Idea Income

I enjoy change. I've come to embrace it in my adult life.  My natural curiosity was cemented early on by an upbringing of constant travel and parents who placed a heavy emphasis on education and discovery.
The past 12 months have been tumultuous however, even for me. My life does not resemble what it did a year ago by most measures.  Some of this change was initiated by me, according to plan.  Some of the more recent changes definitely fall into the "well, that's life" category.

I've hinted at blogging about it several times over the past year, but it seemed too daunting a task, and honestly I wasn't sure how much I wanted to share on the internet as I went  through my day-to-day actions of just trying to sort all this out.  Friday I shared a link to How to Steal Like an Artist (and 9 other things nobody told me) by Austin Kleon and upon re-reading it, I saw that it was a good framework for my observations on what has been a year of experimentation and taking multiple leaps of faith. By no means do I plan to start an "advice for artists" series of posts, but I do have some lessons that I want to document for my own benefit as future reminders.

The idea that resonated with me the most from Point 1: Steal Like an Artist was the concept of "idea income."

March 2010 I made the decision to leave my job. This was a huge choice and not one that I made lightly. To be blunt, I was burned out and depressed. Years of meeting others (at first family and later, colleagues and peers) expectations in my academic and professional life resulted in me becoming bitter and frustrated.  My personal relationships were  strained to the breaking point and I felt like I had nothing to look forward to after my high-pressure 12-15 hour workdays plus weekends at the office.  My weight ballooned due to lack of physical activity and eating fast food on the go or at my desk. My hair was shedding. Without getting into too much detail about my former employer, it was becoming increasingly apparent that I had to choose between my health (mental and physical) and my professional life.

Not to mention what impact this was having on my art. I am a self-taught artist and I've always fought for my practice, but recently I felt that I was losing.  I would arrive home and crash on the couch and fall asleep to internet TV.  I had no mental or intellectual stimulation outside the workplace and my art practice was stifled.  I was constantly turning down opportunities for shows (and sometimes sales) and I wasn't investing in myself or anything/anyone that I genuinely cared about.  Any entrepreneurial activities seemed out of the question.

A few years prior I made an assessment of my work-life balance, my financial situation and savings, my life goals and priorities, and began to plan for a break and a career change.  When the opportunity finally presented itself to leave, I acted on it.   This coincided with my return from my first show in New York, a group show at Corridor Gallery in Brooklyn and subsequent art sales and commissions.

Thinking back and reading my initial blogs posts about working from my former home and studio [Space is the Place and An Unexpected Plus] , I see that I met my initial goals very quickly. I now had peace of mind and space to think and create.  I had the clarity to work though ideas and sort though my inspirations.  I had time to read and study, and resuscitate some old research and archiving projects.  I could invest time and energy into my health and the people I loved. My "idea income" skyrocketed.

work in process photo - building my sculpture for Discovery Green Park in Sep 2010