“The Cliffs” ©Ruth Armitage 2015, Acrylic on Paper 30×22″ SOLD

“The Cliffs” was inspired by the local swimming hole on the river near on our farm. As we were growing up, our parents kept us away from this famous haunt, as it was the go-to spot for some wild parties and risky behavior. You can imagine from the name “The Cliffs” that there were lots of launches off the top into the cool pool below, sometimes involving injuries, but most often not.  As kids, we could only imagine what we might encounter if we went there. We did have lots of fun swimming in the river in other locations though. We loved the river: fishing, rope swings, crawdad catching… a cool oasis that flooded every winter.

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This week I’m vowing to get my garden weeded. I have a few visitors lined up for the studio, and the summer heat combined with travel have kept me away from my weeding duties.

Since I’ve been asked to share more about how I organize the business side of my art, I will mention here that I try to compartmentalize my work as much as possible. For the past few months I have been working diligently in the studio.  I’ve completed a diptych commission, started another commission, and almost finished a large painting on panel, as well as completing “The Cliffs” – a project that I hope will end up as a step-by-step demo for Acrylic Artist Magazine (Stay tuned to see more in the coming weeks!)

One of the questions visitors often ask when they see my studio is “Do you paint every day?” I don’t, but I do devote long periods of time to painting. I find that if I can spend stretches of time day after day, my productivity increases. I spend less time transitioning into work, and can get right back ‘into’ the painting when I return. Time management is a crucial skill for many aspects of life, but especially for artists!

Last week, I had to spend quite a bit of time in my office, working on tax numbers and emails. Then I took a nice break  for a creativity workshop with Sara Swink at the Sitka Center for Arts & Ecology. And yesterday I drove to Eugene to see the most excellent Rick Bartow Exhibition at Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. I need deadlines and little rewards like trips and classes to get the mundane bookwork type tasks completed quickly.

So I have been out of the studio for about 7 days. Getting the weeding done will give me some time to process all the visual stimulus I’ve been taking in, and clear my schedule so that I can devote my time on the other days to working in the studio. Rather than get back to it today and then have to take another break for chores, I’d prefer to lump all my exterior work together and then have a clear calendar and can really ‘dive in’ when I do get back in the studio. My calendar can sometimes look like a crossword puzzle… with bars of activities scheduled every day, and then open boxes for creative work.

How do you organize your time? Share your tips with a comment here!