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Jessica Libor

~ Studio Journal

Jessica Libor

Tag Archives: time management

Self Care Enhances Creativity

29 Tuesday Oct 2019

Posted by Jessica Libor in beauty, Inspiration, lifestyle, Wellness

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

advice for artists, art, artist, beautiful art, beauty, classical realism, contemporary realism, creative, creativity, drawing, emerging artist, emerging artists, female artist, inspiration, jessica libor, oil painting, pafa, painter, painting, pennsylvania academy of the fine arts, self care, stress, stress relief, time management, wellness

I don’t know about you guys, but I often feel like I am rushing around every day, trying to check off a list of things to do and never seem to have quite enough time. It gets to the end of the day, and I always wish that I had more time to get the needed things done. The to do list actually never ends. There’s always more that we could be accomplishing and that we could be striving for in life. I took some time out this week and allowed myself to just relax for an afternoon. I allowed myself the luxury of a bubble bath. I read a few articles that were interesting to me and generally enjoyed doing nothing for a few hours! I honestly can’t remember the last time that I did this. At the end of that time, I realized that I was in such a relaxed and creative state of mind. I felt more playful, more optimistic, and so excited to dive back into the paintings and the projects that I’m currently working on. The time away made those things feel interesting and dynamic again. Also, we must remember that we are not machines! We are organic human beings who need rest I need variety in our lives. We can’t be healthy if all we do is work and all we do is put stress on our self to constantly be accomplishing things. Life is about more than that. Also, what is the point of accomplishing all these things if you can’t even enjoy life? So, I highly recommend taking some time to just relax and guilt free do nothing for a few hours once in a while. You might be surprised how positively it affects you, when you are so much more excited to be present in your artwork, and in your life!

Time boxing

30 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by Jessica Libor in art, How To, In My Studio, Inspiration, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

art, artists, encouragement, life tools, painter, social entrepreneurship, socialinnovation, time management, timeboxing, tools

jess-and-lauren-little-with-sunflowers

That’s me with the sunflower on my head with my sister one summer

Once upon a time, in childhood and high school, my days stretched out like weeks and my weeks stretched out like months, and a summer vacation was like a year.  I had endless hours to play with my art and be creative, and time moved slowly in a good way as I discovered the world and my own creativity.  I had little responsibility and that left my mind free as a bird to think, dream, and create.

As an adult, things can get more complicated as you add a day job, taking care of your home, exercising, eating right, making time for friends, family and relationships, paying the bills, not to mention creating art and making time to explore and doodle creatively, which to me is what makes interesting art eventually.  All of this together can be a lot–and at the end of the day, it can be intimidating to sit down and figure out your next great masterpiece.  It’s a lot of pressure!  Not only that, but art takes time, and if you’re already busy sustaining your life, sometimes it can feel like you don’t have the time to make the quality of art you are capable of.

Something that has helped me in particularly busy seasons is the concept of time boxing. Time boxing is the very simple but powerful idea of picking one task, and doing that task with complete focus and attention, for a certain amount of time.  During this set amount of time, you are not allowed to answer the phone, look at your schedule book, do the dishes, text someone, surf the web, look at Facebook, Instagram, fix yourself a sandwich, clean up the room, or do any other interruption.  Your mind is only allowed to focus on that one task.  Here are some examples:

  1. For twenty minutes, sketch out of your imagination in your sketchbook.
  2. For one hour, work on a painting.
  3. For ten minutes, write your artistic career goals and ways to accomplish them
  4. For 30 minutes, take pictures of your recent artwork and upload them to your website.
  5. For 20 minutes, read an inspirational book about an artist or person you admire.
  6. For 20 minutes, take a walk around the block and notice the colors and scenery.

You will be surprised at the amount that you can get done in a short amount of time when you are extremely focused.  The magic in it is that there is a defined time period for the intense focus, which gives your brain a deadline and a goal.  And when it’s done, there’s relief and a sense of accomplishment.  And if you’re an artist at heart, you won’t let a long time pass without having the urge to be creative in some way, even if you’re busy with other things.  As Lera Auerbach says in her book Excess of Being, “True passion does not care for validation.”

