Leaving room to breathe

It's time for bed now. Here's one of the
first portraits I did in acrylic. I love
the energy, which comes from my dear
friend Susan, who is a vibrant, brilliant
and kind person. I like the fact that she
looks like she wants to jump out of the
chair and rush off somewhere.

In 2004 when this was done I got so
excited about my new lease on life
in art, as a painter in acrylics,
after 10 years doing watercolour,
that I entered every show imaginable.
It was a great learning experience,
but I found out that if I don't have
the energy to be wildly enthusiastic
about everything I'm doing, I'm probably
overdoing it and need to cut back.

Artists, like everyone else need to find a balance between, work, life
family, friends, love, laughter, reading, sleeping, eating. Most of us
have to do other work to support our art habit, even if paintings
are selling well. So... I learned to pick and choose. I learned to
make enjoying everything I do my number one priority. Of
course that's not always possible, but it's a great goal.

There are hundreds of sites on the net that give you relaxation
techniques. Here's one:

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/ART00521

Have a time-to-breathe-freely day.