Studio Musings - top tips on making time for art

"Time is what we want most but what we use worst" ~ William Penn.

Hey creative friend!

I am busy planning workshops for the rest of the year and then realized how close we are getting to the end of the year. I haven't made half the stuff I planned in January!

I have been trying to be more intentional with my time and have tried to paint/draw/colour for at least 5-10 minutes each day. That doesn't sound un-doable but before you know it, it is 6pm and you are rushing to get dinner done and the day just seem to disappear in a flurry of dishes and bed time routines.

Even though I did not get to create something just for myself every day, I did manage to identify a few things that I do waist time on and was able to re-direct that time to a creative activity. The only way I was able to identify these time waisters was because I was intentionally trying to find time to paint/draw/colour.

In the next few newsletters, I am going to discuss 3 time waisters that I identified and how I managed to re-direct the time. I also share my practical tips for managing some of these activities that are necessary but tend to take up more time then needed.

Time waister no 1:

Doom scrolling while having a cuppa

During my mid-morning and mid-afternoon tea break all I want to do is have a few minutes of 'quiet' and the first thing I grabbed was my phone... yes, I would make a cup of tea and grab my phone and start doom-scrolling on Instagram or Pinterest. And was surprised to realise that most of these doom-scrolling session lasted close to or more than 20 minutes!

My tea was long gone and I was still scrolling. Justifying the waisted time with the excuse that I was looking for inspiration...

While there is nothing wrong with admiring other art and looking for colour ideas or inspirations, looking at art doesn't improve your skills! No amount of watching other people's pretty pictures, You Tube videos or other online tutorials are going to teach you the muscle memory, improve your skills and train your hand-eye coordination. So, watch but also DO!

What to do instead:

Set a timer for 2 minutes (a reel on insta is 30s to 60s - more than enough time to gather some inspo) and only choose one platform to scroll on for inspiration.
Grab your coffee table art kit (more on that later) and practice a skill, colour combination or technique that you just saw online. Didn't see anything online? No worries, still put the phone down and practice a familiar technique or skill in the colour medium in your art kit.
It doesn't have to be pretty, or a finished page or look like anything at all! The process of getting paint/pencil on paper is where the benefit lies. You are training your hand-eye coordination, learning brush/pencil techniques, learning which colour combinations you like (or dislike) and you are giving your brain a much-needed break from screens and daily stress.

The essential key to the above mentioned re-direct:

My coffee table art kit! I would not be able to practice art in such a short amount of time if I didn't have this one crucial element. This is the absolute vital part of the plan and using the little pocket of time that you have to it's full arty potential is to have your kit ready to go at any time.

I have talked about the coffee table art kit before and I have said I will make a video and I am going to very soon. Test 'driving' all the different pockets, pouches, pencil cases etc. took more time than I thought and I wanted a few options that cover my two favourite art mediums and will be easy to assemble even if you do not have many supplies. I even have a few 2nd hand options if your budget is low. So, stay tuned, it's going to be awesome! I am very excited to share my tried and tested art-on-the-go kits!

Would you like to get out of the house and nurture your creativity with like-minded creatives? Join me for a workshop out in the country-ish side of Perth.

I run 3 workshops every month: