A Year In Review.

In many ways 2024 was my best year ever, looking back from a statistical point of view it’s been amazing. I’ve sold more prints than ever this year, original artworks have been flying out the door, engagement has been through the roof and galleries keep knocking to get their slice of the pie. But to be honest, this year has gone wrong in all of the ways that are important to me and right in all of the ways that aren’t.

I started off this year knowing my only goal was to get better, to push the boundaries of stencil art and fully define my style. My first ever piece went up in 2021 and gained instant popularity but the piece was average at best and I wasn’t good enough to have that many eyes looking at me. In ways I got lucky and in other ways I was unlucky, but I rode that wave and kept producing and improving. I wanted to push stencils to levels it’s never been to before by adding more and more layers and depth to each image. By the end of 2023 I had come so far, my artwork was the best it had been but still wasn’t anywhere near where I wanted it. I guess this is a part of the journey when finding any artist in the earliest stage of their career, you get the opportunity to watch them grow and make mistakes in real time, and I think this is why this blog is so important to me. I get the opportunity to speak about my failures and mistakes, Instagram is for the highlights where everything goes right but this is where I get to talk about the truth of my life, my struggles and my fuck ups. I think this industry is full of people trying to falsely portray success because their told that one bad show or one bad release or any drop in popularity means their career is over. It’s absolute bollocks. I think the world is ready for artists to be authentic, relatable and real again. Numbers shouldn’t sell stories but the art world has found a way to make that a reality.

“Chained To A Daisy” (my first piece of 2024)

I’ve always been really proud of the fact I’ve been able to do this completely independently. I’m not represented by a gallery, I sell all of my own art and decide 100% of the time what I paint and why I paint it. It’s an overlooked superpower that I have complete freedom over my own fate and how I get there. It allows me to be unapologetically me and control my own message based on authentic intentions. The last thing I’ve ever wanted is a middle man in a suit who has no understanding of the cultural and community aspect of what I do calling the shots.

At the start of 2024, my focus was fully on making my art better. I put a lot of pressure on the amount of detail I wanted each piece to have, while also making the concepts the best they can be. The more I tried and the more vulnerable I was, the more anxious I became about what I was painting. I started to doubt myself, my concepts and my ability to pull them off. For the first time I lost my careless approach that had carried me this far and I hated it. I created 30 pieces of art last year but only 12 made the cut, I was becoming selective and picky because it felt like I was being judged and I had to impress everyone all the time.

Each piece I’ve produced this year I’m immensely proud of, each and every one of them were a challenge in their own way and I really had to push through a lot of barriers to make them tangible. For the most part my artworks focus on nostalgia. I paint from the past but every piece I produced this year have the struggles of the present fully embedded into them, through over touching up the smallest of mistakes or painting whilst frustrated and allowing too much paint on the canvas. My struggle to be perfect in a very imperfect profession shows in each and every piece from last year and after reflecting on it I couldn’t be more happy about the result. For the first time ever I realised my story is currently being told, and this is all a part of it.

“Bapsybanoo” (one of my highlights of 2024)

I don’t believe 2024 was a negative year, it was only an emotional one because of an internal battle that was completely necessary. I think it’s very normal to feel this type of way especially as I’m learning as I go. I created some of my best pieces last year, and this level of vulnerability helps me steer clear of being a puppet and keeps me human. When I look back on 2025 I will thank 2024 for lighting this fire and helping me produce even better work. I risk arrest once a month to tell a story I hope will cheer you up on your commute to work or make you smile during a bad day and the more I experience life’s downs, the more stories I can tell. 

“The Hands Of A Peasant” (my first artwork of 2025) 

Thank you for reading ❤️ 

Hendog