Lisa Call

Progress in the Studio

Markings #21 In Progress

I’ve spent time in my studio every day this week. Making progress on Markings #21 (only 2 more panels at the top right to construct then the fun part of fitting the sections together. This final stage of construction is fairly important and I always feel I could ruin the entire thing if it doesn’t go well.

I’m also making progress on the ACEO’s that I’ll make available with my studio newsletter. I anticipate sending it via email on sunday. I had a lot of fun designing new work (first time in months) so I ended making 5 of them, all of them based on Markings #21.

Progress with Everything

Two weeks ago I posted the following list as my goals for the upcoming 2 weeks, during which my kids have been at camp. I have 2 days left to complete everything and so far I think I can get it all done. Depends on how motivated I remain this weekend.

Here’s how I’m doing so far:

• Unpack entire house. DONE - at least done enough to live comfortably until we move out again for the remodel. I’ll post photos soon to compare to the cramped look we had on moving day.
• Set up studio. DONE - although small and I have to juggle things around a bit ,it’s quite reasonable
• Make small art for studio newsletter. Very close to done - another hour tomorrow and I’ll wrap it up.
• Write and send my second studio newsletter. All I have here is an outline.
• Catch up with the very many outstanding requests for photos, info, etc of my art. I’ve put many many hours into this task - came up with a list of over 30 projects to deal with. So I won’t finish them all but I’m dealing with the most outstanding requests now and more importantly I feel on top of the business side of art again.
• Find all my dye supplies and dye fabric with my childhood friend, Kelly, over the weekend. DONE and very fun - see photos in this post about dyeing fabric.
• Process the 400+ pictures taken while in Montana (my kids went a bit nuts with the camera - I think well over half are to be deleted). I downloaded them to my computer then forgot about them. This is lowest priority for the weekend.
• Figure out timeline and budget for getting house repaired and possible addition added, talk to 3 builders and select one to do the work. DONE - the builder came and measured the house and is starting the ‘as-built’ drawings this weekend.

Saturday and Sunday I’ll be focusing on my newsletter and wrapping up a few more of the outstanding art requests. And finishing construction of the composition of Markings #21 (next up will be doing the surface stitching on the piece). Markings #21 didn’t make the todo list but I couldn’t resist working on a big art project this week.

Studio Time

In my last post I wrote that one of my goals for the upcoming weeks was to continue to spend 5 or more hours a week in my studio while I’m working on some longer term business goals and getting my house on the market.

Laure responded with the following questions:

One question though, how do you define time in the studio? What is included as time in the studio - is it purely making art, is it prepping for making art, or a mixture of this and other stuff?

Great questions. Early this year I wrote a post about the logistics and reasons for tracking my studio time. That post doesn’t address what I define as "studio time"

My Definition

I define time in my studio as time actively making my artwork: dyeing fabric, cutting the fabric to designing compositions and stitching. I don’t do much prep work for my art. I almost never do any sketching (drawn or fabric sketches) and if I do I generally count it as studio time.

I do a lot of photography and hiking and other activities that inspire and inform my artwork. I never count this as studio time. I also don’t count extended cleaning and organizing my studio as studio time either. I view that more as maintenance of my environment. A quick straighting up of my cutting table probably gets counted.

I do count the finish work that is done on my art, such as finishing the edges, attaching sleeves and labels. Probably because I do these steps with needle and thread so it fits into the construction process.

It Doesn’t Have to be Exact

When I first started tracking time in my studio I was rather uptight about it. I tracked it down to accurate 15 minute intervals. This ended up generating unnecessary stress into my studio process. No doubt the engineer part of me taking over (not to mention the meticulous perfectionist side).

I got over the compulsiveness and now it’s just a pretty darn good estimate. The main purpose is to motivate me and spending time worrying if it was 1/4 hour or a 1/2 hour on monday isn’t very inspirational. So now I just make a good guess and call it good.

I think it’s all very personal, the definition of studio time, how accurately one might or might not track it. And even if you track it at all. I like keeping these records as it does help keep me on track and keep me motivated. When I see my studio time slacking off I look around for the cause and see if I need to adjust something in my life.

Page From My Sketchbook (click to see larger image)

Tracking Studio Time

Sylvia asked me to talk about how I determine the hours when I posted that I spent 865 hours in the studio last year.

