It's funny how the grass is always greener. I miss freelancing a lot. The paychecks are nice at my day-job, but I'm not doing anything remotely creative, which is draining for someone like me (and if you're reading this blog, you're probably a creative, so you know what I'm saying!). I feel like, once I come home, we have dinner and then I'm so tired I don't feel like doing anything. It's an exhausting process.
Does anyone else feel this way?
What do you do to stay creative and inspired during the daily grind?
I try to find small ways to be creative during the work-week (like taking all of my photos over the weekend and editing/listing one of them a night), but sometimes all I can think about is a cup of tea and then going to bed!
So I apologize for the near-week of no posts. I have some good ones up my sleeve, though! Get ready for the #3 topic for Succeeding in Business, my own personal "Indiana Jones" diary from Italy, and the experience I had as a kid that convinced me beyond a doubt that ghosts do exist.
I photographed and listed 5 new items in my Etsy Shop!
Among them, I created this lovely White Peony Necklace - I love making these. Near the top of this post are some doodles (that I did at work! hahaha...) of floral wedding jewelry for my cousin, Laura, who is getting married this summer! I am hoping to use those sketches as inspiration to create pieces like the White Peony for her and her bridesmaids. For these necklaces, I use pristine white polymer clay and roll it out for smoothness and consistency. I handcut each petal individually and then pair them together to create the flower, and hand-etch all of the details, so every single necklace is unique. For bridesmaids, I find there is no better way, since every girl was specially hand-picked to be a part of the bride's day. So it's only fitting that her necklace is truly one-of-a-kind!
I've also been working on some other bridal jewelry, and finishing up my portfolio update :) New pieces coming soon!
All photographs, illustrations, and product designs in this blog & post are copyrighted to me. Please do not use without consent/credit.
I totally share your pain with the day job=zero creative productivity theme. As a fellow artist who has had a day job for almost 3 years now, I feel like any momentum I had coming out of college to develop a portfolio has dried up and died. It's really tough. Finding the time and energy to make art is a challenge to me still.
ReplyDeleteHave you been peeking into my life? I sure do know what you mean! Every morning as I'm fixing my cup of tea I think, I sure wish I could stay home today and create. I always think I'll do something when I get home but I don't nearly as often as I would like. My job is so demanding that by the time I get home, fix dinner, do laundry, etc, I'm too exhausted!
ReplyDeleteBefore I got the job I have now I worked at JoAnn Fabrics and that was like creative overload! I would see so many things and ideas at once, it would drive me crazy!
For now, I just plug away, day by day, and do most of my creating on weekends.
Daphne - I'm so glad I'm not the only one! It definitely is challenging - I haven't been on dA very much at all - are you still posting there?
ReplyDeleteSher - hey girl! Thanks for stopping by :) I definitely feel you - the last two days I've been home sick, and yesterday all I did was lay on the couch and watch four movies. I felt like such a slug! And so guilty that I was home and not using my time to create, instead of being a couch potato. But I felt so awful! I'm sorry to hear about the demands of your job! Never fun! I'm in the same boat... create on the weekends. I just miss my days with the house to myself. It's hard when everyone's in your face.
Wow! Your jewellery is gorgeous! I just checked out your etsy shop too and I literally want everything! Do you hand-make it yourself? Louise xxx
ReplyDeleteLouise - Thank you so much for stopping by! I love your blog, and I'm so glad we could connect! :) Yes, I hand-make all of my jewelry, and I never, ever use any kind of molds for my polymer clay. It's all completely hand-sculpted by me! :)
ReplyDeleteI can imagine that working and trying to keep up with Etsy and blogging would be quite difficult. I find it difficult and I don't work. Between keeping up my Etsy store, blogging, learning new techniques, video's, there's no time left to make my jewelry. Something needs to change. I just dropped 2 of my internet stores so that should free up some time. By the way, I love you doodles.
ReplyDeleteYou're definitely not the only one!! And I have not been posting on DA recently, just dropping by sometimes to see what others have posted. But even doing that makes me feel guilty that they have been making such great art and I have no new work to show! I guess the only thing I can do is treat it like a school assignment: so many times in school I felt too tired or drained to work, but I still had to get it done. I need that kind of drive!
ReplyDeleteKelly - I totally agree. Up until recently I was full-time on my Etsy, but I still felt like I didn't have time to do much! It's nice to have some structure, but I miss being creative. If only my Etsy store came with a 6-figure salary ;) Someday... Thanks for the compliments and for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteDaphne - I totally know what you mean. I think I have like, 3 paintings I've stalled out on. I end up feeling guilty too - I can totally relate! That's one of the reasons I'm going back to school - I need some motivation, lol!