Survey…
I’ve always been curious how much time other artists spend in their studios, especially those that also work a day job, but also those that work at their art fulltime. What does fulltime artist really mean in terms of actual numbers?
So I thought I’d take a poll as I’m curious about the numbers.
For many years I tracked how many hours I spent working on art as my accountant advised me this was a good way to avoid some pain should the IRS decide to audit. I fell out of the practice for a few years but 7 months ago I started keeping my most detailed records to date.
On average I work in my studio, actively making artwork, 20 hours a week. The numbers vary from week to week (having a lot to do with the location of my kids more than anything else), some weeks I’ll work only 7 hours, some closer to 40.
I spend about 5 hours a week on the business side of art (marketing, handling show details, web activities, etc).
My other major time responsibilities are 40 hours a week at the software job and single parenthood every other week.
So what about you?
How many hours a week in the studio (or behind the camera, or whatever you do to make your art)?
How many hours a week on the business side of being an artist?
Your other major responsibilities (job, kids, etc)?
Posted by Lisa in: The Art World
I spend 40 hours a week on a day job.
The evenings I spend being a single mom.
Every other weekend I try to spend as much time as possible in my studio – on a really productive and lucky weekend I’ll get in around 10 hours of studio time.
I probably average about 2 hours a week on the business side – some weeks more than others, of course (documenting artwork, researching galleries, following up, correspondence, organizing files, updating my website, etc.)
Where do you categorize packing, shipping, putting wires on the backs of paintings, etc? I would say I spend about 1 hour a week doing that.
I am retired and do quilting as a hobby. I think I spend about 20 hours a week in my studio but I don’t keep records so that is a guess. I don’t spend any time on the business side because I do it for pleasure and don’t sell my work. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to work for my own pleasure only.
Deanna – those are good questions. For myself I don’t think the answer as to what is categorized where is necessarily all that clear. I count sewing sleeves on to the backs of my quilts (maybe like putting on the wires) as studio time – but the rest of the packing/shipping I put into business. I think every artist will have their own answers and I’m not sure it is really even necessary to know this stuff. I’m just curious what others are doing (if they know).
Joyce – how wonderful for you! I think you are lucky. Do you ever show your work at all?
I started the year spending 30 hours a week on art (including sleeves, packing up, whatever). It was more than a goal — I made it a requirement by actually keeping track of the time I spent. I had suspected I was losing lots of time with phone calls, appointments, meeting somebody for coffee, etc., during my designated art time, and I was right. Towards the end of the year, though, I got tired of keeping track of time and quit that. Productivity suffered. Now I’ve got to find a way to be accountable for my time without it being so tedious. Or, just accept that tedium is part of any endeavor!
I no longer work outside the house and my kids are gone (although they are the source of lots of those phone calls). Most weeks I’m out of town and away from my work room three days out of the seven, so those 30 hours were over a four-day period.
Pat – that is very impressive – 30 hours in 4 days. No wonder you got into Quilt National your first year – very well deserved!
But I agree – it is very tedious tracking this stuff but like you if I don’t do it I can tell my productivity suffers. I used to just print out a calendar and write this info on it but that was really boring.
So now I track this information in my sketchbook. I draw up a nice page for each month and keep track not only of the hours but what I was working on and also what other things are going on in my life. I find that having it in my sketchbook as made it seem not so much like an unwelcome task but it also inspires me to use my sketchbook more for other things.
Writing down the other things going on in my life has helped me understand better how outside things impact my art making activities. It’s been very interesting to see how much other things in my life can influence the amount of time I spend in my studio – and the silly excuses I might come up with for why I haven’t been doing the work.
Hi, I am a painter. Since I am having two small kids I paint regulary each evening, when all is sleeping. That is the best time. But I also paint over the day, when I find time. I also spend every day in front of the computer and try to do business with my art. This all is like a fulltime job beside family. Not to mention all this time, where I am sitting at computer and things do not work for me. Often I have the feeling, that I waste my time too much here, but on the other side I know, I must spend all this time at computer. How do you all manage this, to get not overwhelmed with the computerthing, to make wise decisions, what is neccessary, so that you can spend the worthful time for your art?
I also spend a lot of time outside for doing ref.photos for my rose or flower paintings.
Greetings from Germany. Doris
Doris I think you have asked the million dollar question! How to not waste so much time in front of the computer! I know some people set a timer and stop after it goes off. I haven’t tried that yet but I am tempted as I spend way too much time piddling around on the computer. Problem is that there are things that must be done on the computer (inventory, portfolio, communication, etc).
Anyone have any ideas on how to stay focused and stay off the computer?
Yeah, that is really too bad that you left your laptop at work! I just took a few pics of the snow since in central Denver, we really do have blizzard conditions (and about 10″ of snow so far)… gotta love it!
