Out of general frustration with my life, I have acquired a number of books lately which advise about making time for creativity and running your arts practice as a business. This book, written by Rice Freeman-Zachary, with contributions from a range of artists is quite inspiring. Even if you know this stuff, it helps to revisit it and also to know that other artists go through what you do. So if you are looking for some similar motivation, I highly recommend it.
I have just started renting a storage unit (after months of debating with myself) to move some of my older pieces out of the house. Renting space to store stuff we can't fit into our McMansions represents something of a moral dilemma for me. But it has got to a point where something has to give. I am hoping that this will have two benefits - one is that I will stop having to trip over various sculptures and my house will become more livable, and the second is that it will declutter my brain to some extent so that I can start churning out fabulous new work.
At the end of the year, I am feeling tired, a little stressed and somewhat dissatisfied with my art. It has been a pretty successful year by most standards - getting into the Churchie being one of the highlights - but I am still feeling like I haven't quite got there, wherever 'there' is. The time and energy that teaching takes is really impacting on me. The kids who want to create are just delightful and give back as much as I give them. But those who have decided that all of school must boil down to a battle of wills wear me out. And I am over it, to be honest. I am really looking forward to the end of year holidays. Hopefully that will be the shot in the arm I really need.
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