Making Time Making Art

MAKING TIME MAKING ART

So many people i know think of themselves as artists. most of these people don’t make art; or make very little. Why? Most of them will tell you its because they don’t have the time, or they don’t have the room, or they want to, but they’re not very good, if they just had time to take that class…..

While i will be one of the first to tell you, yes, you do need to have to time to make art. I will also tell you from personal experience that it is always possible to make time to make art. I know, i’ve done it. for the last seven years i h ave worked full time in a retail management position and taught between one and three for credit classes a semester at the local community college. I was also a founding partner in a cooperative art gallery. Which of course meant meetings and other time consuming obligations. somehow in spite of all of this time sucking labor i had three solo shows, numerous group shows, scored representation by a New York City gallery, was invited to participate in the Florence biannale (couldn’t afford it) managed to keep my wall at the gallery (Off Track Art, Westminster, Md. check them out) refreshed with new work.

American Bounty, collage and text, July 14

How? Did i sleep? Yes i did - well i will confess to getting up at two or three in the morning if a deadline loomed. How? Did i eat? Absolutely! How? I made the time. Making art, making stuff, is one of the most important priorities in my  life. So i made time for it. No excuses, just did it. Went to my studio and made stuff. I am a morning person, so a glass of juice, a cup of coffee, and a smoothie and i’m good to go. It didn’t matter to me if i only had an hour, or all day, i was in my studio and working. I love the morning light, mornings are my favorite time of day to work. I cherish the days i can work without artificial light. So the time issue, well its not really an issue. Not if you really want to do it. Not if you have to do it. Does it sound like and addiction? Yes, it does. Does it feel as if i am compelled? Yes, i am. But making art makes me a better person, so i do it every chance i get.

I have to confess to being more than a little freaked out during the whole construction of the Floating Empire and dismantling of my studio and our home of the past ten  years. i closed up my studio in March, we put the boat in the water in the middle of June. I didn’t start working in my studio here on the boat until July. I was afraid that i would turn into a raving lunatic bitch after being cut off from the source of my creativity for that long. It was close, but the Floating Empire is a huge art project in itself. So there was some relief there.

Harlequin Blue Romance, colored pencil and pen, July 14

The other myth, the space issue is one that i would also like to take on; ‘I don’t have anyplace to work, i don’t have the equipment’, is as big a crutch as ‘I don’t have the time’. I have less than 90% of my supplies, tools and equipment with me. Yet i still make art, and do it every day. Even if its only a half hour in the morning before you go to work, or a half hour before dinner, or before bed and all you have is a pad of paper and some colored pencils, go ahead make art. Make stuff. Treat yourself, you’ll feel better.

Green Fish, Blue Fish, colored pencil and pen, July 14