I started making art every day recently. Not just doodling on stuff while I made phone calls, but actual art outside a sketchbook. And I think that's a good thing, to be doing it every day. But what I discovered is, like with any practice, whether it be yoga, drawing, painting, getting out of bed at a new time, or remembering to get to a new class on time, making art every day is a struggle at first.
I am in the first weeks of this commitment to make art outside my sketchbook every day and I am working on putting aside a time every day to paint or draw. With my three young daughters in the house all day long for the summer, it's work just to find time to make decent, healthy meals and to get a shower a few times a week, but making time to make art is a commitment that they understand even less, and so it is hard to imagine how I will make this work every day. But I am committed and that must be the first step, I think.
A friend of mine who practices yoga recently posted on Facebook about dragging himself onto the mat to practice yoga even when he didn't want to because he knew it would make him feel better. And there is an element of making art that is like that. It's easy to fall into the trap of other things that must be done. There are always other things.
How does a mother of 3 make time to make art? How does anyone who has children make time to create? It's a question that I struggle with, the need to create, the commitment, and how to make it actually work realistically in the day to day busy-ness of life with children?
