Actually it’s been over for a while but life hasn’t slowed down much. I am so used to keeping my work life and my art life compartmentalized that this year’s overlapping has been quite a challenge. On April 16th I left work early to give a talk at an artist seminar, then back to taxes (except the tornado got in the way) and on the 17th The Carter Building had it’s kickoff ArtSpeaks event that I left work early for. It felt goodto be able to say “look at the time, I get to go be an artist now”.
I was very unsure about the talk at the VAE Business of Being an Artist seminar. I was asked to talk about my studio experience, specifically the choice of working in a group. So what’s the first thing I do, I take my studio mates with me to help with the presentation – I wasn’t scared anymore! It felt very natural to introduce my mentor, Tunde and my supporter, Lee. We are all aware of the positive aspects of sharing a space but putting them into words was beneficial. I started out in a studio space that was all mine. The other tenants in the building were friendly but we didn’t have much of a connection. I was very unsure of myself and had hoped that working around creative people would bring me out of my shell. The landlord’s wife was a rather unpleasant person to be around and I found myself hiding, not using my space to work in as I’d intended but solely as a place to exhibit First Fridays, which I hadn’t intended. I made it through 11 months before I bailed – the experience was a learning experience, one I hope never to repeat!
I found 3 other women on craigslist that wanted to share a space; we found one in the Carter Building. The chemistry was a little off, 2 left and 2 of us are still together. Over the course of that year, we learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t about living with artists! The most obvious benefit is splitting the cost. At first, this was all I was interested in. Now that’s only a small part of the equation.
- Friendship has been the greatest. We’re all artists and artists are quirky people – we understand each other! It’s the first time in my life that I’ve felt there was a group of people that truly understood me! And the nice thing about that is we sense the ups and downs and know what to do to help each other out.
- We each have an area of expertise. When you’re brainstorming, there can be a tendency to skip ideas if you don’t have the necessary skills to follow that path. I can now appreciate the true value of brainstorming because nothing seems impossible… there is always someone that knows how to go about a task or knows someone who does! It’s beautiful!!
- Energy. It’s so easy to take ideas and put them on the back burner because you just don’t have the time or energy to deal with it at the moment. It’s amazing how much energy you can find when someone wants to help!
I could go on with specific examples but they all fall under the above. Sharing expenses is a great starting point but the community of artists is the best result!
Tax season is over. I’ll miss my ‘number crunching’ friends but my 40 week vacation will be over before I know it so I need to tackle the garden, paint a pansy, and head out to a meeting with my art friends!
