The Artist's Great Balancing Act
Achieving balance in life as an artist I've found is an art in itself. The issue, with this artist at least is that it seems that there are too few hours in the day to satisfy all the needs of this lifestyle. And here I go with yet another task, the writing of a blog. Although it really fits better into the category of a joy than a task. After a lifetime in the arts so much has been learned from other gifted artists (both live and dead), so much encouragement has been passed on to me, and so many lessons learned through successes and failures that it is high time I began giving back whatever I can that might smooth out the path of anyone who dares to walk the road of an artist.
As mentioned balancing this life can be a daunting struggle. The calling to greater excellence in the expression of our art, the relentless following after our individual creative inspirations, the ever expanding learning curve in marketing ourselves and sourcing out avenues of connection with potential collectors are just a few of the challenges we face as artists. Balancing and prioritizing this list is the weight on only one side of the scales, the other side is our personal life. I won't waste any words itemizing the list of duties required to satisfy all the needs and responsibilities of our personal lives, but I think it would be safe to acknowledge that life manages to get it the way or at least slow down all of the above noted efforts to our success.
The thought of standing at my easel all day and indulging myself in the work I love the most is a dream yet realized. I think that dream might have been responsible for the realization of the proverbial 'starving artist.' With the arrival of the new millennia and the massive growth in the power and influence of social media, 2022 forces us into a new reality, art sales with marketing through social media platforms has become the expected norm and go-to source for too many art collectors to ignore. It is to us to apply ourselves, to adjust our course of daily disciplines and to deny ourselves the fate of the starving artist. I write this blog today thinking of you all, all the artists, the would be artists, the creatives. We have the noble task of making an important contribution to culture and a calling to inspire all those whose days can be brightened by our gifts.
Let's make a commitment today to stay the course and make something beautiful. Life is like that. Life is a blank canvas. Painting something beautiful on it can't be all shadows and mid-tones. We'll need to add in some highlights that will really make our lives exciting, personally fulfilling as well as creatively and financially rewarding. Let's make it a masterpiece.
I've done my writing for the day, now back to my easel!
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