I hope you had a lovely holiday season! Greg and I are fortunate to live close to both of our families so we had plenty of family events as well as some much-needed rest after working 24/7 on house and yard projects. We even took off an entire day to watch movies – we managed to fit in five – for my birthday.
But, its January 2nd and time to get back to the real world. I’ve been thinking a lot about my New Year’s resolutions and, more importantly, how to make realistic ones given that we are packing, getting a house ready to sell, and moving – only to start unpacking and decorating a new house and, even more fun – setting up a new studio. Is it realistic to do all that and create art, too?
After hemming and hawing and making ambitious lists and crossing everything out again, I’ve decided to commit to the following New Year’s Art Resolutions:
1. I will spend at least 2 hours almost every day making art. Whether it is working on a new artists’ book, taking photographs, doing post-production work, producing an edition or just playing with materials. Sure, once the move is over it will be a lot more than 2 hours, but if I can just keep that window open for creativity almost every day – despite packing up my studio, I’ll call that a win.
2. I’ll keep a daily journal to jot down thoughts for my art – even if I don’t have time to work on it right now – I don’t want to lose the ideas! More importantly the journal doesn’t have to be fancy, artistic or, even worse, perfect. It just needs to keep ideas in one (findable) place.
3. I will not stash everything in my studio in boxes just to get it packed and done. I will clean it out as I go and find homes for items that I don’t love any more. I’ll offer supplies to my artist friends, the kid’s schools and Freecycle. Only supplies I love and find inspiring will go with me to my new studio. By investing this time now, I’ll have freedom to create later.
4. I will make new mid-year resolutions once the move is over. Yes, right now moving to a new house and a new studio feels all-consuming, but this too will pass. There needs to be a point where I get back to my regular art-making practices. The sooner the better.
Are you making Art Resolutions for the New Year? I’d love to see them. Please share yours in the comments.
Happy New Year to you and your family.
~Ginger
Midnight Musings 