Yes, but how will I DO it?

I spent the weekend taking down Christmas decorations and planning my mother’s birthday dinner next Saturday. I made no art, which is rather alarming even though I can claim legitimate reasons this time. But it is scary because I’ve set very high goals for 2010, and I know from experience that transforming my visual ideas (which come so readily) into pieces of art that others can appreciate (which usually happens so slowly) is a process for which I never seem to find enough time. But boy does it feel good when I get it right!

I’ve always had a very dodgy relationship with time. I'm always underestimating the amount of time something will require—after years of which you’d think I’d have figured out how to manage better. But I simply seem to have no innate frame of reference for judging time. So…I have been giving a good bit of thought lately to how I’m going to bring off starting and sustaining an online business marketing my art. I’ve tried to do my homework, heaven knows the information is out there. But living the moment to moment life of someone who successfully operates on that plane—well, that’s another story. That will require a major shift in my habits, as well as my psyche. Still, others have done it, why not me? I see it largely as a question of self-discipline.

Then there is my 3SIXTY5 project, wherein I will make a piece of art a day for a year. Ever since conceiving this idea, I’ve asked myself: if the project were up and running now, how would I make the time, given that my days and evenings will continue to be filled with the same duties and distractions? What will change, to enable me to meet the challenge? I’ve decided preparation is the most obvious key. I’ve been making sketches for the project, assembling materials, looking for inspiration. I want to set up a specific work area just for the project, so that whenever I approach that area, my psyche will hop to attention. I will also need to develop a kind of on-going “art state of mind” that can operate without special props such as that, which looks around it and at all times sees interesting juxtapositions of images and exciting combinations of materials. This is a process that needs to be nurtured and sustained. The more art you do, the more you are capable of doing. It is built up in the eyes and hands as much as in the mind, but always it starts with the mind.

This blog is meant to be another tool to keep me on track. It has no justification for taking up anyone’s time (especially my own) unless it effectively urges me forward and keeps me on track. And if this works, my life will never be the same!