It's not often that I get to be happy about a lack of content, but when it's the result of being productive in other ways, I'm cool with it. So this week there's only a few doodles to show, as I've been spending more and more time putting paint on canvas.
This big project I'm doing involves about sixty different paintings that I need to get done over the coming months. They all vary in size, so I'm hoping to get all the small canvases completed by the end of the year. This will give me plenty of time in 2019 to work through the medium to large pieces and stay on schedule.
This might seem like a good idea, but it's only possible because I've been fortunate enough to enlist a manager to take care of everything else. I can't stand sorting out everything that needs to be sorted for an exhibition, to the point that I wasn't even going to bother. All I want to do is paint pictures, so having someone else take care of all the other garbage like promotion, bookings, venue scouting, grant applications, and whatever else, is a blessing.
Thus, I've been thinking a lot about how we often find ourselves missing out on doing the things we love, because of the things we hate. As it happens, there's almost always an element in every vocation that we have to put up with in order to get to the good stuff.
The easiest example for me is the struggle I face with working in the field of graphic design. I genuinely get excited and interested in creating graphics and working on an image for someone's business, but I also hate commercialism. In fact, I dislike advertising and marketing so much that I've basically fizzled out on commercial design these days. It's the kind of thing that makes me want to sleep an extra hour in the morning.
The same could be said for all the logistical nonsense that goes with putting on an exhibition. I love the act of creating the art, and I love the theme that I'm working to, as well as what it means (still too early to reveal all the details, but trust me - it's exciting). What I don't like is having to book everything and organise an opening and make sure the right interested parties will be invited, and all of that.
Having someone else doing the boring stuff is indeed a blessing, and it's kind of this week's point. The fact is that there are people out there who love organising all of this stuff, so why not get them to do the thing they love doing, so that it enables us to do the thing we love doing in turn?! It's a win-win situation for everyone.
It's one of the double-edged realities of wanting to work creatively: that there's more to it than simply creating. If you want to be able to spend your time focused on the good stuff, then it's essential to have everything else taken care of. Otherwise you might end up like me, where I avoid parts I love, just so I don't have to be dragged into the parts I hate.
Plus, there's the added bonus of getting people who are good at what they do, to do the thing they're good at. Sure I could handle the logistics of a thing, but I'd do it half-assed and poorly, because even the bare minimum would be a chore. Instead, by engaging someone else entirely, I get a better result without having to even think about it.
Always remember that you don't have to do everything yourself. I'm sure there are plenty of examples of successful folk who managed to surround themselves with talented people. Sometimes the only skill you need is the admission that there are others who will do things better than you ever could… and what a relief it is.