Time

It's really amazing how, when you have no nine-to-five job, no friends [geographically nearby], nowhere to go, you can still have no time to work!  One thing I have learned about myself is that I will always be busy.  It won't matter how many hours I work away from home (or don't), how many committee meetings I have (or don't), how many commitments or responsibilities I have (or don't), I always fill my time.  Recently, my husband and I have had several out-of-town guests nearly back-to-back, so I've kept busy cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, and touring around the area.  I've also decided to take the Master Gardener Program through the Virginia Cooperative Extension--something I've wanted to do for a while and finally have the "time" to do it.   Not to mention this is the time of year to get a few new shrubs in the ground and dig some compost in around a few straggly azaleas.  Who has time to work?

Of course, I'm exaggerating a bit.  I can set my own schedule and am enjoying the luxury of being able to take a class six hours a week.  The real issue is making working in my studio the priority.  I have always been very self-motivated and get a lot of work done in a compact amount of time, but making studio time the priority was a struggle for me during the academic year just as it is now.  I love to garden, to cook, to read, to learn, to spend time with family and friends--I want time for it all!

I also struggle with is the enormity of everything I feel I need to do--develop a marketable line of work, market it, market myself, take time to make art art in addition to production work (jewelry), write a new artist statement, find exhibitions, apply for exhibitions.   This whole thing is not as simple as making things I think people should want to buy.  #1 You've got to make something you're truly excited about that you can get others excited about.  #2 You've got to get that something at the right price point to the right audience.  And in reality, this takes time.

So, I need to give myself a little grace and recognize this transition isn't going to happen overnight, or even over a few months.  The good news is I've got three different series of work going on down on my workbench, a long list of places I'd like to show artwork, and more time than I can shake a stick at.  I'll get there.