A Balanced Life
I'm in a group that espouses balance in taking a mind/body/spirit/heart approach. It's a great idea, and I can certainly use the work in all areas. It's a best bet to have a happy, healthy, fulfilling life.
And, there is a point where I begin to wonder if I'm all that capable of it. Doing art full time is pretty fulfilling, and pretty intense.......that it has its frustrations is a given, and anyway, what doesn't?
Of late, I've thrown myself into a variety of art jobs, and one or two abstracts that were not commisisoned. I'm struck by my own versatility, and how the moment I pick up that brush, I feel like a different person, one who is in an alpha state. It tells me that I'm doing what comes most naturally, and doing it with a lot of concentrated energy. I can do this most of my waking hours, to the exclusioin of exercise and people. I'm not saying that's a good thing.
Visiting an old piece of art and working on it again, or recreating it, is an interesting experience. It's like going to an diary page from years ago and suddenly reliving where you were at that moment, only it's not quite the same. In this past week, I recreated an abstract tryptich piece I made a few years ago, and also worked on an excellent commercial piece whose purpose had changed as the relationshhip with the client did. In the first case, I had to really toe the line, as the abstracts I do usually have a lot of spontaneity to them; not this time as I had to stick to the old work. In the latter piece, I cut out the logo references and replaced them, and also there were some interesting memories that were stirred up. It's an awfully good piece of cartoon art, though, and it deserves to be seen.
If anything is coming through as a theme to this writing, I think it's a quiet sort of pride in the art I make, and the fact that I make it my living and my craft. If I devoted nearly as much time and diligence to marketing, I'd be generating more income. It's something that I need to consider doing.
And, there is a point where I begin to wonder if I'm all that capable of it. Doing art full time is pretty fulfilling, and pretty intense.......that it has its frustrations is a given, and anyway, what doesn't?
Of late, I've thrown myself into a variety of art jobs, and one or two abstracts that were not commisisoned. I'm struck by my own versatility, and how the moment I pick up that brush, I feel like a different person, one who is in an alpha state. It tells me that I'm doing what comes most naturally, and doing it with a lot of concentrated energy. I can do this most of my waking hours, to the exclusioin of exercise and people. I'm not saying that's a good thing.
Visiting an old piece of art and working on it again, or recreating it, is an interesting experience. It's like going to an diary page from years ago and suddenly reliving where you were at that moment, only it's not quite the same. In this past week, I recreated an abstract tryptich piece I made a few years ago, and also worked on an excellent commercial piece whose purpose had changed as the relationshhip with the client did. In the first case, I had to really toe the line, as the abstracts I do usually have a lot of spontaneity to them; not this time as I had to stick to the old work. In the latter piece, I cut out the logo references and replaced them, and also there were some interesting memories that were stirred up. It's an awfully good piece of cartoon art, though, and it deserves to be seen.
If anything is coming through as a theme to this writing, I think it's a quiet sort of pride in the art I make, and the fact that I make it my living and my craft. If I devoted nearly as much time and diligence to marketing, I'd be generating more income. It's something that I need to consider doing.
posted by Rich Sigberman at
5:08 PM
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