Plans for 2026

2025 was a blast. I did so much, and prioritised doing in order to diminish my tendancy to get stuck in overthinking. This helped me out so much, and gave me so much experience that I would have otherwise never gotten! 

It was however very tiring! I learnt my limits (and pushed past them), and started paying more attention to what did and didn't feel right for me to do anymore. This means that while 2025 was about quantity over quality, 2026 is my year to take things a bit slower and use my foundation of experience and knowledge to be more considerate in my steps forward. 

2026 GOALS

MAKE MORE ART

This goes without saying, but the type of art I want to make is a bit different. I was overcoming perfectionism in the past, and was making sure to make without overthinking whether something was worth it or not.

This is still the case today, but I was to explore more complex themes, and consider what messages I'm trying to get across this year. 

SELL MORE ORIGINAL ART

Last year was about making prints and getting my work out there. I am still so grateful to anyone who has enjoyed a card or print or even bookmark with my work on it! For this year I wanted to step the goal up and try to sell more originals.

While some may enjoy having the actual art in their homes, many (understandably) don't feel the need to buy the handmade product. This means I'm swimming in artwork I've made, whether or not I am proud of the peice! 

SELL AT FEWER MARKETS

In 2025 I explored all sorts of markets in all corners of London, and learnt a lot about what type of person my art connects with, and why they might want it. So this year I am making the most of that data and only going to the cream of the crop when it comes to markets, to make it worth my while.

HOST A WORKSHOP / CLASS

A lot of friends and family have always jokingly told me I look or sound like an art teacher (even before I shifted from architecture to art as a career), and so it only seems fitting that I give workshops a go. This is particularly because I started getting requests and enuiries about them all of last year, and now I want to work on hosting one (or more maybe)!

In fact, I have now got a tote bag painting workshop already lined up for the 29th March with Open Art Market in Chiswick, London! It will be a casual one, great for a fun day out with friends and family. Buy tickets here!

GALLERY REPRESENTATION / SOLO SHOW

Applying to open calls all year and hoping for exhibitions to accept your work can be laborious, time consuming, and costly, so I decided I would love to rent out a space for a week or so and run my own exhibition!

I also plan to get gallery representation and reach more people that way, and understand the business of working with institutions as an artist.

PAINT A MURAL / PUBLIC ARTWORK

All of my education has been in architecture, before I shifted in 2022 after my MA at the RCA. This means that while I love painting and art, my favourite thing about it is how it reaches people and how it can be a way to enhance spaces, especially in a city's public space!

To paint a mural would be the perfect project to marry my two passions, architecture from my past and art from my present. 

RUN OPEN STUDIO SESSIONS

This one is a newer goal of mine that I still would like to research a little more before solidifying what it looks like. My current studio space is an open area within a shared and open floor in a large building, so I am not sure what the logistics would be of inviting people into my space without them also looking into other's spaces without their permission.

I will see where this idea goes. It's a new project to chew on!

That's the end of my official list of goals for 2026 (though of course there are plenty of little ideas and projects that aren't as big as these that will inevitably squirrel their way into the spaces between all of these). I'm so excited for the coming year because I've started it with a level of confidence and surety that I haven't felt in years, and it feels like a blessing. I began the year by getting a part time job to ease the pressure of earning money from my art and it has already improved my ability to create with care and consideration over becoming more like a machine in order to sell sell sell. 

Please let me know what you think of these goals, if they surprised you or if you think they're exciting! Would you be interested in attending / seeing any of these (like the solo show or workshop)? I hope your year has also started with a greater sense of self-confidence, as is deserved, and that 2026 treats you as well as is possible. 

To the coming year!

Best wishes, Lina Noueiri