Balancing Creativity and Parenthood

Infinite Monkey Theorem

Like many creatives¹, I spent a lot of my younger years lost in a swirl of daydreams, fantasies, and surges of creative expression. I could set pen to paper whenever the mood struck. Skills practise never felt like work; it was only the refinement of a project in progress.  There were no deadlines, no expectations other than my own — a piece was done when I called it done.  And if one piece sat unfinished while I explored other ideas, so be it.  Time was not a commodity.

Of course, the utopia of youth never lasts, and all too quickly there are bills to pay, responsibilities that never give you a day off, and for some of us, loud, clumsy little people who are in constant need of our undivided attention.

Finding the Time to Create

When children come into your life, two things become a coveted luxury: sleep and alone time…

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52 Weeks of Calgary – Week 1

So far I am doing pretty well on my assorted projects for the new year.  I also have enough knitting on my needles right now that I have been limiting my online time just by trying to work on them each day.  That and the littles running around (one is still fighting off a lingering cough).

Good news of the week is that my camera is back from Nikon.  It is all shiny and fixed.  I am actually fairly impressed that they cleaned it for me.  That was cool.  It had gotten a little dusty waiting for me to have it sent off.

Having it back had showed me just how much I missed using a real camera.  My phone is decent, quick, and convenient, but it just doesn’t compare.  So, for week one of kids + Calgary, we have the following:

 

Journalling in 2014

Aside from knitting and photographing the city, I have committed to reviving my artist trading cards (ATCs) in 2014 with actual trading this time, and I am having thoughts towards art journalling as well.

This morning a story on my FB timeline got me to thinking about social media and attention addiction.  The story was about this woman who consumed nothing but Starbucks for an entire year.  I’m not going to link it because it wasn’t anything substantive.  Just a lot of instagram selfies with no info on how eating only from one store affected her health, if at all.  Though, apparently it did end up costing roughly $500/mth more than grocery shopping (there’s a shocker for ya).

Anyway, one of the commenters said that she should do a new project where she writes all her updates in a paper journal to see how well she does without the interaction of blog followers and social media.  This struck me as a really good idea.  Not just for the Starbucks woman, but for everyone.

With schools looking to phase out cursive script because more people print, and the post office constantly raising postage rates (our stamps go up to $1 this year unless you buy them in books), the reasons for writing long hand are growing less and less.  To toot my own horn for a moment, I have some pretty nice handwriting.  I was one of those girls in high school who used to practise different writing styles until I could comfortably write in a half-dozen different ways.

But, I don’t write in script.  Who knows if schools will still be teaching children how to write by the time my little ones get there.  The schools I have picked out are more traditional, so chances are fair, I would say.  Either way, I want to be able to pass this art along to my children before it is completely lost.  To do so, I’d best get practising.

I have a lot of art projects lined up for 2014, and I would like to cut my online time by half.  For me, that means that my thoughts and little quips may get incorporated into my art journal.  Written in script.

I will try to post journal excerpts here, but most will end up on my artist page on FB.  I have both a photography blog and an art blog.  I think I may end up merging the latter into Oracle Lens.

January is full of planning.  Today it is snowing.  New snow to cover the old icy snow in a soft layer of white.

GP2013 – Days 11 & 12

Some days it’s harder to find something to be grateful for than others.  This past week has been a doozy, and I’ve been feeling grouchy and irritable for a couple of days now.

Day 11: I am grateful that my little girl likes to draw.  She loves it when we draw together and would rather “colour” on blank paper than in a colouring book.

Day 12: I am grateful for the upcoming harvest season.  It is my favourite time of year, and I really hope that Calgary gets a proper autumn this year.

Perspicacity and Pagan Art

Perspicacity as defined by Merriam-Webster is:

acute mental vision or discernment

More specifically, it’s the ability to understand or gain insight. As much fun as it is to say, perspicacity strikes me as a unifying core goal of many, if not most, Pagan paths.  We seek to understand; to grow our vision to see all that the world(s)/universe is and has to offer.

Draw it Again: Completed.

Here she is, just as I promised, Eden! Completed and entered into the ‘Draw it Again’ contest (with roughly 5 hours to spare!).

Play it Again, Sam

I don’t know how many of you folks have visited DeviantArt, but I figured that since I’ve been a bit consumed lately, I would try to double my journal entries from there over here.  That way, no one has to worry that I’ve fallen off the face of the earth.

Time slips by at this time of year like it’s coated in butter.  The last little while I have been focused on replacing a lot of my old art supplies with new and high quality supplies.  When you only get 2 – 3 hours a day to yourself, this process takes a while. Also, Thanksgiving is coming and I still need chairs.

Gratitude Project Fail, Art Win

Well, I guess it’s more of a blogging fail in general.  I’ve been so busy with my art that I haven’t really given any of my blogs a second thought in over a week.  Let’s just say that I am grateful for the mass influx of creative inspiration and hope that it continues.