Balance in the life of an artist
 

How does one achieve balance in your life when you are dedicated to your painting?

I always marveled at the fact that Picasso would have such a large studio, in a lovely beach resort and I am sure had the opportunity to disappear for days. But how does the everyday artist focus on all that is important to them?

I have found this frustrating throughout my professional career, so it could just be a problem for myself and "work" in general, but somehow I think it affects those in the creative field more.

When you are deep into a composition or painting and the kids come in and want a ride to this or that, the house is in sad need of cleaning, a big event is coming up, there are no groceries and who the heck cares about dinner? "Hey, leave me alone. I am painting!" is all I want to say. This has become my biggest challenge. I try and explain to my husband, especially in my graphic work, when a concept is coming to you, it is hard to just stop and pick it up later.

In addition to the physical aspects of art, you are usually reading or studying in your non-studio time, or spending a ton of time here, where every artist should be in my situation. This site is such a tool, I think of it as my interactive library. So where is the balance? Who the heck is going to water the plants?

Elizabeth, my soul mate! I was laughing when I read this. Gee it sounded sooo familiar!

I get up at 6 a.m., drink coffee and read through emails. Usually I have until 7:30 a.m. to get a load of laundry going, do some dusting or empty out the dishwasher. Then it

Enzie and Elizabeth, ladies after my heart. Well, maybe not the right expression but can I ever relate. Although my children have grown, I have been there and done that. But I still feel overwhelmed with life's woes.

I have only a hubby, a dog (boxer), a cat, 7 huge goldfish, a 10-room 2-story house, 3 rental properties connected to mine, and a studio. My hubby is disabled and retired and we have seen each other every day 24 hours a day for 8 years now.

I do all housework, repainting of vacant rentals, mending of minor repairs and even helped lay floor carpeting in one of them. I carry out the garbage most of time and help out with construction of my own studio (had the blisters on my hands from nailing).

This has all been since my 5 kids left home and have families of their own. Whew-w-w

Well, I am still painting and yes, I sit with hubby in living room, tv going but I am engrossed in either this forum (which I thank all for making it so possible and wonderful) or piled up to my elbows with art books, magazines or art related materials and planning the next 5 paintings in my head.

Are we a different breed (artists and creative persons, that is)? I know many of my friends wonder why I continue sometimes when art is so unpredictable with sales etc. But yet, through the rain, snow, sleet or hail, my creativeness must plow ahead or something like that. :sunnysmil

Imbalance
 

Historically, imbalance has served artists better. :D

It definitely helps to know that there are others like myself. I will retire in April 2003. I will set strict times when I will be in the studio, and during those times I will not be available for anything else. That's the plan anyway.

Zen thought
 

--George Green

Take what you want and pay the price.

Choose, and then take responsibility for your choices. Certainly there are basic chores and duties of family and citizenship that have to be attended to, but if the functional equivalents of rounding up dust bunnies (or buffalo) is what you choose to do, even if it prevents you from painting, then you've established your priorities. The house is clean, dinner was four-course and yummy, the aloe and jade plants are thriving, and the canvas is blank. If you want a different result, you have to make a different choice.

Rarely when an Olympian steps up to receive a medal does the commentator say, "Oh, sure, gold, but have you ever seen how her closets are organized?" No one pulls the principal cellist aside after a concert and says, "Nice, but will you at least think about that edging along the driveway and all the dandelions?"

More often than we care to own up to, we live exactly the lives we've chosen to live. You want something to happen, make it happen.

I heard a memorable story once about a world-class violinist.

After a performance, an aspiring violin player in the audience came up to him and said, "I would give my life to play as you just did."

The world-class violinist said, "That is what I have done."

Steven, I need you to call my husband! ;)

The "Muse" plays frequent havoc with large portions of my "so-called-life".

Fortunately, I have a lovely wife who weathers my artistic storms and makes sure I eat, sleep, have clean clothes, etc. Frankly, she does too much of the housework and things and still manages to be an author and write two books a year. I would be lost without her.

I need to go do the dishes right now...now I have guilt! :(

See Michael, this is what my girlfriends and I always say, we all need a wife! :)

Ditto to you Beth for Steven. Call mine too. I have 3 close male artist friends and they seem to feel as you do Steven. One "barters" his portraits to hire yard work done at his home. His wife does most of his marketing, mailing, accepting calls, having guest students in her home for his workshops, calls airlines for his reservations, does the housework, yadda yadda.

