A look back on Fuzzleduck 2025

Happy New Year! I hope you’ve all had a restful yuletide break; you deserve one. 

I spent my break with family and reading books about some very intense Ice skaters (The Favourites, Layne Fargo). It was great. 

I’ve spent the start of my January thinking about doing my taxes, painting things that aren’t dogs and planning for 2026. But something I’ve learnt is that to make realistic and steady progress next year, I need to remember what I worked on in 2025 and celebrate some of it. It’s too easy this time of year to make all of these big, important plans for the year ahead without celebrating everything we’ve done. So let's spend a minute giving ourselves a lil pat on the back. I’ll start us off (obviously).

In February of 2025, I started partnering with RATS Animal Rescue. I paint mini portraits of the dogs they have looking for new homes. This has resulted in my painting over 50 dogs for them! (WHAT!). But what I’ve enjoyed most is talking with new pet owners or foster families who get in touch. I get to hear all about that dog's personality and quirks, find out about their new family and the new pets they get to share a home with. At times, 2025 felt overwhelming or stressful, but then I would get a little email from someone telling me about how their new dog was settling in, or the foster family that they had finally found a home. It always gave me a big, silly smile.

In October, I hosted my first-ever workshop! A small group of ducklings came along to Hitchin to learn how to paint their own pet. I was super nervous to take this on - I’d never done anything like it … but I loved it. Everyone was really nice, and I got to learn about their pets. We painted, we chatted, we ate lots of doughnuts from the shop next door. I can’t wait to host more in the new year. 

I completed 222 pet paintings, including 155 just in my Christmas run-up last year. Holy Macaroni. Never did I ever expect to paint this many pets. From cats and dogs to tortoises and axolotls… they were all a dream come true. I could never have predicted that number at the start of the year. So, thank you, ducklings.

So maybe whilst we’re all getting swept up in the January goals and gym memberships and resolutions, let’s take a second to remember all the good bits of 2025 or else you’ll get swept up in all the bad weather and forget to enjoy and celebrate all the things you did, and that would be an awful shame. 

My favourite bit of 2025 was getting to connect and talk to all of you to hear more about your pets, thor charm and personalities. I hope my paintings made you feel more connected to your pets too. Tell me in the comments your top moments from 2025, I’d love to hear them.

I look forward to talking to you all again in 2026. 🍻