My typical Day: half Art

Typical Day in the Life blog posts are as popular as ever these days. I enjoy reading them myself. I enjoy stepping into the shoes of another person’s life. I like to see what their day is like, especially if they take a little time to share something personal about their day.

I work half and half. Just like the coffee creamer.

Half painter. Half web designer.

Mostly in that order.

Come aboard and let me share a typical day with you.

Morning:

Get up around 7ish. Take the dog out. Next I do my artist morning pages. — See Julia Camerson’s book, The Artist’s way. Make coffee.

Next is the time that determines if I will go straight into the studio or if I will give into the lure of my laptop. On days where I simply can’t resist, email and Facebook are the first things I do each day. I try my best to keep this around 30 minutes. I try even harder to resist the urge to hit the laptop before the studio. I would estimate I have a 50/50 win loss ration on this.

By 9am I am in the painting studio, aka garage, unless I have an unavoidable appointment somewhere outside of the house.

After filling my water bucket and grabbing my clean brushes from the guest bathroom sink I head out there. Usually still in my PJs.

First off, I peel yesterday’s dried acrylic off my turkey platters. I use turkey platters that I bought a few years ago at Piggly Wiggly as palettes. They are a lot cheaper, at 2.99 each, than the expensive peel-off palettes from the art stores.

After my palette is peeled and my coffee is drank, I get started. It is best to just jump in.

There is a quiet time each morning when you wonder if IT will come today. You wonder if you will be able to paint. You wonder WHAT you are going to paint. Most painters spend a lot of time just wondering.

This is a dangerous time for me, procrastination can set in. With no clear plan of what to do it is easy to do nothing at all.

I find it best to get some paint on the palette, get something on the table or easel within the first 5 mintues or less. Any longer and you run the risk of not painting at all that day. Been there, done that. Still do it. But by now, I mostly paint each time I am in the studio. I am satisfied with mostly. Mostly is good place to be.

I have learned to gauge my mood to figure out what to paint each day. By now, I usually just know what to do. I am either exciting about a new work, excited about finishing a work in progress, or not in the mood to paint at all.

On days when I am not in the mood, I paint edges of gallery wrap canvas. Technically, this meets the requirement of painting so I can log this into my noggin as a day in the studio.

Sometimes I varnish finished paintings. Once again, I register this on my guilt-o-meter as a day of painting. Hey, I did use a brush to apply the varnish! And varnishing has to be done in order to consider the painting done and move it up stairs to the done pile.

On days where I am floundering for inspiration or motivation, and complete out of edges to paint or varnish to apply, I play with paint and paper. I typically paint on canvas for what I refer to as marketable paintings. I play and experiment on paper when I don’t know what else to do. Most of these find their way later into my Twenty-Something Collection.

Studio Play is important. I try to play when I feel I should. I try to paint when I feel I should.

I knock off in the studio around 10 – 11am. I head inside to the guest bathroom sink. I clean my brushes.

Did you catch that part?

I will repeat. I clean my brushes. Doesn’t matter what else is going on, I clean my brushes. In the sink, with Mona Lisa Pink Artist Soap. Every single time. It takes me at least 15 minutes to clean my brushes. It is a drag. I don’t enjoy it.

I grab some laptop time until lunch. Checking email and facebook mostly, catching up on everything that has happened online last night and this morning. Twitter and blog reading falls into this time as well.

So I only paint a few hours a day. You will be surprised how much this adds up over the course of a year. I don’t really have a problem the number of paintings I produce each year. My problem lies in the type of paintings I produce. They are not cohesive. I continue my struggle to produce a strong body of work that can stand on it’s own as a collective finished product. I may adjust my studio schedule next year.

Take the dog out.

Lunch:

12 ish to almost 2 ish. I either drive to town for lunch with Hubby, or he calls me and asked me what I am doing for lunch. I take a long lunch. Because I can. I spent many years not being able to do so. It is a luxury and I enjoy it tremendously.

I cram errands into lunch if possible. Banking or mini-shopping. I live 12 minutes from town, so it is no biggie to drive in to eat lunch. Occasionally I eat lunch at home, perhaps one day a week.

Afternoon:

I am back home by 2pm each day unless I have meetings in town. My afternoons are all business. Except for the occasional 30 naptime if I am really exhausted. Oh yeah, and I take the dog out… again.

My web clients come first in the afternoon. I work on design or updates.

This is my focus time.

Even though building websites is relatively easy compared to the type of work I used to do in my cubicle, I am faster and more productive if I can focus. I enjoy the work, but let’s face it. I am doing this for money folks. My passion is painting.

DreamFlyer Original Painting by Cindy Davis.

So I get down to business. I focus. I produce web products. I collect the money. This allows me to get up and stay in the studio the next morning. This focused time means actually closing my Gmail tab and closing my facebook tab. And all the other tabs that distract me.

I know, I know, sounds incredible for those of you under 30. But really, that is how I am able to get so much done. FOCUS !! It is a powerful skill.

If I am caught up on client work, I work on the business of CindyDavisArt.

My own art biz takes a lot of different types of activity to keep it going. I take photos of my paintings, I load new works onto art retail sites. I blog. I read and comment on blogs. I research galleries. I research art shows. I apply to shows and galleries. I cook my books. I read about art marketing. I read about successful bloggers. I get a little facebook and twitter action.

At least one day a week I spend my afternoon upstairs with the finished paintings. I have to screw wire in the backs. I pack and ship anything that has sold. If I have an exhibit approaching, I decide what I am going to take and pile them up in one stack. I make labels for exhibits to go with the pile if necessary.

I have a lot of oddball activities related to my art business but they don’t really fit into a typical day. Thank goodness, I don’t have as many typical days as I used to when I worked in the cubicle. I would estimate at least one day a week is atypical for me.

I never get finished with work before hubby either comes home or calls. Never. I work straight through the afternoon. If I meet clients, it is in the afternoon.

Meeting clients completely hoses up my work-flow for the afternoon, typically leading to an unproductive day for me. But the alternative, meet in the morning, thus giving up my studio time is worse.

So, I stick to my guns the best I can. And try very hard to limit appointments and meetings lunch or later.

Evening:

Hubby and I usually eat supper and spend a little time together.

I take the dog out again. She has to go out a lot or else this leads to t-r-o-u-b-l-e.

Yes, I work a lot at night. Nightime is laptop time. Never studio time. I am a morning person. I don’t paint at night. I am cool with this and accept it completely.

I average about 3 nights a week work and 4 nights a week relaxing. It is a fairly decent mix.

If you all would buy more paintings, maybe I wouldn’t have to work at night and I could relax more. Really now, is there anything more relaxing than sitting on the sofa and looking at an original Cindy Davis painting hung on your wall? Wouldn’t you like to come home to this each night? hee-hee Just a little subtle marketing tip I picked up on the Internet tonight. How’s it working for ya? Pathetic, I know. There is some really bad marketing advice out there on the Internet. – Results are not typical. Do not try this at home. –

Thanks for sharing the day with me.