I do try to make paint my priority and let the things pile up at home. Then it takes me days to play catch up.

Mind you, I am not crying the blues, just searching for THE WAY.

Linda, I like your attitude. Placing yourself unavailable in your studio in your time.

I think I will take this to Dr. Phil. :D

One more note Beth, I had not yet read your last comment "need a wife". That is hilarious and quite coincidental because that is one of my famous sayings among my friends too. We all need a wife. Ha. ;)

Thanks Beth for bringing this subject up. I feel so much better after reading all the posts. I always struggle to divide my time between my two young children, husband, cooking, cleaning up etc. The kids are 1 and 4, so they pretty much take up all my time. The only time I get to paint is in the middle of the night! There have been times I thought of giving up painting because I feel like I am neglecting my family, and I don't have enough energy to have everything together in the way that I would like them to be. My husband supports and helps me in every way so that I can paint, but it is still difficult when the kids are still young.

I can see now that I am not alone, after reading these posts!

Mai :)

My children are grown up, I have a very low maintenance house (no carpets, no curtains, no junk lying around, except my many projects) I have a few duties to do each day. ARTIST'S HEAVEN? Yes and NO. My husband thinks that I should try to go to work full time so that I can earn money, oh, and in case I should get lonely and bored. HELP! My paints are calling me.

The journey
 

Steven,

Thank you for your observation about choices. It has recently been brought to my attention that I would have been better served had I gotten a BFA instead of following the path that I did. I haven

Georgia O'Keefe
 

For years I have been carrying around in my wallet this quote I picked up while reading the biography of Georgia O'Keefe...

"One works (paints) because I suppose it is the most interesting thing one knows how to do. The days one works (paints) are the best days. On the other days one is hurrying through the other things one imagines one has to do to keep one's life going. You get the garden planted. You get the roof fixed. You take the dog to the vet. You spend a day with a friend. You learn to make a new kind of bread. You hunt up photographs for someone who thinks he needs them. You certainly have to do the shopping. You may even enjoy doing such things. You think they have to be done. You even think you have to have some visitors or take a trip to keep from getting queer living alone...(). But always, you are hurrying through these things with a certain amount of aggravation so that you can get at the painting again because that is the high spot - in a way it is what you do all the other things for...The painting is like a thread that runs through all the reasons for all the other things that make one's life."

Denise, I think Georgia has put it in the most eloquent way. It is right on!

Thanks, Denise, for posting that one. It spoke directly to my heart! I feel that way every day.

Thanks Denise,

I feel like that also. I am going to print it out and hang it on my wall.

My mother-in-law always said that I march to the sound of a different drum. I think I've found my fellow marchers on this website. :)

She's got it
 

Denise, my thanks also for the O'Keefe quote. I love it. She speaks for many of us, I'm sure.

I've made a lot of payment to finally be able to live the life that I've always wanted to live. I believe that's what we all must do. Our efforts are the money that we can use to support our careers. Looking back, I see how selfish I had to be over a period of 15 years. Upon graduation I moved to Taiwan to be an "ARTIST". My parents suffered watching me leave them in NYC. I also suffered.

Sooner or later the phone call at 3:00am must come informing you of the death of someone. I was a bit of a recluse in Taiwan for 6 years, then became a recluse in Kyoto, Japan for 5 years. In that time I managed to get married to a Japanese woman who gives me all she can. I have to thank her for being my best friend.

To be honest, I don't give her half of what she gives me, and she never complains about it. Part of me wishes that I can give her more, but I cannot turn the tides of "Studio Selfishness". Well, I'm happy. I guess I have to acknowledge my own hard work and extreme good fortune. At the beginning of this post I didn't know if I lived a balanced or an imbalanced life. I guess it's imbalanced but fun. Ciao. :)

With 5 kids (6-16), I am currently in the same predicament. I have never professed to be a housewife, only wife (I didn't marry the house) and mother. The title artist only came a few years ago. As I look around my bedroom now, I see a million things that "should" be done, but alas, won't be done until I'm able to afford a maid.

Finally, all of my children are in school, so I paint during school hours. That time disappears during the summer season, when my studio (which is a few miles from my home) is moved to my carport where the north light is gorgeous, the breeze charges my creativity and my children are given a list of chores longer than my "to do list"! My painting time is precious. If I had nothing else pressing to do, I wonder if I would be so driven to create a masterpiece?