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Creating Art After Work

For many artists, art isn’t their day job. Something else is their day job, like teaching, fast-food, manufacturing, or even being a homemaker and raising children. That means they make art on the side in their time off. It is a constant struggle for these artists to have a healthy work/life balance. This post is no answer to that struggle as we all go through our own valleys and do what art we can when we can, but it might offer some advice. I am struggling with this myself and I want you to know you are not alone. Here are some helpful tips as I try to stay balanced.

 

Have a Good “Why”

 

Knowing why you make art in the first place and having a goal or reason far beyond yourself can be extremely helpful when you find yourself juggling a day job and creating art. Having a higher cause will help you keep going, even in small steps, if your “why” is something you feel strongly about, an issue you would like to make better, or work to make change on a larger scale in society.  Once you find a good “why” no “how” or “what” will keep you from reaching your goals.

Simon Sinek wrote a great book on the topic called “Start With Why”  In his book Sinek explains how to motivate yourself and also to inspire others to take action.   Below is a video where Sinek discusses the topic of finding your why.

 

 

Schedule Everything

 

I work at a paper plant and the job requires us to work 12-hour swing shifts switching between days and nights. At times after a long shift, I might not feel like making pots.  I found that if I schedule everything and write it out, I can better plan for family time, reading, and other things I need to do. I put everything in a journal.  I have a few nice templates I use with my journal to make layout easy. There are a million ways to create a journal layout.  I use the tips found here, but find a layout that is best for you and start filling it in. If you wish not to do journaling, purchasing a planner is another way to get things more organized.

I don’t always keep to the schedule, but at least it is written down in a journal I am able to review the tasks and goals then work to change things to get back on track. One of the issues I have with a schedule is I tend to beat myself up for not being able to complete everything. Try to set realistic goals and plan for only three major tasks a day. If it happens to be a work day I only schedule two tasks.  That means if you are tired after night shift, it might be fine to take a nap, then spend time with family before making pottery.

 

 

 

Find Wasted Time

 

One of the areas that I have trouble with when creating art while having a day job is wasting time. Once, I mapped out my entire day and tracked what I actually spent my time on. I found that while I complained about not having enough time for things I enjoyed and making pots, I did have time to spend hours on social media. I then feel terrible about all the wasted time and try to do better. It’s a slow process.

Wasted time does not always need to be on social media and our phones, but it can be time wasted on relationships that bring us down, or people commenting mean and unhelpful things. I quickly realized not all feedback should be valued the same, and had I listened to many of those people, I would have given up. It is possible to work hard and not give up on the wrong things. I try and ask myself “If I was living today a second time, what would I do?” It takes practice to cut out wasted time and replace it with things we enjoy. I am still practicing. See my post here on procrastination.

 

Think Long Term

 

The turtle wins the race. Making good art to sell while working a day job might take time and practice. It also takes time to build a community of followers and buyers who enjoy what you do and love what you make. At times I need to stop and think long term and see each step, big or small, as a step closer towards the goal I set for myself.

Many feel disappointed when they have a bad month of sales after only a few months in business, or when they fall short of projects. But thinking long term can help you to be kinder to yourself. Remember to not only set one-year goals, but also five and ten year goals. If we see it as a marathon rather than a sprint, we can enjoy the journey more and not feel so stressed about not being where we think we should be.

 

Stop Worrying About Others

 

I find myself getting distracted when I stop and look around at what others are doing. I might see a larger shop doing much better and start feeling down about where I am and think about giving up. Or I may look at small shops to make myself feel better and forget to have empathy and remember what it was like to be just starting out.

Artists who work day jobs may get picked on by family, friends, and even those who do art full time. Those we know and work with may make fun of our efforts at making art to sell. At times professional artists might gaslight you into thinking you have to go all in with art or else you are doing it wrong. But going all in might not be the best decision if you have others who depend on you. It’s your story so tell it the way you like. Who cares what others think?

 

Use Your Job Skills in Your Art

 

No matter what industry you work in, your day job skills and processes can be applied to making your art and running your small business. Accounting, project management, social media management, manufacturing processes, or IT can come in handy when you apply what you do each day while you build your art business.

Like your day job, be sure to learn new skills. In art, you do not need to be worried about processes failing or plans not working out as you now are free to explore and learn from issues and troubleshooting. In art, solving one issue simply means you move on to the next problem to solve. Use your day job to work to your advantage. If it was not for my day job, I would not have been able to start my pottery studio.

 

 

I hope that today after work you take the time to do one thing, if you can, towards your goals on making art. I will try to do the same. I wrote this while on lunch break at the paper factory at three in the morning. I hope to go home to my pottery studio and make a ware board of mugs.   I will make them for my “why,” for myself first and then for you all. Some time back, I started a little group on Facebook called “Pottery After Work”. I thought it might be nice to chat with others who make pots while working a full time job.  I need to revive the group and interact more.   I do hope this post helps at least one person to start managing making art while working better. Let me know in the comments!

Written By,
Al Wayman
Artist/Owner
Creek Road Pottery LLC

Edited by:
Erika Sickler
Content Writer/ Editor
Creek Road Pottery LLC

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No Ship Is Coming In

No ship is coming in, so stop waiting to be rescued off the island.
Put in the work to build and dig out your own canoe to paddle.
No one will make the art for you.  Things may not work out. But just start anyway.
With art, you are not simply a replaceable cog in a guaranteed process.
There is no one like you.
It’s your story, so start telling it how you like.
Who cares what others think.
No one else can tell your story for you.
Do one thing towards your goal each day, no matter how big or small.
You will fail, as failure is part of the process.
Art and creating is what moves us forward outside the systems.
Be different, Be bold, See non-conformity as a strength.

