I am going a bit crazy now and will be crazy for the next two weeks. I have four shows to get ready for, and a major competition to bring paintings for the judging. I don't know about other artists, but I find this a bit daunting. I am going to create a set of lists for each show, and what art I am putting into each, to make sure that I don't put something into one show, that really should have been put in another. As well, one of these shows is a solo show, so I have to hang it, and prepare the area, and that is even more work.
The main point of all this, is it is tough balancing the demands of life, the demands of the business side of my art, and doing the art itself (which is why I got into the business of art). I draw everyday, and I paint several times a week, and this is going to change soon to painting and drawing everyday. The creating of art is my most important part of my life as an artist. I must never let the day to day demands of the business side, start to push away my time to draw and paint. Like tonight, I will be starting to paint at midnight, and I am not at my creative best at that time.
I know there are business emergencies that must be handled, but in all honesty, I feel that if drawing and painting are really important, they must come first and the emergencies need to come second.
Since I have been drawing everyday since January 1 of this year, drawing each day seems to come naturally to me now. I draw when I take a coffee break, from TV or just to relieve stress. I find that painting has not reached this level in my life yet. I feel that with painting, I need to prepare surfaces, get water to clean brushes, and put acrylics out on the palette, then I can begin. So what? I guess I am angry with myself for not putting first things first.
My sketching club is disbanding for the summer, and I am going to use this time to paint plein air, and alla prima. If you are following these blogs, you know that I have also been painting alla prima at long pose life drawing sessions as well. I can see a lot of room for improvement, but I have also been surprised at how well the paintings have gone.
So has the business side of art for me. I am working very hard at Internet marketing, and that is taking up a huge amount of time, as I build the market I need, but I have to have patience, and look at it as if it is a multi-year project, which it is, and not let it drive me. Creating art is what I want as my driver, and good art to boot, and not the demands of business. Having been a businessman most of my life, I can easily get trapped in the business demands, so I must stay alert to my past habits taking control of me.
Well, off I go to paint. I haven't had time to create digital images of my work in the last couple of weeks, so I will post an image with this blog entry that I do have an image of, but hopefully soon, I will get to the business side of photographing my new art. Certainly, before the work goes into the next show.
Hello! I know exactly what you mean... I'd say I spend 50% of my time actually art-making, and the other 50% doing administrative business stuff. It gets discouraging sometimes, and it's difficult to find the right balance. As you say, the art-making is the most important part, but without the business side the art won't get you much... I use a lot of lists to help me stay organized and keep track of what needs to be done! Nice blog, I will be checking back!
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