Artist’s Daybook: Monday
If your artist/business mind is buzzing with ideas, a daily writing practice will settle you down and give you material to draw from. I’ve published a week of Daybook entries and a reflection on the experience. There’s even a downloadable PDF with some questions to inspire your Daybook.
Today I'm starting a series of five daily journal entries that capture what it's like to balance creative work with running an art business. I recorded everything—the frustrating moments when I forget how to make a collage, the constant interruptions from beeping fire alarms, the commercial email threads that stretch for months, and those rare, perfect moments under the cherry blossoms listening to honeybees. Each day reveals something different: the endless administrative tasks, the creative blocks, and the ever-present question of what's for dinner. If you've ever wondered how artists actually spend their time (spoiler: it's not all inspiration and paint-splattered overalls), check back daily this week. There's comfort in knowing we all struggle.
I don't remember how to make art. How do I start a new piece?
Last week was April school vacation, and I'm back in the studio at 8:30 am, ready to work, and it feels like I’ve never made a collage before.
I have to complete a few pieces this week for the mid-May shipment to my show in Colorado. Many new pieces need to be photographed, recorded in Artwork Archive, varnished, framed, photographed again in situ, packed, and shipped. This week is the deadline I've set for myself to create the pieces, and I need a few more (plus others need to be revised). I don't have time to forget how to make a collage. After an hour of getting nowhere (three pieces of paper glued down), I head upstairs for a snack and my second latte before I make things worse.
During my coffee break, I flip through a book about Kurt Schwitters and one on Sophie Tauber-Arp.
I read an essay about Tauber-Arp's art-making during World War II as a refugee. Tauber-Arp, without a studio to work in, turns to colored pencils and paper, creating abstract line drawings. The need for creativity is so strong.
On my living room floor is a pile of papers I found at an estate sale two weeks ago. Yup, they are still there. I flip through them and find a few without text that I'll bring down cellar. Why are they still on the floor? I'm unsure whether I want to use them or photograph and write about them. Kurt Schwitters would have liked the woman who wrote on the back and front of every scrap of paper she could find, making the best of the wartime paper shortage.
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Back in the studio, I work for a few hours. I need a break and some inspiration to get started on this piece. The art books don't inspire the composition, but there's comfort in seeing an artist's body of work, knowing that they struggle too.
More food- this time eaten under the cherry trees, listening to the honeybees enjoy the brief banquet of blossoms.
I'm listening to Eligible, by Curtis Sittenfeld, a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I've read this book many times, which makes it perfect background noise for the studio. I know how it's going to end, so it's okay if I'm not paying attention. The father is one of my favorite literary characters, mainly due to his sense of humor.
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Since I'm happy with the first piece, I start another and reach the same place of frustration. I set an alarm so I don't miss the school bus. The studio is cold (I'm in the basement), and after several hours, I feel like I'll never be warm again. It's warm outside today, but it will take a few more weeks for the studio to catch up. The best studio months are in the summer, which coincides perfectly with summer vacation and limited working time.
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Time for my last break. This time, tea and a few minutes to read The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. Then I sit with my notebook and write.
What I don't record as I move through the day: the beeping fire alarm that requires a team effort and a long ladder to silence. All the things that I'm not getting done but am thinking about: calling the vet, washing the dishes, what's for dinner?, schedule coffee with friends for later this week, is the car fixed yet?, the house is grubby, but what's the point of cleaning because it's spring and all we do is track in dirt from the gardens.
I check emails and social media throughout the day, but it's very quiet, which is typical of a Monday. With half an hour left before the bus, I respond to an email about sizing up two of my collages as prints for a commercial project. My answer isn't useful, since I don't print my work myself and don't know how large they can get. I try my best, based on how large other projects have gone with small pieces. At least I've learned enough over the years to answer the question.
I neglect social media and decide to post, but it takes forever to find the images I want on my phone, and then I can't think of a caption. Nothing. My mind is blank and out of creative energy.
Using this to my advantage, I write a story fragment: "Staring at her phone, she types, erases, then types again. Maybe she should call? How quickly she's forgotten that's an option in this day of messaging." I sit with my phone for the next ten minutes, in case I need to reply to a comment - I have to keep the engagement algorithm happy.
Another email to respond to. Licensing my work for commercial projects is fun, as I get to sell the original and make an income from the image. However, this type of project requires numerous emails, often with a team of people each tasked with handling a different aspect of the project. Sometimes the projects are on tight deadlines and happen rapidly, and others will be stretched out over months. I have inquiries for projects, respond, and never hear anything again, or hear back two months later after I've forgotten about it. Each project requires contracts, scanning, W-9s, invoices, confirming payment, and emails (did I mention the emails?). They take up a lot of time. Are they financially worth the effort? You never know because each project is different. I still love knowing that prints of my art are hanging in hotels around the world or on the walls of someone's office.
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My son is on the couch, watching TV, and the soup is cooking—time for more emails, social media, and writing. I've agreed to create a 12" x 12" piece in a style similar to others I've made, which I plan to license as a print. Add that to my to-do list for tomorrow.
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In case you only want the bullet points of my day:
Experience creative block ("I don't remember how to make art")
Draw inspiration from books about Kurt Schwitters and Sophie Tauber-Arp
Find estate sale papers still on living room floor and select some without text for use
Start a second piece after success with the first, but reach same frustration
Set alarm to avoid missing school bus
Manage various interruptions (beeping fire alarm, thoughts about chores)
Respond to commercial licensing email about sizing collages as prints
Attempt social media post but struggle with caption due to creative exhaustion
Use creative block to write a story fragment about communication
Process another licensing inquiry email
End day with son watching TV, soup cooking, and planning tomorrow's tasks
Add new task to create a 12"x12" piece for licensing as a print
Let me know what your Monday looks like!
Check back tomorrow at noon EST for the next Daybook entry.