I’ve had a total rest from my art this week as we went away for a family holiday near Swanage, in Dorset. Looking at the winter wonderland on the Friday night, I wondered whether we would ever manage to leave Sheffield but the snow turned to rain overnight and it was fine.
I’ve always tried to have a break from my art during school holidays. Firstly, when the children were small I knew I couldn’t concentrate on detailed painting whilst keeping an eye on them, and I didn’t want to get ratty every time I was broken off. Secondly, I didn’t want them to feel that my art was more important than they are. They grow up so fast and before you know it they’re about to leave home! They’re fifteen and seventeen now but I still try not to start any new work and just potter around doing some framing and mounting. This works well for me as it stops me developing “burnout” and at the end of the holiday I can’t wait to get going again.
January to April is the time of the year when I’m busy building up a new body of work for the various exhibitions. I’ve just submitted my application for this year’s Open Up event and I’m aware that the next three months will fly by. I had a phone call just before we came away from one of the other artists in my patch, so that we could coordinate our opening days. It really does attract visitors if they can visit several venues in the same locality and I’ve enjoyed getting to know some of the artists in my area through this means. This year I’ve refreshed my artwork summary for the Open Up brochure (that’s not easy in under twenty words) and I debated long and hard what photograph to use. I finally settled on a cat portrait (it was a dog last year and an otter the year before). No doubt it will attract the cat lovers this year.
I’ve always tried to have a break from my art during school holidays. Firstly, when the children were small I knew I couldn’t concentrate on detailed painting whilst keeping an eye on them, and I didn’t want to get ratty every time I was broken off. Secondly, I didn’t want them to feel that my art was more important than they are. They grow up so fast and before you know it they’re about to leave home! They’re fifteen and seventeen now but I still try not to start any new work and just potter around doing some framing and mounting. This works well for me as it stops me developing “burnout” and at the end of the holiday I can’t wait to get going again.
January to April is the time of the year when I’m busy building up a new body of work for the various exhibitions. I’ve just submitted my application for this year’s Open Up event and I’m aware that the next three months will fly by. I had a phone call just before we came away from one of the other artists in my patch, so that we could coordinate our opening days. It really does attract visitors if they can visit several venues in the same locality and I’ve enjoyed getting to know some of the artists in my area through this means. This year I’ve refreshed my artwork summary for the Open Up brochure (that’s not easy in under twenty words) and I debated long and hard what photograph to use. I finally settled on a cat portrait (it was a dog last year and an otter the year before). No doubt it will attract the cat lovers this year.
