Balance

I'm trying to master a new trick. I'm sure there are many of you out there that have to balance your art with family, work... well, life in general. I've never really tried to fit my art into everything else. I'm either all or none. Typically, I have worked full time or gone to school and let my personal work stay on the back burner; something to fiddle with on long holidays. That or I am out of school and letting the one who loves me pay the bills while I try to focus solely on my work. Neither of those choices is satisfactory to me really. I don't like letting someone else support me and I don't like ignoring that very important part of me.

I just took a full time job and decided this time to pay attention to all my needs. I need to feel independent financially but my creativity needs to be addressed. Most of you will know how hard it is to make time for yourself and your art when there is laundry piling up, dinner to be fixed and the exhaustion of just doing your job for eight hours a day to deal with.

My compromise is to work during the week and just focus on my home and my job. The weekends are for me. Seems obvious to me now but for some reason it was the hardest decision to come to. I still find myself catching up on housework on Saturday and eyeballing the clay on weeknights when I should be in bed, but it is getting better. Anticipating my time in my studio gives me something to look forward to and I am excited to be in there.

Maybe it seems silly to just be figuring this stuff out but you can only learn what you are ready to learn.

Rock n Roll

In honor of my shoulder feeling better then acquiring a fabulously crispy sun burn that makes wearing clothes feel like a million little needles, I am going to post a few of my favorite etsy artists. Actually, the real inspiration for the artists I chose are all the river rocks I collected after I burned myself floating down the river at a family reunion this weekend. After the bad choice in non-waterproof sunblock, I decided it was best to play babysitter and amused myself with finding interesting stones while the kids hunted for fish with these awesome $2 toy nets. I love it when kids find more amusement in the cheapy stuff. Anyway, here are some very talented people who work with stones and pebbles (or at least imitate it well.)

Ashleyjewelry's fabulous rock pieces


Beth Cyr Fine Art Jewelry


Ad libitum- as you like it


Created by Abbe Ciulla of The Offbeat Artisans


Hardflower Studios


Kim Westad Ceramics