 

 

Career Self-Management for Artists

15 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by Jessica Libor in art, How To, In My Studio, lifestyle, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

advice for artists, art professional, art student, artist, creative, drawing, female artist, inspiration, management, organization, painter, studio, time management

studio 1

Above: my 2009 studio in South Carolina at The White Whale studios

Unless you are employed by a company like Disney, and clock in and out for your job titled “Artist,” the artist is a professional that is largely self-managed.  You make your own hours, your own schedule, and have the flexibility that goes along with it–something very alluring and that most people dream of.  However, along with this freedom comes a heavy responsibility, as any entrepreneur knows.  Yes, you may be doing what you love, but you also have to figure out all the aspects of the business.  As a visual artist, this includes not just creating the work, but finding ways to get it in front of other people.  The different avenues of your workday may include:

Creation: brainstorming, sketching, spending time listening to music or podcasts while doodling ideas and plans.  Making paintings, preparing canvases, the physical act of putting pen, pencil or paintbrush to the canvas.

Organization:  Dating, signing, packing, filing, keeping your artworks organized.

Records: getting photographs taken of finished artworks, filing photographic records in your computer, keeping records of recent sales and collector information, planning upcoming show dates and keeping a record of sales made at recent shows and also expenses such as art supplies, transportation, framing, etc.

Planning Ahead: submitting your artwork to exhibition opportunities, writing grant proposals, planning out your year’s (or at least next few month’s) exhibition and work activities.  This also includes creative goals such as “Complete a new body of work in 3 months” or “Have a solo show in 12 months”.  You may not know exactly how to get there, but by setting an intention that you will, you’d be surprised how you’re able to figure it out!  That’s because the brain is a problem-solving machine.  It tackles problems and creatively finds ways to get to a goal when you give it something to work for!  One idea is to write down a big goal for the year and put it somewhere you’ll see it often, like above your easel.  That way when you see it every day, your mind will go into creative problem-solving mode subconsciously without you having to think about it.

Networking:  I like to think of this as creative socialization.  After a solo day in the studio it’s good to get out and about to different events–art related, and not.  Sometimes the best connections come from meeting people in unrelated fields.  Going to a cultural event is never wasted.  Just always bring your business cards.  This also includes your online presence in social media sites.  When people comment on your work, respond!  It’s a conversation just like it would be in real life, and the more you are engaged with others and interested in them, the more people will engage with you and believe you have something to offer, not just trying to get something from them.

Marketing/Branding: Although many artists believe themselves to be “pure”, “noncommercial,” and eschew anything to do with the term marketing, even that decision goes into their branding style.  So I like to think of this not as marketing, but as authentically spreading your message.  What is the essence of your work?  Your lifestyle?  Your vision?  What inspires you?  Envision the colors, scenes, themes and styles of work that you’re all about.  Now when you make an art piece or post something to social media, make sure it’s consistent with your artistic vision.  What issues are central to your work?  Seek out organizations and other people who align themselves with those issues too.  There is strength in numbers and none of us exist in a vaccuum.  After all, art is meant to be seen.

Rest:  Just as important as working, rest is important to prevent burnout or even injury.  It’s crucial to step away from your painting or computer work every 2 hours at the very minimum.  Take a 15 minute coffee break, walk around the block, or even take a short nap–this prevents hand related injuries and also keeps your mind fresh.  When you come back, you’ll see the piece with new eyes and spot things you’d like to change you may not have seen before.

There are many more details to the life of an artist, but I think the best part is the creativity.  The generation of ideas and their execution is what makes an artist by definition an artist.  But we only get so much energy in a day, and the trick is to decipher what tasks, creative and otherwise, are important to do.  As Lera Aurbach advises in her book Excess of Being, “Edit your actions.  Edit your surroundings.  Edit your thoughts.  Cut, cut, cut.”  It’s then we’ll be able to accomplish what is important to us and not get distracted by the 100 things pulling at our attention each day.  It’s definitely possible if you focus.  The cool thing is that we as artists get to be creative not only in our art, but in our career paths as an artists as well.

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