How do you guys do it?

It’s been too long since I posted so I apologize to anyone who may have checked by only to find the same old same old. It’s hard to find time for the computer and everything else.

Let me apologize for the way that sounds. I love computers. I think they are one of the real instruments of progress. We are even beginning to use them for positive, enriching experiences instead of just games. But I don’t have a lot of time after work to spend on the computer, on the Net. I leave in the morning a little after 7AM. I get home a little before 7PM. I feed then cats, check my mail, check my email, respond when needed, do anything that is really, really necessary in the house (clean the cat box, wash stray dishes, pick up bits of this and that the cats scattered during the day, etc.) then settle in to artwork. I am getting ready for 3 Christmas shows and I have to start delivering work the first of November. Sounds like plenty of time for those of you who don’t do my work but it isn’t plenty of time. It’s been rainy here, so things aren’t drying as quickly as they should. Now it’s getting cold, too. My work is truly individual. When I sit down to draw (using a wood burner), it’s slow. Each design is original. When I start drawing, what comes out of my head through my hands is what comes out-I don’t copy one design repeatedly. Frankly, I may try some of that for these shows since I need lots of stuff in a short period of time. Of course, I know how that goes. I start drawing, even looking at a design I may have just completed, thinking I really like that and I’ll draw several, and I start drawing. I get into the lines, the loops, the flow and then I’m connecting this line to that and the burner wanders around and I’ve drawn something new and I love it and I keep going until it’s finished and I think Oh, I like that, I’ll do several and off we go again. Once I’m into that zone, I go and I don’t try to control it. That’s the point of making art for me. It’s a creative process that releases something in me and for me and I resist controlling it by making 6 of those and 12 of those…I did that with the potpourri pots I made from gourds. I designed the dragonfly cutout that went on the lid. That was really the only thing that I used over and over. The pots were finished with different colors and textures, and I was doing the same thing with that as I do with drawing. Watching what happens with this color, what happens when I do this? Or this? So the pots are just as individual, but the theme is consistent. That worked out pretty well and I’ll finish more of those. I’m also experimenting with finishes, sanding space off for drawing and making new pots that have interesting finishes and colorful designs. I’m letting the designs take new avenues and creating functional pieces that are beautiful and unique.

More pictures. I finally figured otu what I was doing wrong!

Dragonfly potpourri pot and pot decorated with gourd piece. The picture below shows the bits and pieces left over from broken gourds that I draw on and use for jewelry, gourd decoration, etc.

Lord, that’s enough marketing for one blog, don’t you think? Anyway, the point is that I have so little time after work that I want to do MY work, my artwork, or my writing. The blog is part of that, but not everything. Jeez, now it sounds like I don’t want to blog, or that I think this is less valuable than some other activity. Sorry, I don’t mean it that way. I’m just so surprised when I read other people’s blogs and I realize they do it almost every day. (!) I admire that, I do, but I can’t give up my art time. And I go to bed pretty early because I read for a while before I sleep. I can’t give that up, either.

So, I’ll post as much as I can and will try to make it a more regular thing so more of you will stop by and read what’s happening. I do want to hear from people and get feedback on my writing and my art. Without it, without feedback and interaction from those of you OUT THERE how can I tell if I’m communicating?

OK, now you have something to reply to: how do you do it? How do you keep up with email and blogging and Internet searches…and everything else? Does having an 8-hour a day job make that much difference? I work 10 hours a day and my travel time is 40 minutes each way so I’m effectively gone 12 hours a day. What gives? I go to bed to get 8 hours of sleep, so tell me, how do you split up your day?