Time

I was interviewed by the Tribune today about my artwork for their Niche Artist spot in Sundays paper... I love talking about being an artist because it reminds me that I am, in fact, an artist... even if I don't have time to make any artwork.

I don't have time to make work... this is what plagues me. I want to spend days taking photographs, making photographs, cutting them up and re-forming them. I want to take drawing classes with Lon or anyone at this point to keep my hand working and my eyes seeing... it's so hard to find the time... How easy is it to audit a class? Maybe I should do that... someday.

And if I don't find the time does that mean I'm not an artist? I am compelled to make things- that's what makes me an artist. But the things that I make aren't necessarily associated with my work. I spent two hours on Shutterfly making a scrapbook of the photos I took while traveling in London with Joe and Sally. It's not very creative- the pages are made for me already, I just click and drag the digital images onto the pages and then I receive a scrapbook in the mail... p.s. it's way easier than actually scrapbooking something- which I REALLY don't have time for. But I made something... I thought about how the photos would look next to one another and that was about it. Somehow I spent 2 hours working on this...

And, why do we spend so much time at work? I want to work to live not live to work. I want to have enough time to do the things I love... like being in a darkroom all day. I want to be able to do that and still have time to see my daughter crawl and pull herself up to stand. Ugh... I just want more time. I never have time to call my friends, to go to the gym, to have a date with my husband, to take the dog on a really long walk, to exercise, to read-uninterrupted- for more than 20 minutes. I hope it will get easier when Sally is older and when Joe is done with school.

Getting back to being an artist... I am one. So there. Ooh. Now, I need to go and make something to prove it.