Happy New Year & What to Look Forward to

Designed by Matthew Murray

Hey Peeps! Happy New Year to my fellow writers, artists, and readers!

I have been soooooo busy. As you have found out, I haven’t been posting much. If you follow Substack Notes, you may have seen me over there. I haven’t posted much on there but I have been responding to other people’s notes.

I wrote much of this newsletter on my phone as I was waiting for my Mom at a doctor’s appointment this morning. This will show you that I don’t have much time for writing nowadays.

I picked up a few more subscribers in December. Thank you for wanting to follow what I do. It’s going to get exciting in the coming months and year as I launch my art business.

It’s hard to believe we are in 2025 already. It seems like it was in the distant future and then “poof” it was here. Last year flew by unbelievably fast.

Why have I been so busy? Work, work, and more work! As of the writing of this newsletter, my work schedule has changed. I’m working six days a week. I’m now working different hours as I’m staying at work until 4:30 and 5:00 pm. That leaves me absolutely no time to write. It’s a bummer but I can’t do anything about it. I do need to pay bills. :) On my days off, I’m either taking my Mom to her appointments or working on my art business.

As my art business is my top priority, writing has gone to the back burner. I still love writing and I think up new stories all the time. I just don’t have the time to write them. They’re in my head and hopefully I can get some of them down on paper soon. When I ever get a chance, I’ll write them up and post them. But I can’t promise anything. I’ll always be a writer. No one can stop me from doing it. I just can’t do it now.

As for starting my art business, you should see my notebook. It is filled with everything to think about: how to get everything coordinated, where to see about pitching my artwork, etc.

My plans for 2025 for this newsletter are the following:

1. I left you hanging on a piece of fiction that I cherished. I was so proud of it. It took a lot of thinking and I enjoyed writing it. I’m going to give a small recap and then finish that story. I was going to continue it but I need time for that. So I’ll try to squeeze in a time to re-read it and figure out how I can finish it.

2. Obviously, I’ll be writing about my art. That’s not going to stop. Once I launch my art business, I have to decide whether I’ll be using this newsletter as my mailing list or starting another list here under a different publication name or going elsewhere. I think this is the best platform because you get to keep your subscribers and you know who they are.

3. I’ll be writing things that may come up. I know today I witnessed an idiot driving and I want to write about that. It’s a wonder that people survive on the roadways.

Paintings

I wanted to show you a few of the paintings that I did in November and December 2024.

Painting by Matthew Murray

Enjoying Drinks @ Hand & Spear, 8 inches x 10 inches, (acrylic on canvas)

Hand & Spear is a pub located on Old Heath Road in Weybridge, United Kingdom. From the photos and research I did, it looks like a nice place to have a pint and enjoy the company of friends.

Painting by Matthew Murray

Hear the Thessalonians, 16 inches x 20 inches, (acrylic on canvas)

How this location came about is fate. I mean the coincidence of this tells me I’m on the right track with this art. That day, I had just read the daily verse in the bible and it was referring to the Thessalonians. Next I used an AI travel website where it gives you a random vacation travel spot. Serres, Greece came up as the spot.

When I get a location, I usually look around on Google Maps to see what looks interesting to paint. This time, I decided to just zoom in on a random spot. What happened next was the fate that I describe above. The street running on the painting near the top of the painting was named Thessalonikis Street. What are the odds that I would get Serres at random and then pick a random spot named that street when I had just read that bible verse. That shows me that there is always a higher power directing our lives. Because of this I placed a cross on that street.

Painting by Matthew Murray

Studying the Universe, 8 inches x 10 inches, (acrylic on canvas)

Welcome to the Institute of Astronomy and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Hilo, Hawaii. They study the universe. They look at all of the stars, comets, planets and black holes. This must be a fun job analyzing all of the billions of stars located in the universe.

Painting by Matthew Murray

Something Beary Fishy, 4 inches x 6 inches, (acrylic on photo paper)

This painting is close to my heart. Part of this painting is the Eau Gallie Pier in Melbourne, Florida. I have fished off of this pier many times. Once I started painting this I noticed it started looking like a bear. In fact, when I showed it to my Mom for the first time, she asked me, “Is it a bear?” I said, no but it looks like that to me too. So I thought up a catchy title and it worked.

Conclusion

Thank you to all my subscribers for sticking with me while I navigated the unknowns. I enjoy hearing from you on the comments sections. Even if you don’t hit the like button or comment, I’m glad you’re reading what I have to say.

I hope I can at least post once a month but I’m going to try to go to twice a month. We’ll see.

Until next time, happy reading.

-Matt

If you liked this story, please feel free to like it and send it to someone that loves art.