Musings on Work/Life/Art Balance

today's painting...

Maintaining a balanced life while trying to build an art career is very difficult. It's even more difficult when you work a day job or two like I do. It's really funny. I sat down to write some musings on work/life/art balance but ended up experiencing something extremely rewarding to my art practice that made me really feel like it's all worth it.

The most lovely people, Tiffany and Drew, stopped by during open studio hours today. When they first walked in, I had just turned off the lights and had every intention of leaving, but I saw them looking interested at the artwork at the front of the space and hurried to turn the lights back on for them.

I am so, so, so glad that I did - when they gently meandered to my space we had such a lovely conversation! We talked about abstract art, how people interpret art work, and it left me feeling so happy.

Conversations like that make me happy to be an artist.

It is still difficult - I am so guilty of using my "studio time" in my schedule to do laundry, run errands, socialize, or sleep in. I am not by nature a morning person, so as my work week progresses I find myself piling up these small tasks that a more organized morning person might accomplish daily.

I have to prioritize my jobs that pay the bills to keep everything afloat. I find myself rushing to my studio on my lunch break some days, eating my sandwich over my desk while I print out shipping labels or throwing a few details on a work in progress.

Often my studio time doubles as a date -- my wonderful boyfriend James has been known to help my hang new things on my walls, organize the studio, and provide some company and entertainment on long deadline nights. He goes on food runs for me when I am too attached to my desk or easel to be able to take a break. He never complains, but I know it can't be easy to attend to me as a workaholic so I do find myself sacrificing some studio hours here and there to have real quality time.

I guess in the end, I am thankful that though it is a work in progress, I do strive for balance. I am thankful that when I sit down to paint or carve, I do work quickly. I spend so much time percolating that when I am finally at the easel it just pours out. I am thankful that I have a part time job where working on my projects is part of the job description - though I often find myself distracted by other duties so the process is more chip-away than marathon.

Get in touch with me. Tell me about your art practice and your work/life/art balance. I would love to know!

Unexpected avian customer! aka, the story of Pigeon Wrangling.

Typically we go about our day under an assumption that there is a Human world and a Natural world. This fits neatly for society; in an interior space we use climate control, walls, windows, and closed doors to separate our affairs from the long-since-developed wilderness. The soil deep beneath the concrete foundations of our office buildings can’t remember when it last felt the rays of the sun or the wriggle of a seed germinating. Today while I was grabbing a bite to eat for lunch, that dividing line shattered like the false glass it is made of.

*insert dramatic flourishes*

Let me explain.

I dropped into Plume’s, a great little coffee shop & study nook, to grab coffee and a sandwich. There was a bit of a wait, but I didn’t mind. I had left my phone back at the studio, mostly because I have a habit of distracting myself with it and everyone needs a break from screens, even for just the length of a little lunch run.
To occupy the time I was checking out the very full bulletin board, ripping phone numbers for odd job listings and taking some joy from the variety of workshops, massage therapists, photographers, and babysitters making themselves known in the community. I’m corny.

THUD! THUD!

A pigeon smacked right into the large glass windows (more like a wall than a window to be truthful) and flew inside in a rush of feathers and noise. It flew back and forth, alarming all the grad students tapping away on laptops and the lunch-goers at their tables. It circled the entire span of the cafe, settling onto a table where it displaced three women who had been eating. They rushed to their feet, chairs squeaking across the floor, polyester sport jackets swishing.

In some commotion, a rough-looking man with kind eyes and a plethora of face & neck tattoos managed to gently corner it and take hold of it in his hands. Relief began to radiate through the space as everyone realized that the possibility of being shit on while indoors had passed.

Laughing, he held the pigeon up and gestured with it to the cafe, saying “All right! Say goodbye to everyone!” in a tone both comforting and silly.

He proceeded to take the pigeon outside and with a grand flourish, tossed it straight up into the air as if releasing a single dove from a balcony in an old romantic movie. As it ascended, like magic it was joined by a flock of its kin and was lost in the crowd of circling pigeons heading off toward the ocean.

The cafe quickly settled back into business as usual.

Trying to be profound, I turned to the young man sitting near by on his laptop.
“Just a nice reminder that we still live in nature!”
He looked at me like I was a cornball weirdo. I burnt my tongue on my coffee as I attempted to downplay my own awkwardness. Yeesh. Guess not everyone was having as much of a "moment" as I was.

I got my sandwich and went to leave, but stopped to thank the pigeon-wrangler for his excellent pigeon wrangling. He thanked me and told me that he loves animals and has always had a good communication with them. Always interesting to meet someone who at first glance seemed intimidating display an unexpected gentle side and grace under pressure.

I am thankful for these small moments between strangers and nature. I couldn’t help but smile the whole time I walked back to the studio.