The Art of Thinking...

I think most artists who make a living (or try to make a living) off of their own work encounter, from time to time, the profound sense of not being able to produce enough and that Time is against their creative process.  There's a great post that articulates these feelings on the Sparrow Salvage blog that you might want to check out HERE.

For me, it's no different.  I have a million ideas and a sense of expectation from these artistic ambitions.  I often times have to table these creative pursuits in favor of the everyday demands that rear their head.  Now that there's the Gallery, there are even more demands on my schedule.  Cynthia Deis, owner of Ornamentea, offered up some great advice to those seeking to start their own store.  She left it as a reply to an excellent series of posts that Jennifer Jangles wrote not too long ago on the Art Bead Scene blog.  Basically she said:  It's hard to juggle customer demands and creative work.  It's important to make time to handle business and creative activities you don't want to be interrupted away from.


In times like these, where I feel as though I've lost my footing and am far from being centered, it's important to remember to take time to think and "tinker" as Penny puts it.  It's important to make uninterrupted time to think and to make and do things that are good not just for the business, but for the creative soul.  I have to remember that to be a better artist, business person and all-around human-being – I have to not underestimate the value of thinking.  The very act of thinking and communing with the Muses is a powerful act of creation.  It's the construction of the foundation for any artistic act.