and ate pintox (tapas in Spanish) in Donostia – I did plenty of sketches – some made the top twenty. Yet this sketch I did last week quickly made it into the top ten, not sure why, but I liked doing it and am glad some other folks liked it as well.

2023 is already shaping up to be quite a busy and interesting year, with Portugal, Spain, and Morocco in the near future. Then there are visits from Alexis and Joe, Tim and Lisa, and Cynthia’s family. We have a couple other road trips in the works and then with great anticipation we are planning to meet up with Claudine and J.J. (Their French Aliases) in Provence in the fall. Of course all subject to tweaking and alterations, that is the fun part.

So thank you to all who have added to the joy of this last year, so hard to grasp all that has transpired, but one thing is certain – it is family, friends, and followers that add Unami to life, thank you for your part in that. Whatever your next year holds, I hope you will sketch it and share it, or at least tell me about it.

As always keep on travelling and sketching.