Interesting comments on this so far…. I actually started keeping pretty detailed records of how I spent my time (I’m a full-time artist) nearly a year ago (2/2/2006 to be exact). I just make tally notes in my “studio journal” for several basic categories: studio, events (open studios, attending gallery openings, exhibiting at art festivals), business/marketing/research, and training. Looking back through my journal, I see I’ve tried adding more categories at times, but I tend to break things down too much, so found it really wasn’t necessary.
For your question, I tallied up the actual studio and business time – my studio is outside my home, so it really is time in my studio creating art, framing, packaging, meeting with clients. Nearly all my “business” work is at my home office. So here are my numbers, averaged since 2/2/2006:
- I’m in my studio 5.7 days a week
- I averaged 33.8 hours a week in my studio
- I averaged 21.4 hours a week for “business” work in my home office
I’m also primarily responsible for all the household chores – cleaning, yardwork, maintenance, etc.
I think one of my keys for really making my studio time productive – and about creating art – is that I’ve refused the urge to take any technology into my studio space (except my iPod and cell phone). So, no computer or TV… really leaves me with not much else to do except create when I’m at my studio!
I’m just now trying to work back into a 20 to 30 hour week and have rediscovered that it has to be at the beginning of the day or I never get in there (or at least not for very long) It makes me more disciplined with the other things I need to get done if they and not my art have to be squeezed into available time. I used to get part of my time in while watching tv in the evenings – the handwork you know, but I haven’t been able to motivate myself since the move to do that. I really want to get to the point where I can say with a straight face that I am a working artist and not just someone who dabbles.
When on deadline I’ve been known to turn off the phones. Would you spend time at a conventional job chatting with family and friends instead of attending to the work your boss is paying you to do. Well, yes, some of us do or have, but I think you see what I mean. Just because we are working at home doesn’t mean we should drop everything when someone calls to chat.
Yes, computers are a problem, a necessary evil that can mesmerize you for hours. I’ve tried two tactics to limit time spent on the internet (because other computer uses just don’t suck up the time like the internet does). One is to wait to get on until I only have an hour or so before I have to do something else. That makes me quick and efficient. The other thing is to make a list beforehand of what I want to accomplish during this session, the “have to’s” as it were. Then if I have time left, I treat myself to a non-essential or two.
Have no idea how much time I spend on the business end, because I’m not really doing anything along those lines at the moment, but a think at one time I may have been averaging 2 or 3 hours a week documenting, filing, filling out forms, packing up quilts for shows – that sort of thing.
I read a lot – I added it up once and surprised myself with just how much, so I know that cuts into my studio time. But a lot of the reading is art related one way or another – even if it’s only to give my thought processes a change of pace.
I live by myself, have no kids but a fairly demanding dog, so take care of everything myself (although I think I’m going to hire someone to take care of the yard this summer). No outside job to distract me, but I still find it hard to spend the time I should doing what I should. Living alone creates some pretty bad habits, although the luxury of eating and cleaning and doing whatever you want whenever you want is pretty nice at times.
David – wow – what great records you keep. Thanks for sharing the information!
I like your idea of using very broad categories for tracking things. I don’t really keep very good records about the business stuff but I think I might try out something like you are doing for that. I find that when I start tracking these things it motivates me to be more consistent in my approach to my art.
Excellent idea not bringing a computer to your studio. I need a way of locking mine up when I should be in the studio!
Shelia, Thanks for sharing your work ideas. I love your blog because you talk about these issues in a helpful way. The struggle to keep going when there are so many other distractions and responsibilities.
And I love the idea of having a list of what needs done when going on line. I sometimes have a mental list but then I get sidetracked and never actually finish what I intended. So I think I’ll try that approach today and see how it works.
Thanks!
Dagnabbit! Lisa, you asked this just as I’ve been thinking about 2007 studio goals. Maybe an excellent goal for me would be to keep track of my studio time. I’m sure if I knew I were going to write it down, I would spend more time making art and less farting around (and napping).
For the past year, I have no idea how much time I spent on various activities. Some weeks, I may have spent 30 hours total on art (making & business); some weeks maybe 4 hours. I tend to get the most done if I take Friday off of work, clean the house and go grocery shopping on thursday evening, and then warn the family that I plan to spend the weekend doing art. For a while I was trying to have one long art weekend each month.
Thanks for bringing this up Lisa!
You know, I thought a bit today about the usefullnes of this kind of tracking (especially after reading how the folks over at A&P derailed this post…. sad). One thing I’ve sometimes had to think about is how much more work could I take on.
For example, I have a sense of how many productive hours I can actually work in a typical week. So, if I had a client (or a rep or gallery) ask me to create 4 original works in a certain timeline, could I do it and keep my existing commitments? I think having a good idea of my work numbers would both help me answer this question and give me some confidence in deciding whether or not I can/should take on additional work.
Excellent point David. I am pretty good at estimating how long it takes to make my work now because I do this tracking.
And good point you made over on Art and Perception.