Right now my work includes book design, jewelry design and showing in craft shows and local shops, licensing work, (just got a set of pillows up on KekaCase) and painting, both for hanging on the wall and putting in my books.
Sometimes it feels crazy and scattered (well, a lot.)
But I also know it's how I work, and that one area of my art always sneaks into another.
As a creative person, I would simply wither and die if I had to sit at one desk and do one thing every day, day in and day out.
I applaud people who are able to do that, but I'm not one of those people.
Once I was watching a video about a young girl (maybe age ten) who had decorated her room in crazy contrasting patterns, it was a frenzy of color and shape. The interviewer asked her what she was thinking, and her answer was: "Well, I'm just not a matching kind of girl."
I love her answer, and I love even more that she was aware enough at such a young age to know herself like that.
It's taken me a lifetime, but I can say it: I'm not a do-one-thing sort of artist.
So ignore that the world tells you you have to focus and become an expert. Work hard at what you do, but try many things and don't worry about exploring. One day, maybe the three or five or ten things you do will each be accomplished and unique.
and you can put it ALL in your art journal!
Lately I've been painting whales mostly, but birds seem to sneak in as well. Here's one:
"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way, things I had no words for." --Georgia O'Keeffe
