The Creative Life - Barbara Trovillo

"The Artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of."   Leonardo DaVinci

I have a confession to make.

I am a workaholic.

No, really, I am.

I wear many hats: Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Friend, Business owner, Artist, Writer, Esthetician, Accountant, Housekeeper, Cook, Chicken herder.... I am sure I have forgotten something. Truthfully, I enjoy working. I take pride in working hard and being industrious.

My idea of retirement is to slowly eliminate the tasks I find distasteful, like cleaning and accounting, and continue the ones I love, like painting and writing. I joke that I have made an art out of looking like I don't work. Being self employed, it can appear like that. I am, in fact, at work every day. 

As an Artist, I think having too strict a work ethic can sabotage creativity. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the importance of "showing up and doing the work". It is important to paint every day. I am a firm believer in that.

As in everything, there is a balance.  Life inspires Art. In my experience, I become stagnant when I am too long in the studio. As creators, we need to get out and look at things. Meet a friend for coffee. Watch people interact. Walk a beautiful city. Observe the architecture. Go to a museum. Soak up the beauty and inspiration of the great masters. Doing these things helps stimulate our creative juices. Unfortunately, I still struggle with feeling like I am playing hookey.

I believe in hard work. Let's work harder to allow more leisure time in order to fuel the fires of creativity!   

Happy Creating! 

"I dreamed my painting and then, I painted my dream." Vincent Van Gogh