I am loving this new blog, (standard) INTERVIEW. It’s refreshing to see questions such as this asked of artists. There are as many ways of working as there are artists and each one is as interesting as the product. Maybe this is so compelling because it shifts the focus away from the product. It would be interesting to collect this answer from a series of artists who have floated to the top of the visibility pool. Ask them the question before visibility and after. Heck once a year make each artist answer the question on their taxes. Then we can develop a working practices czar. Target the slackers Define a standard work practices outline we could compare ourselves to and feel guilty or superior depending on our needs.
Amplify’d from standardinterview.blogspot.com
Basically, I have three types of days that all start the same way. I grab a cup of coffee and head upstairs to my attic workroom where I check e-world – stats, comments, email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. If something strikes me as blog-worthy, I’ll post it and then walk the dogs.
Day 1: I put the computer to sleep and start looking at the paintings in progress. Clean the palette, organize my workspace, and read my notes from the previous visit to the canvas to pick up the thread where I’ve left off. If I think of something that I might like to Google while I’m painting, I type the search terms in on my manual Royal Safari typewriter. Generally I find if I let myself look up everything that crosses my mind, I waste a lot of time. At the end of the day, when I review my typed list, most of the things I was thinking about weren’t very important. Every so often I check Twitter and email, but I try not to get too engaged. As I paint, I take notes about the process, and I use my phone to photograph the paintings. Sometimes I open the images in Photoshop to experiment with different color ideas, then I go back to the canvas. I wash the brushes at the end of the day.
Day 2. Once a week I go to exhibitions, meet people for coffee, have studio visits and talk about art.
Day 3. I teach two 10-hour days a week (30 weeks a year) in the Visual Arts Department at Eastern Connecticut State University. I’ve been teaching there for eleven years.
At the end of each day, I walk the dogs, have dinner, and then settle in for some reading and television. Right now I’m in the fifth season of Lost. I often work on the sketchbooks while I watch TV.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bl6k5
