I know how it goes. You set the best intentions, you want to have time in your busy schedule to make art, but it just never happens.
Here’s the not so pretty truth. You don’t have time to make art because you aren’t making Art Making a priority.
If it were a priority every week, or even every day, it would happen, without fail.
We all make time for the things that matter most, our biggest priorities. Making sure the kids are fed and clean before they head off to school. Making time to take a shower, brush your teeth, and get dressed. Setting aside time to binge watch Netflix with your favorite person. Taking the time to go grocery shopping. Spending 8 hours a day (or more) working. Making sure the house is in somewhat presentable order every day.
I know. It’s a lot. Humans are busier and more frantic than ever in the history of humans. We have a lot going on.
That’s still not an excuse.
If you don’t have time for art, it’s because you’re not making art a priority in your day.
Enter Art Sparks.
We aim to make it easy, dead simple, to spend time creating. Because you know what? This shit is important. You might think, why? It’s just art. I can paint anytime. I’ll get out the ol’ sketchbook when I have a free Saturday morning. Maybe this summer or on vacation I’ll finally have a little ‘me time’ to spend with my art supplies.
But the days pass, the months pass, and the years pass and you don’t have that time. You don’t get out your art supplies and start making, because it’s not a daily priority.
It’s okay to admit it. And it’s even more okay to decide to change.
I used to be one of you. I used to think I didn’t have time for art. And I’m an ART TEACHER! For years, I didn’t make time for my own art making. I made plenty of time for my students to make art. I made time to keep my house clean. I made time to watch Netflix. But I didn’t make time for the one thing that was most important to me.
Sound familiar?
If you want to make art a priority in your life, it’s time to schedule it into your life. I mean, literally, get out your planner or your calendar and put in a 15 minute block per day for making art. Yes, maybe something else needs to get bumped so you have that time. Maybe you need to wake up 15 minutes earlier, or go to bed 15 minutes later.
The point is, you need to find a way to make Art Making a habit. Something you do every single day. Because the only way you can ever expect to get better is to keep doing it.
I schedule in two sessions for my own art making every single day. One is in the morning, after I’ve had my coffee and read a few pages of a good book. I may be bleary eyed and yawning, but I show up for that session every day. The other scheduled art time is right after I get home from work. I grab a snack and a cup of tea, sit at my desk, take out my sketchbook, and just start making.
Sometimes the only thing I make is lines. Sometimes I just play with the materials, making shades of color and trying new things. Sometimes magnificent things come out.
The point is, I do it every day. Even when I don’t feel like it. Especially when I don’t feel like it. Pushing yourself through the resistance is usually when your best ideas come out.
So, I challenge you to get out your schedule, right now, and make 15 minutes for art. That’s literally all you need. 15 minutes a day adds up over time, and every day you’ll get better and it will get easier.
What do you have to lose?
