What Makes an Artist?

You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. ― Joseph Campbell

I have no new work to show, all paintings are on hold as I am doing a special project, very hush hush, so I can't share yet, but I will be able to at some point and you will be the first to know :-).

I have a deadline and that always scares me, but also feels good. I always make my deadlines :-).
I wanted to talk about what being an artist means these days. You have to be good at your craft and that means working. But you also have to be a photographer, a computer whiz, a marketing whiz. A shipper and a packer, or if you are lucky enough to have enough money to hire people to do all that stuff. I dream of the day I have an assistant :-). Add to that if you are single like me, you do all the cleaning and cooking and dog walking and shopping. Then add a part time job, down to 17 hours a week, so not so bad.
My question really is, is being an artist all about the work or do other things factor in? These days everyone is driven, do more, keep pushing. I struggle with this as it is my belief and experience that is not the case.
As an artist I need long walks in the forest, I need to sit and read and watch the birds, I need to see and visit with friends, I sometimes need a good movie. These are all things I love as much as I love art and they inform my work. These things take time and art takes time. I am not one who can do a quick painting, my work is process driven, it is what I love and it takes time. Sometimes one piece takes a month or 2 and part of that time is spent slowing down and living life, taking in each moment and really paying attention to it.
I am wondering what all you other artists, including writers, think of this, do you, like me, sometimes feel guilty that you are not doing your craft while you read a book :-).  Happy weekend. XOXO

 “The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place; from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.”

—	Pablo Picasso

New Pesky Devil Done

In my last post I told you I was working on two small pesky devils and I finished one finally! I included details and a side shot also a group shot of several on my dining room wall, I can't get good photos in my dining room as there is little light, but I did the best I could, Judy and Lynne requested a group shot so here it is. Also I included a very blurry shot of the sweetest bird in my yard, anyone know what it is? I have never seen one here and it was alone.
This mixed media collage is 12"x 12", all my usual media, not titled yet.
I always love your thoughts. XOXO

New Work

 Top is a detail shot, then a side view and then the whole painting from the front. This collage is titled "Asia" due to the map I used, 14" x 11". There is a lot going on here and you get a better view if you click on the image to enlarge. I used venetian plaster, maps, ledger papers, ink, oil and acrylic paint, graphite,and cold wax on cradle board.
I am currently working on 3 small pieces that are being pesky :-), sometimes the little devils take a while and there is no rushing them. And two large pieces that are time and labor intensive, so I likely won't have anything else to show for a while.
I always love to hear your thoughts. XOXO