Night Painters

I’m a night painter self-guilted into painting by daylight. I feel that I have the time, so I should use it to work. Occasionally, the day paintings feel forced; sometimes even rehearsed. The original plan for painting in Santa Fe was to continue my routine of night painting and to use my newly acquired daytime hours for writing and creating public relation materials to promote the artwork. The plan worked for a while, but now I’ve found the onset of summer to be a great distraction. I’ve never created as heavily in the summer months due to increased travel and shorter nights; from what I’ve read on other artists’ blogs, summer is a common cause of motivational issues.

I’ve always written on the side for my own enjoyment, although until recently it too has always been during the night as an alternative to pacing while my family slept. It’s never been anything worth publishing, but rather just a means of keeping in practice. Last November, I started blogging in order to force myself to get into a routine of writing each morning. So what does that say for my lack of recent writing as well? Maybe I’m just in collection mode.

The greatest gift I have as an artist is time, I should use it to appreciate the simple moments and the paintings (and writings) will always come later. – DN