So I’m back at my job. Which is work- an “activity that a person engages in regularly to earn a livelihood.” It’s more than that for me, and in the context of having a sabbatical and experiencing a care-free, easily enjoyable life, I find I still feel that way. I actually want to feel the excitement about my profession in the way it did for the decade+ when I didn’t make art work. There’s a lot of work left to do around decarbonization and electrification- work worth doing.
Consequently, there is less work- “something produced by the exercise of creative talent or expenditure of creative effort : artistic production“- as a result of less work- “activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something“- taking place in my studio. This is relative to the sabbatical I just completed though (IE, partly this is time issue). And you know what? I’m just fine. Really. So what if I don’t enough fresh content to post on Instagram 5-6 times per week (btw, I decided before this lull that I should drop to 3 posts every Sunday, and it was a relief!). So what if I don’t “have the energy” to head into the studio- I also don’t have an upcoming solo exhibit or a gallery haranguing me for inventory. Why force myself to make things because… yeah, I can’t finish the sentence either. Isn’t work that bursts out due to the creative fire better anyway? I’m still doing things to make community, thinking of ideas for shows, and working on the beginnings of my very first strategic plan for how to accomplish what I want to over the next couple of years (“yes” figuring out what I want is the first and perhaps hardest part).
I like things that work- “produce a desired effect or result“. I don’t think I’m alone, as an artist, in holding that sentiment. And it can mean a number of things- trying to select a word to focus my bi-monthly updates (yes, now that sabbatical is over I won’t be doing them weekly any more) “works”; doing a bunch of paintings over sabbatical to see what “works” works; and I’ve realized, or remembered really*, that there are simple strategies to plan out studio sessions that can harness creativity in a way that works to generate more work with less work.
*when I was making hard-edge op-art in the early 2000s, I took a very methodical approach to the paintings that allowed me to be super productive in 15-20 minute chunks (I was a stay-at-home dad at the time).
Painting After Art is Dead 
3 thoughts on “Work”