I happened to glance at this page recently and realized it has been many months since I last picked up my pastels (or paints)(or pencils). Last April, actually, some 10 months ago. It hasn’t been the longest gap in artistic output for me, and I don’t measure success or judge myself creatively by that, but it is dismaying to have lost so many moments of inspiration to circumstances that leave little space, time, or energy for painting…but I’m around. Still taking pictures of things that inspire me in some moment, still thinking creatively and planning new work, still yearning to paint on some solitary mountainside or beach. The time will come. It is not now.

I think about creative drive versus creative opportunity for a little while. My “lack of opportunity” is more to do with choices than anything else. Choosing work over art. Choosing caregiving or housekeeping over painting. Choosing rest over the effort involved in setting up and tearing down from some creative project or another. The economy drives my choices more than a little bit, too; I am not a “big seller” as an artist, and I don’t put as much into the business of selling my work as I do into creating it (never have). The cost of pastels, paper, destination travel, and other such things have increased (a lot). I can’t simply take a few days off, book a hotel somewhere, and go paint for a few days. Work keeps me home, fatigue keeps me from painting. Real life, even for artists, sometimes gets too real. lol

Still – there is a lot to inspire me in my daily life, and I’ll be back with new work eventually. 😉