Art at the Speed of Life Blog Tour - Day 12

Here is what it looked like over at my house when I agreed to be on the Art at the Speed of Life Blog Tour:

Blog tour………………………………………………….

Hmmm………………………………………………………….

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Oh!  Look at the time!  I’d better go do that………….that……..….thing………………

Yeah…That one thing.  That one that really needs to be done right now instead of this…

Right?

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Yep.  Here I am in this book and I suspect that someone came in the night and sucked all the creativity out of me. 

In fact, I’m sure of it!  Call the authorities!

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Okay, maybe not. 

Hmm………………………………………………………………………….

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Here’s how I came to be in this predicament:

I’ve known Pam for over 34 years – we were newborns then!  …Yeah, right.  Anyway -   Pam and her sister very kindly approached me at the school bus stop when I first moved into the neighborhood and, as it turned out, lived right across the street from me.  We became fast friends.  As I got to know her, it became obvious that Pam was very creative and artistic.  We became the best of friends and I was very sad when she had to move a few years later.  We kept in touch for a while but lost track of each other around 1985 or so.  Fast forward to April of 2007 and lo and behold!  Pam and I find each other in a small online group!  After more than 20 years!  Here we were doing the same sort of art and unknowingly making the same online friends.  Small world, eh?

When we connected and started talking, Pam told me that she was going to try getting published in a couple magazines. Well, of course they loved her work - and her!  She quickly became a favorite in the world of mixed media publications.  I was (and still am) so proud to know her!  After generously sharing her techniques and work with people via magazines and online classes, Pam started writing her book.  I was so excited for her!

When Pam asked me to be in the book I sort of panicked.  What?  Stop having cocktails for breakfast, Pam!  Be in a book about finding time for art?  I need that book!  My work area is always a disaster and that disaster grows like a flood plain during monsoon season. I’m volunteering for my daughter’s school about 3 times a week and I usually work on 3 or 4 fundraisers a year for it. My daughter has autism, so I work with her after school and on weekends on socialization issues.  My husband has an active vintage bicycle hobby and we produce two big events a year.  Our house is miniscule and I certainly don’t have a “studio.” The amount of art Pam and many of my other online friends produce astounds me.  Why on earth would anyone want me to be in a book about making time for art?

Oh – wait!  Despite all of the above, I was listening when Pam first told me about how she finds time for art in her life. I actually do produce some art from the jumble of supplies that inhabit my work area.  I may not work on things every day, but that’s me – busy and running around, and needing some down time when I stop moving.  (And there’s that small matter of my computer game addiction…)   I realized that I do make “art at the speed of life;” the speed of my life.  So I would say, don’t be intimidated by your schedule and time constraints.  And don’t put pressure on yourself to be productive in a way that doesn’t work for you.  You can find time in your life for making art.  I do, and, frankly, I’m kind of lazy!