are you an artist?

[momart]

Just wondering if there are any artists out there. I have 8 month old and just can't find ANY time to do any artwork...

yes, both dh & i are artistic. dh is a portrait painter and also teaches life drawing and i am in textiles, designed cross stitch kits for coats/anchor for 11 years.

miaou also designs cross stitch amongst other things. all the artistic mnetters hang out in the arts and crafts section. there are lots into scrapbooking and cardmaking.

what kind of thing do you do?

artistic, but definitely don't have time or money(!) to do any pieces. do alot of artplay with children though.

i am. but like you can't find the time. what a waste of a degree....

Yes, I'm an artist too. I've only really got into it again now that the kids are older (10 and 7) and finally this year we've built me a studio in the garden.

But....it's damn difficult to find the time to work - I've come to realise that the trick is to treat it like a job, ie other things (such as housework) must wait!

I did teach an afterschool club at DD's primary school last year - it was fantastic and such good fun (for the kids and for me too!). Now DD is with DS at middle school, I'm thinking of running one again.

I went to our local art college open evening last night to see about finally doing my Fine Arts degree. I've wanted to do one for over 20 years but headed for the corporate world instead. I think I'm going to have to do a year's access course first as my portfolio just isn't up to scratch. But it did give me a huge laugh going on the tour with the other Foundation students - I'm old enough to be their mum!

No, but having a child that young normally precludes one from engaging in many activities which he/she had time for before the child was born.

Yep am embarrassed to call myself an artist at the moment. have done so little for so long. I am artistically frustrated though! I am in the proccess of getting my kiln back into action. I am longing to paint and draw again and exhibit but due baby no4 in March. So realistically realise I will just be tinkering every now and then for a while. I promise myself that as soon as I can am going to throw myself back into it. And take myself seriously as an artist cuz if I don't I think I will go mad!
at the studio in the garden....

paranoidandroid - can i ask what kind of studio you have built?

paranoidandroid - I can assure you that there are plenty of mature students who do art degrees. i know cos I'm uni lecturer in fine art. So, get going and start!
As well as not finding time to do my work, also can't think of anything to do. Am determined not to do 'baby' related stuff - corny, although my creative energy goes into making toy towers for my girl to knock down at pthe mo. Very beautiful sculptural towers I'll have you know

The studio is in theory a temporary structure (cough, cough) because of planning laws. It's about 3m squared, timber-framed with insulation and plastered walls, double french windows chopping off one corner (if you see what I mean) and big windows in the sides either side of the doors. There are two blank walls which face the back of the garden and hedge etc. We have run electricty and data cables down to it as my DH uses part of it as his office. (In fact there is a bit of a 'war' brewing as his stuff is ever-growing and encroaching on my space!!)

It is utterly fab! The spotlights are all individually controlled so that I can get the lighting right for models etc. I have the peace and quiet I love (when DH isn't in it), I can leave canvases in place (as opposed to clearing everything away so that we can actually eat in the dining room), it is beautifully light and I can stick pictures and bits and pieces all over the walls.

There are two main problems with it - one is that I have to share it with my DH and the second is that it is simply not big enough. But we just couldn't afford anything bigger (actually we could barely afford this but hey ho!) We got a quote from a garden office company, then chatted up our builder who did it for 4 grand less (still cost us 6 grand though! and that was with DH doing some of the labouring to save money). I think I'm going to have to work for the next 200 years to pay it off!!

Momart - thanks for your encouraging comments! I had a long chat with one of the lecturers last night who was also v. encouraging. I'm deeply excited by the prospect I have to say! I've just got to get the application in, brush the cobwebs off my portfolio and go for it!!!! Whereabouts do you teach? It was Farnham in Surrey that I went to last night - it looked great.

i am a bad artist - i like it though but havent got the time. or the materials.

have yearned to go back to times when hours at a time flew by as i was engrossed in some detail of drawing.

so have made a decision - when we move i and going to get myself a space where i can happily while away some time

that studio sounds really nice . have you got anything in there to provide heat?, we have something similar in our garden and am trying to source an air conditioning unit for it before it gets too cold.

When I can I want to join a shared studio space again because I find it really isolating working alone. Its great to have others working around you and people to share a break with. I love to have that stimulation around me.

We've got electric wall heaters with thermostats and timers. That said, I've not used them yet so hopefully they will do the job!

I think I should just point out that the quality of the studio FAR outweighs the quality of my work. Just in case anyone gets the wrong idea . When I'm feeling really down about my work I refer to it as DH's office, that way I can pretend I'm not an artist, I do nothing artistic, and no-one will ever see anything of mine again. It helps to keep the pressure off!!!!

How much time do you get to work in the studio? And I guess at what times of day/night?

I'm not sure about a shared studio, I love the solitude of being on my own. But that is after 20+ years of working in offices with loads of other people. How easy is it to find shared studio space where you live?

yes im an artist, \am very sad to report that i simply dont have the time, however ive started face painting again.

lucykate, how do you get into designing cross stitch - I mean, getting paid for it

i got a job in an in house design studio 2 years after finishing my degree, so it was a full time salaried position. it was at the manufacturing site for coats crafts uk, designing all the kits under the anchor or fleur de lys brand name, thats how i got into it anyway. i left in may because we moved to a different part of the country but once we're more settled and the house is not such a mess, will pick up freelance designing.

if you were interested in being paid for designing cross stitch, i would start small, perhaps with some of the cross stitching magazines, 'crosstitcher' by future publishing, or 'world of cross stitching' by origin publishing, they take small editorial projects from freelancers, doesn't pay much but its a way of getting a foot in the door with it.

agree with rosyspookliy - hate working in isolation, or did hate that before dd was born. maybe it'll be different now - may relish being on my own for a minute or so.
anyone seen any good shows recently. Saw British Art Show 6 in Bristol - liked Roger Hiorns (foam sculptures) and Rosalind Nashashibi (films). Off to see Liverpool Biennale soon...

Thanks lucykate, that's interesting

I'm in NI there's some fab art shown here and Dublin but I haven't been to any for yonks. When I do go I get all jealous Should do it more, it might make me work instead of wasting time moaning about not working! Trouble is house is a mess.....

my degree was in weaving and embroidery, but there were designers there from all sorts of backgrounds, illustration/graphics too but they struggled with the 3D/craft design side of the job. it wasn't at all what i had in mind as a career when i left college in '92, infact it would have been quite embarressing to admit to designing forever friends (amongst others) cross stitch kits , but the job led on to so many other more interesting projects. not many places still have an in house design studio so coats used to freelance us out to other companies.

since leaving i've done a few craft kits for them, this is one of my favourites. all my work stuff is still packed away from the move, can't wait to get it all out and set up again. we've had a large wooden cabin built in the garden which is dh's studio, and a large bedroom in the house split into 2 to make a room for ds and a small study for me to use.

i suppose for us we both have to make time to do it as its our income, dh is in his studio virtually every evening til at least 11, whereas i must stop mnetting so much and get on with decorating so i can get all my work stuff out, its mn that is holding me back

dramatic artist daaaahling (mwah mwah)

lucykate LOVE that doll, could be a great Xmas pressie!

to the studio! One day.....
I've started to paint murals, off the back of having kids really, but I'm doing more for 'grown-ups' now too.
Do a few canvases to comission, but unless I have a deadline I struggle to get round to painting.
Should be doing that now instead of talking about it of course!!