Balance in the life of an artist

[Elizabeth Schott]

How does one achieve balance in your life when you are dedicated to your painting?

I always marveled at the fact that Picasso would have such a large studio, in a lovely beach resort and I am sure had the opportunity to disappear for days. But how does the everyday artist focus on all that is important to them?

I have found this frustrating throughout my professional career, so it could just be a problem for myself and "work" in general, but somehow I think it affects those in the creative field more.

When you are deep into a composition or painting and the kids come in and want a ride to this or that, the house is in sad need of cleaning, a big event is coming up, there are no groceries and who the heck cares about dinner? "Hey, leave me alone. I am painting!" is all I want to say. This has become my biggest challenge. I try and explain to my husband, especially in my graphic work, when a concept is coming to you, it is hard to just stop and pick it up later.

In addition to the physical aspects of art, you are usually reading or studying in your non-studio time, or spending a ton of time here, where every artist should be in my situation. This site is such a tool, I think of it as my interactive library. So where is the balance? Who the heck is going to water the plants?