Art Life Balance

Fork in the Road between starving and thriving artist

After sharing my version of art guilt on my previous blog what I didn’t expect was that virtually everyone has an opposite version of art guilt. They feel guilty when they don’t create art, not when they do. I imagine either version is potentially damaging and exposes the fact that almost all creators are in a state of guilt for spending too much time or not enough time on their art. But one thing can be certain is that the life of a creator is happier and more fulfilled when you are actually creating. So to avoid both kinds of art guilt, I think the next step is to figure out how much time do you need to spend on your work to not be miserable. But then not spend all your time on art so that your life falls apart around you. I suppose you could call it art life balance. The best way to find time for your art is to take it seriously and schedule it in. Or if you are like me working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day, you need to find pockets of time that will allow you to create. Sketching between pouring coffee’s, blogging while on the toilet, illustrating while sitting with your kids waiting for them to fall asleep, basically anywhere you can multitask your creative life into your everyday life. Art life balance isn’t easy, but it’s essential for creative people be happy.