I started doing this when my accountant told me that he thought that it was very important to be able show that I was treating my art as a business should I ever be audited. He felt the number of hours spent engaged in the activity was important information to track.

I’ve tried different formats for tracking this information and the above image from my sketchbook is what I did last year. I like the hand drawn page better than doing it on the computer.

Incorporating it into my sketchbook keeps me connected to the sketchbook on a near daily basis. Good for both keeping the tracking current and for using my sketchbook as I intend for ideas and sketches. I keep the book accessible and open on a table in my studio at all times.

I write down the number of hours spent each day and a brief note about what I was doing.

A few years ago I decided that by setting specific goals for what work I wanted to complete was creating stress when I failed to meet the goal so I decided to switch to setting goals on the number of hours spent in the studio and not worry about what I specifically accomplished. I blogged about this in June of 2006.

For a while I found this to be the solution and it helped me balance my life but last year I found myself right back to the same place being stressed by that magic number of 20 hours in the studio.

No More Ego

In retrospect I realize I did not address the real problem. The real problem is my ego and my judgment of my performance. Last year there were also some additional issues of hiding behind my arbitrary goals to avoid situations I should have dealt with in a healthy manner insteadt of pretending they weren’t a problem.

For 2008 I will continue to track my studio time because not only does it provide useful records for the IRS I find it helps keep me accountable and in my studio. But this year I’m going to approach it in a healthier way. I am not going to set any specific goals for the number of hours to spend each week. Instead I will just write it down and total it up for the month.

I’ll place no judgment on how I did. No more "hurray I made the goal" or frowny faces if I don’t spend time in the studio. Those value calls are unnecessary. I don’t need to label it either good or bad. It is what it is.

I will not keep a running total from month to month and I won’t track the number of hours short or extra I have done. That’s just a recipe to make myself feel bad or boost my ego, which needs no encouragement.

My true desire is to work in my studio and I know that will happen, I trust my intent is enough for it to happen. I know when I spend that time that I am happy. Spending more hours spent does not make the happiness in some way better. It’s just my ego wanting to feel good about itself. I don’t need or want that.

At the end of the year I’ll total up all the hours and irregardless of the outcome I will be content knowing I put in the hours that were right for me.

Goals

All this doesn’t mean I’m not going to set goals for my studio. I will continue to do this in a healthy way of setting intent. It keeps me focused and focus is a great thing. Action is good. I’m not going to judge how things go - if I don’t make the goal I’ll just keep working on it. No ego - just pure joy.

ACEO #3    ©2007 Lisa Call    3.5" x 2.5"

 
Yesterday I completed all of the quillows for my daughter to sell. It was a full day in front of the sewing machine and it feels great to have that chore finished. I still need to construct 3 pillows for her store, which I’ll do first thing this morning and then finally I can get back to my work in the studio.

About a month ago I started a new large Markings piece and it’s been languishing on my design wall underneath quillows and small pieces for the Arvada Holiday Art Market. Today after a quick studio cleaning I plan to complete the construction of the design.

Finally back to making work because I want to make it, not because I have to for some deadline. This is the time in the studio I enjoy the most. No pressure. I make the art I want to and I don’t worry about what it’s for and if anyone (other than me) will like it. Too bad there is no money in such activities. Marketing….. I thought I’d get to some of that this week, didn’t happen. With my kids in town only 1 more week before their 3 month trip to Spain, hanging out with them is the highest priority for now.

 
The above photo is the last of the 3 Original Art Cards (ie ACEO) I made this summer. I first posted about Art Cards a few months ago. ACEO #3 was inspired by the Structures work that is composed of many blocks with this structure. I posted images of these pieces in this post.

I’m not sure if I’ll make any more small art cards at this point, I’m pondering my goals for 2008 in my head these days and so far I haven’t hit upon a desire to focus on this type of work. It was fun but I enjoy making larger work more. Maybe I’ll do 2 or 3 a year based on a few pieces made during the year. We’ll see how it goes.

This art card is available or $20 (includes shipping). If you are interested in purchasing the piece you can leave a comment here or send me email. Sold

 

Back Side of ACEO #3

 
ACEO stands for “art cards, editions and originals”. Originally known as ATC, Artist Trading Card, and are traded between artists. When sold to the public they are referred to as ACEOs. The primary rule for an ACEO or ATC is they be 3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ - the size of a trading card. They are created in many different mediums and are collectible, trade able and affordable art for everyone.