How to Stay Sane as an Artist and Art Teacher: Part 2 

Whew!

This week’s way to stay sane as an artist and art teacher comes at a busy, busy time with 5 weeks to go in the school year here. Everyone is feeling frazzled and short on time. In my first entry I shared my tips on using a sketchbook to stay organized and keep track of notes and ideas. This week’s tip is another one that keeps me feeling creative, productive, and refreshed as an artist and teacher . . . 

Keep holy the studio time.

​I find that I need at least one 2-4 hour session in the studio each week to really settle in and make progress on painting a few pieces and layers. I’ll talk about shorter sessions next time but it really helps to take enough time to get into a groove and build some momentum – for some people this might be an hour or two, for me it can be anywhere from two to six hours. I feel less rushed, and more productive after a longer session.

Not pictured: the cat meowing at my ankles.

​Put on some music, brew some coffee, and dig in for some quality time.

Making my own work helps me as an art teacher and I can share with my students some of their frustrations - making art is hard.

A spotlight over the mixing table is totally an acceptable substitute for angelic singing and rays of light from above. This was a five hour chunk of time!

Committing makes all the difference; a studio session interrupted by Facebook and messages buzzing is much less productive than one without a phone - just like your art students! Reset for a while by turning off the phone and turning out some art.
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You should definitely sign up for a free desktop calendar each month with my Studio Newsletter. It's almost June!