Things here have been busy, probably as they have been busy for you as well. I’m not saying I don’t know how it happened, this being busy. This year has been very different from the standpoint of a new work schedule, and finding the syncopated beat of that new rhythm has taken some concentration.
In the middle of that song, I am still compelled to make art. It still allows me to process life and connect to something bigger than myself. But I don’t have the same time-space to work on it as I did when my schedule was more flexible.
It would be easy to just throw up my hands and decide to invest my time in watching something good on Netflix but that doesn’t serve the same purpose as making art, even little art, even speedy art.
To that end, I’ve started working in more bursts, fewer layers, and in journals that are a bit smaller than I’ve loved in the past. These pages aren’t as richly textured as I’d like, but compromises have to be made. 🙂 It’s become my mission to find pockets of time in which to work, and then be prepared for those by keeping certain things on hand should the need arise. I’ve started to pay closer attention to the patterns of regular life, in order to streamline processes and become aware of repeated tasks and what kind of time commitment those require.
This is not my normal interest or skill area. Because I value create endeavors though, it’s worth it to go through the (boring) analysis necessary to make the most of these new rhythms.
…All in time for the school year to end and the whole routine to go out the window. Ha!
Here are a few pages I’ve worked on recently in these small pockets of time…
I went back and added a stamp to a background I’d already created.
Quick, small page that feels done even though it’s pretty simple.
Side A
Side B
The thing I keep coming back to is rather than bemoan a lack of focused time or wring my hands about entering into a different season of creativity, it’s better to celebrate the ways you can still continue to be committed to exercising that creativity. Maybe it will lead to more efficiency. Maybe more percolating will happen away from the page so that when you do get there, you’ll be able to jump right in without puttering around to warm up.
It all counts, no matter how much time’s available to invest in the actual creation. There’s much more to creativity than the time spent creating. Your whole life informs the creative process…and vice versa.
“Speedy art” – I like it! And can so identify with how routine is never routine for long, especially when you have kids. “Everything changed, then changed again . . .” (Tom Petty)