Last weekend i went to the TAEA convention where i heard Future Akin and her co-speaker (eric? Check?...i amsorry i cann't recal his name right now and will look it up as soon as i finish this post and fix that issue...forgive me)...
one of the talks they gave was called " Where is my studio?"
i have heard Future speak before at another TAEA conference in Galveston...and i loved her then...
"where is my studio" was a presentation about their own work spaces, and how they made spaces...not necessarily the grand loft-style rooms we all dream about...
but, simple useable spaces...based on their needs and what they had to work with at the time....
Hers, is two small rooms...no more than 12x12, extra bedrooms...and the thirs space is her backyard...a picnic table...and that's it...
His, is a renovated one-car garage..large enough for a small kitchen table and a fe chairs...the outside he made a sitting area with chairs and a small porch...and brightly coloured....
Both were great spaces...
They asked for volunteers to speak about their own working spaces...and no one spoke...
they both gasped....
" that is so sad...." he said...and it hit me in the gut...
and then i remembered, that i do have a work space...and so did two other gals...
we spoke of how we adapted them to meet our families needs as well...one having a small child...and me with my own...
then the two speakers went on to talk about people they knew and how they made time every single day to do some sort of creative work for themselves...even if it wasn't great work...they needed to simply do something for themselves as artists...just to create....
As an artist, i have really been struggling with the fact that i as a teacher, which i love being...I am teaching everyone else, how to do the things i only wish i had time to do myself....and that is a kick in the gut....
But, this talk hit home in making me think about how i can make time for myself to do something for myself everyday....
I have been rethinking our family schedule...I have been thinking about what i can do on a daily basis to get to make my own work...what i can do to alleviate that pain in my chest that comes from the stress i feel when i can't focus onmy own work...
All week, i ahve been trying to make a little bit here and there...even if it is simply knitting a basic scarf for 30 mintes a day...it helps...it helpts keep my head above water...it helps keep my brain functioning...on more than crown control and answering emails...office work and the constant barrage of questions i answer daily....
as an artist...we are torn...between doing what we really love...and putting food on the table...that is my next task to handle...figuring out how to do both....
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