As a creative person, one of the hardest things to do is to figure out the practical logistics of being an artist. Setting up a website, choosing the tools and designs, figuring out how to share and display, connecting actively with other artists and audience, this all takes up significant resources and mental space.
There is also that very humbling moment when you wonder if it is even necessary. I know it took me almost 4 years to allow myself to say I’m an artist, and it is only recently that I’ve made the emotional shift from being a Financial Analyst who is also a painter, to being a Creative who does finance for a living.
Till quite recently, I was convinced I could not control when the muse struck me, taking over all the time I could free up from daily living minutiae, family, job, health etc. There would be months when I painted obsessively, churning out what I considered my best pieces effortlessly. Then there were months when I couldn’t bring myself to paint a circle. I am currently in the midst of a dry spell, but this time I have been disciplined enough to focus on technique (taking classes, practicing, learning) and practicalities like starting this blog.
I’ve also been thinking about the shift between finance and art, as part of the (now challenged) left brain and right brain narratives. I experience these as two very different selves, complete with wardrobe. The business side of me wears solids, blacks and grays, very structured and restrained, while the painter revels bright prints, jewel tones colors and floaty loose dresses. I wonder if there are physical things I do, unconsciously, to switch, and if I can somehow control that mindfully.
But that’s for another blog post. -alka