Photo by bill wegener on Unsplash

Written By,
Al Wayman
Artist/Owner
Creek Road Pottery LLC

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Where I Get My Inspiration

 

“And one day they taught Hesiod glorious song while he was shepherding his lambs under holy Helicon, and this word first the goddesses said to me – the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis: “Shepherds of the wilderness, wretched things of shame, mere bellies, we know how to speak many false things as though they were true; but we know, when we will, to utter true things.”      – Theogony by Hesiod, English translation by Evelyn White

 

Many people may ask me where I get my inspiration. Artist or not, we all get inspired to do something, something that drives us into action. Many say, “Follow your passion!” In my observation, passions can change after you have pursued them for a while. “Follow your passion!” also assumes it is something of good. If your passion was stealing cars it could cause you a bad time. Something more than passion needs to drive a person as at times I do not feel all that passionate about clay when pots crack.  A video I thought was helpful on the topic of following your passion can be found here. You may realize, after all the effort, you don’t enjoy it as much as you thought you would when you first started. But to start, folks believe they might need to be inspired or moved to action by some “trigger”. Here are a few things that “trigger” me. 

 

 

Reading & Research

 

When I was younger, I loved to read and had a small library of books that I enjoyed. I read many of The Hardy Boys books and Little House on the Prairie. I was terrible at reading and spelling until the 5th grade, when I had to do a book report. The experience was so moving that I still remember which book it was. The Hardy Boys: The Secret of Pirate’s Hill. I earned an A. I realized learning could be fun and took off reading like there was no tomorrow. While reading in my free time, I learned English grammar and spelling. My grades improved the more I read, and by high school, I was doing much better.

When I attended Keystone College in my home state of Pennsylvania for art, I met a guy who had piles of books all around him in the snack bar. His name was Richard. He was surrounded by books as he was studying ancient near eastern literature. Loving literature myself, we connected immediately. When we became friends, I went to Office Max with him to photocopy parts of books (as this was before the internet and the texts he was using would cost hundreds to own). It was at this point also that I was introduced to world religion by the librarian named Dr. Elliott. Dr. Elliot taught a world religion class and gave students permission to sit in and listen. She went over the ideas of Joseph Campbell and a bit of the psychologist Carl Jung. This led me to read the book The Power of the Myth by Joseph Campbell.  Between my buddy Richard and Dr. Elliot, I learned how important reading and research was to learning and applying it to my work.

 

 

Nature

 

I also get prompted to action by nature and love color and natural texture patterns. Before I made pots, I loved to go winter camping and hiking. I used to do all of this with my buddy Stephen. I even had a fun channel about my adventures outside. You may view those terrible old-time videos here. Taking the long hikes, up to 3 days or more, gave one plenty of time to spend with oneself and work things out surrounded by color and texture. Sitting in a field of grass with a good friend, making meals on a small cook burner as the sun set made an impression on my mind. The community of camping with friends made its mark as well. In times past, each Memorial Day and Labor Day we would camp with our college friends and loved ones and have grill fests. We would all bring our favorite dishes to show off and share. At night, sitting up late around the fire chatting and joking impressed upon me the community feeling that all was right in the world at that moment where we were. 

Nature shows up in my work in the texture patterns. I often use natural patterns in my pots, mostly the texture patterns of tree bark and things pressed into the clay like stones, plants, and other natural found objects. In the past, I use to layer these patterns, creating line and shape contrasted with color and glaze. I enjoyed using and feeling the raw, unglazed sections of the pots, and tried to leave parts unglazed to show off the clay’s natural beauty. Firing reduction in gas changes the glaze colors to the earth tones that I grew to love and enjoy.

 

 

 

Themes of Color

 

I am inspired by themes of color. I am not sure how it all works. Maybe I get it from my mom who always needed a matching outfit for every occasion. I always told her if she were to live a second time, she should be a fashion critic. Even at 86 years young, she still calls and asks what glaze colors I am running for the shows so she can dress accordingly when she helps as a greeter. Last year for the fall show, I ran all the colors from a single pail of glaze.

Depending on the shelf it was fired on, how hot the pots got, and what the atmosphere was like in the kiln, I was able to produce a wide range of work all from the same glaze that matched the color of the October seasonal fall look. Another show I was inspired by was the 2020 Christmas show called Blue Christmas. All the pots for this also were done from one pail of glaze. I was relieved when the blues came out beautifully to meet the expectations of those who stopped by to see.

The set-up for that show matched somewhat how I imagined it. I also think about these when working out collections for the shows. I try to get customer feedback and pair that with some ideas of work that can match in color or theme. I very much enjoyed the rolled rim mixing bowls and flattened rimmed handles on the batter bowls and bakers.

 



 

 

 

Be Like a Sponge

 

Inspiration can come in many forms, and many times we may not know from where. The ancients tell us about the muses, gods, or God. I try to expose myself to many things, absorb as much as I can and let it come out of my hands and into my creations. Not all of it ends up being well received, and I may spend far too much time working hard on the wrong things. But those times when inspiration hits your total concentration can be a fair and foul thing when you are driven to create, do the work, and get it to the right people as a gift. What I do know is I would make the pots even if no one else cared or bought them. I would still pile my ideas high to see where it would go or where it might end up. Mug one is far different to mug 120! So, what inspires you? What drives you to action? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

Written By,
Alford Wayman
Artist/Owner
Creek Road Pottery LLC

Edited by:
Erika Sickler
Content Writer/ Editor
Creek Road Pottery LLC

If you enjoyed this post and are a lover of pottery, sign up for our newsletter and become a raging fan.

 

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