Sunday, November 21, 2010

Parenthood and preserving your Sanity

I don't know if it is just the time of year and the fact that I am totally over being a school teacher just now, but I am also a bit over my own kids. I love them to bits, but given that they have pretty cushy lives, they seem to complain a hell of a lot. I am sure that my parenting leaves a lot to be desired, but running around after them leaves me little time to be creative. And when I do decide to shut myself in my studio, I come out to find a whole bunch of couch potatoes who haven't lifted a finger. Then they start whining about something not being done or that I bought the wrong kind of biscuit or picked them up too early from the party or...you get the idea. Makes me very grumpy. Of course my grumpiness then becomes something to whine about. On days like these I wish I had stuck to the original plan and just had kittens.

I think I'll head back into the studio, and take my favourite child...the cat. Ain't she adorable?

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Art Book - Creative Time and Space

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.

Creative Time and Space

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.