I had this thought the other day that just thrilled me. It was Literally a Liter Alley of littered liters and a litter of littering allies and litter. And it had a cat litter store (which I spelled wrong cause…me) and a water bottle store and trash and kittens and friends and allies in alleys…and the thought satisfied me in a way I haven’t felt since

One Ton Juan Won One Wonton.

I played baby cat friends in litter boxes in alleyways filled with littered liter bottles over and over and over in my mind, trying to formulate the best way to tell that story. I decided to draw it during the Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce meeting. I recently joined and thought, well that’s a moment I can take to draw a thing for myself. It was my first chamber meeting and pretty interesting. I really felt a part of something even tho only the Board Members get to sit at the table and the rest of us have to balance our sketchbooks on our laps. (Also for those interested in joining…and I suggest that you do….There is shockingly no somber string quartet playing music in the corner as I had anticipated )

Anyway…as I was sitting in the chamber meeting sans chamber music, I was washed over by this sense of guilt. I have 40 commissioned drawings on my calendar this month. Yeah!!! Praise all the Deities!!!! However, many drawings are very behind ……some clients have been waiting for MONTHS for their finished drawings…how are they gonna feel when they see I have spent countless hours drawing alley cat allies in littered litter boxes? My guess, not good.  Now too clarify for business purposes, I have Never missed a print deadline and most items that take me a while have open deadlines… I still feel like it’s like when someone owes you money and you see them out at the movies or something and you think “Damn…that bish owe me monee yo why she spendin it on 50 shades” (cause some of us have ghetto self talk)

So I just sketched out my “Literally Liter Alley”  drawing, real quick like, tabling the project for a later date. But it really got me thinking about the unique challenges of being an artist.

I was actually already thinking about how much I never think about this. Because just a few days ago I was interviewed by The Brunswick News along with some of my other favorite artists Mandy Thompson and Anthony Quickle.  We were asked about running an art based business, specifically what are the challenges of being an artist.

I honestly hadn’t given it much thought before as my struggles are all “life related” not “art related”. With my panic attacks and the fact that I keep losing my hairbrush and all the meat complications…art is THE ONLY THING that I don’t find that complicated or challenging….Uhh Until I think too much about it. Great now everything is hard!

I have drawn the conclusion that making time for personal creative projects when you have a creative business is a constant juggle. I LOVE my commissioned work opportunities for totally different reasons than I love my personal work.  They provide so many pleasures in addition to food on the table, they are like giant puzzles. I love getting to know my clients and their stories. If commissions are sweet than personal work is savory and I love that too.  And you absolutely need all those flavors balanced in some fashion. You can not have all work and no play, even if it all looks the same on the outside. You have to be cut throat in your decision making. You have to be fierce with your time and the belief in your ideas!

And that is why I am so happy to have my mascot a wonderful reminder to keep ideas moving. Gopher the Juggler. Always keep working on all the things a little bit, you can’t just drop your own personal balls. Please let that be quoted somewhere.