How Is Your Work Ethic?

Most of us can be easily distracted on any given day from our daily focus!

I get pulled in so many directions every day. I am sure you do as well.

As an artist, my days may be flexible. Some days they are not!

How about you? Do you feel like a pinball in a machine bouncing from one spot to another … like crazy?

Planning helps me, but it has to be flexible.

When I wake each morning, my first thought is, “what day is this?” I know that is funny. At least to me it is. I do not leave my house for a traditional 9–5 job working for someone else.

I lay there a minute to think about what is on the schedule for the day, which will tell me what day it happens to be. Ha! At least most of the time, it will.

Being an artist, along with many other at-home careers, means you are the person that oversees the employee … that is you.

You wear two hats, Boss and Employee!

Maybe I could put that a better way … Manager and Employee sounds better, right?

Today you may get to be the “artist” and create! That is always a wonderful day. I get asked if I paint every day. My answer: “no, but I wish!” I am lucky if I get to paint 3 out of 7 days.

There may be a week when I am under a deadline to produce for a show or a gallery. But creating the work is not the only thing that has to happen for even those two things.

Here are parts of my job.

And it is a job though many people think we are “footloose and fancy-free because we are an artist.” This list is mainly about the studio, or plein air work, creating start to finish, a piece of artwork. There are way more jobs than these 10 steps to completing the art.

1. Create an artwork (most important of all)
2. Clean up the easel and area
3. Inventory my art supplies
4. Take photos of the painting during the process
5. Take more photos of the artwork when finished
6. Enter the artwork title and size in my digital files
7. Enter the artwork photos in my digital file by year.
8. Work with photo editing software to create files for shows, galleries, etc.
9. Place artwork in studio cabinets until needed
10. Frame artwork when ready to go to a gallery or show… or sold!

Besides being artists, we need a computer and technical skills to keep up with inventory and supplies … or have an assistant! I frame my own work, so I have to purchase frames, glass, and all the little bits and pieces used to prepare them for hanging. I have to cut the glass when using it on pastels. And … I have to know the different framing methods for other mediums … think canvas, versus pastel with glass. I have to make sure I have storage available for the multitude of pieces of artwork and all the supplies, frames, glass, and small stuff.

I asked how your work ethic is, right?

Do you have a daily routine that consistently helps you produce your “at home” work? Or, do you “wing it?” There are days I do the “wing it” thing.

There are days I know I have to hit the floor running because the artwork is due to be entered in a computer program to “enter a show” or be “placed in a gallery.” I must have a routine on those days. I have done it for 50 years, so I know what comes first, second, third, etc. What order things need to be done to have the next step work is essential.

Some jobs, some at home careers, do not fit exceptionally well with a daily routine. It has to be flexible. That definitely would be the life of a professional artist!

What can happen?

You are in your regular routine, and you receive a message or phone call that needs to be taken care of, right? Oh well… best-laid plans!

I do the essential that needs doing when that happens. I move what I had planned to the next day… or maybe that afternoon if I can complete the emergency task in a couple of hours.

Maybe someone sent me a message asking if I was planning on entering a show, plein air event, or competition. The deadline is the next day. Oh my, how did I not have that on my schedule? Believe me, it happens. Maybe I was on the fence about entering any of the three I just told you.

So, I decide to enter a show. That means I need to look at available inventory and what is appropriate for that show. Next, I must figure out where is it at this time. It could be in a gallery, and I would need to call them and ask them to put it on hold until notification of whether it was accepted into the show (or whatever I am submitting it to.)

Then I need to read the “prospectus,” which explain how to enter the show and the size dimensions and year made. Work on the computer must be done, and, at times, finding the original photo uploaded to my laptop can be difficult. Size dimensions may require me to edit the image to fit both “dpi” and actual pixel size for that group or show. Just this tiny (not really) thing takes about 30 minutes. Then choose a frame and do the framing. Another 30 minutes.

I enter the show (if that is what it is) and put it on my schedule when notification will happen. And if accepted, there are other dates and times I need to enter on my calendar: deliver dates, the beginning and end dates of the show, and the reception … all this must be entered into my calendar along with reminders a few days before.

This is just a small portion of what I may find on any given day… very hard to schedule these things.

So work ethic or focus … which is it really?

I believe we need both, but we also need to be flexible.

I could have told you many more stories about the day of an artist …. hmmm…. that might be a good series for me to write about.

Back to the topic! I would enjoy hearing from you about the work ethic you use.

Later, my friend!