Lunch Art Snacks

I had a revelation today. I don’t normally indulge in my personal art until I’m off the clock. I try to cram it in late at night after everyone in my family has gone to bed and my demands of the day are done. I’m often tired and drained, but I don’t want to give up my me-time, my self-care for the day.

It’s noon here and I just finished a page in my art journal. Donna Downey (one of my all-time favorite mixed media artists and teachers) offered a free webinar lesson today to promote her artist studies workshop. It happened to fall at 11am my time. So, at about 11:15, I took a lunch break from work and jumped onto her webinar a tad late. She was at the end of an art history lesson on Van Gogh. Then, she demoed how to apply his techniques to a super loose and fast floral. I followed along and finished a rough, expressionistic piece in my art journal. Here it is as a beginning sketch, color blocked in, and done:

Afterwards, as I returned to work, I felt light. Tonight I can spend quality time with my family and enjoy it. I don’t have to go upstairs to my art studio leaving them behind laughing in the kitchen. For me, my time is always a choice. By doing one thing, I’m giving up another. I want to keep myself a priority, but that means something else suffers. I don’t like feeling that way and tonight I don’t have to.

So I think I will continue to have lunch art snacks. Sometimes, I can do my art in the middle of the day when the family is away and my brain is still fresh. Perhaps I can even do Yoga and get a full 8 hours sleep in tonight, but probably not. That’s okay. Baby steps.

When do you find the time for your hobbies?