Uninterrupted time is a precious luxury.
In the course of this last week I have been diligently writing every morning at 6.30am. Regardless of all the other things I had going on, I remained focussed to the task. I showed up with my crazy bed hair and an unwashed face to 100+ artists from around the world without feeling uncomfortable about it.
And it continues this week, all via Amy Kennedy’s mentorship program, Fresh Eyes. Make Exceptional Work, Create Exceptional Opportunities.
These types of experiences are nothing new to me, in the past I have signed up to many online courses, both with writing and creating outcomes. Some of which I barely started, because I never had the time to dedicate myself wholly. I love working alone, but there is something about turning up at a certain time or place when there are also others there to complete a task that you know will benefit your day. Will set things in motion in order to benefit your thinking and goals.
It’s got me thinking a lot about TIME.
Because I have spent this 1/2 an hour writing, I have seamlessly slid into a morning of working in my studio. Mostly photographing and painting. This all of course is possible because of something else crucial in my routine at the moment and that is, less interruptions. It just happens that right now I don’t have as many parent tasks at hand. I’ve struggled for years to separate both the role as mother and as artist. Some may say that I have done this really well. However, deep inside I feel that I have so much to give to my art practice and I have never been fully able to harness this due to the interruptions of parenting. There I’ve said it. And I could unravel it more, and I am sure I will in the future, but for now it’s time to move on.
I’ve been listening to Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, recommended to me by a follower. So much to take from this book especially how we define time and use time well. The act of patience. Particularly grappling with the idea of giving ourselves to being patient. He mentions an exercise developed by Jennifer Roberts, professor in art history at Harvard University, of sitting in front of a painting for 3 hours without any devices or interruptors and how we can learn from this. So much more that I resonate with… Jorge Louis Borges, ‘Time is the substance I am made of…’ and Photographer, Arno Rafael Minkkinen’s analogy of a bus journey as an art career.
Most of all I have had time today to write, and think more clearly. I’ve even had time to spend valuable time in the garden.
Which means tomorrow I can continue on the same path that I have stopped on today. I haven’t wandered off. I won’t feel as lost or behind in my goals when the time to start again ticks over.
Finally, I have had time to paint studies today as seen here in this post. Instead of feeling that I have limited time on my hands and I must make something that is worthy of selling, I’ve allowed myself to just paint studies. Perhaps more on this in my next post.