Life, Paint & Passion

 

Last weekend I completely disengaged from my computer, dishes and laundry. Instead I went to a weekend workshop called The Painting Experience. I had booked it last year, before I planned my 2012 schedule. As the dates approached, I considered cancelling. I told myself I was too busy to take that much time away from work.    

I listened to that nagging voice drone on and I realized that the best thing to do was to ignore it and get away from everything.

For 2½ days I gave myself the freedom to paint without any thought of producing a piece that would end up in an exhibit. The whole idea was to explore what showed up - painting for process instead of product.

I am goal oriented and like to produce results, so throughout the experience I had to remind myself that, just for the weekend, the goal was not to have a goal. This simple thought challenged me to trust whatever showed up and to enjoy the freedom and surprises.  

I know you have to work hard to make a living as an artist. Just keep sight of the reason that you chose this profession - and remember to make art just for the joy of it whenever you can. You deserve a life.

 

P.S. If you can't make one of these workshops, you can get the book here: http://budurl.com/LifePaintPassion

FTC Disclosure: When we find people like Stewart Cubley who have deep, proven experience in a topic that will help you make a better living making art and still have a life, we put them front and center.  When these fine folks offer services and products that are first class, we like to promote them. We do not earn any cash from this particular relationship, except maybe your appreciation and a way to pay it forward to our dedicated readers

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My colleagues Right Brain Rockstar and Artonomy asked for my help to spread the word about their survey of aspiring, part-time and full-time artists. Since I encourage you all to network and support each other, naturally I agreed.

What's in it for you?

• You may get some insights into what you could be doing more of to advance your career from answering the questions;

• You can learn how other artists operate from a summarized copy of the results 30 days after the survey closes (if you leave your email address);

• You'll get some exposure by being included in a roundup post on Right Brain Rockstar shortly after the survey is closed (if you leave your name, website and/or Twitter details.)

Take me to the survey. 

P.S. Read my series of posts to debunk the 'starving artist' myth here.

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If you missed the Art Marketing Q & A this month, click here.

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Want to know exactly how we can help you set up your ongoing learning and get it all done? If you haven't already had one, you can request a free 15-minute conversation here. It's a great start! 

Comments

[Martin Dervin]

It's both difficult and encouraging to provide a supportive and stimulating environment that guides people to explore the creative process through expressive painting

[Dan]

Thanks for helping out with the survey Aletta! The results have now been analysed and you can download a free report from http://rightbrainrockstar.com/uncategorized/survey-roundup/

[Aletta]

My pleasure Dan! FYI, I am stil editing the book - a loooong process. When it is done, I'll let you know and perhaps we can do a blog interview?