How to Start Living the Life of a Full Time Artist

I have almost completed my first two weeks living as a full time artist.  I am finding that the first key to success as an artist is establishing a good working routine.  There are pitfalls to working at home without an established studio and I am trying not to get pulled into them.  I try to start each morning with an early morning walk, a green smoothie, and pot of tea.  I check my email, check Facebook, look at pictures of vintage dolls on the net, and then settle in to work on my current doll project.   I am learning that I need to limit my ipad time and not fall into the trap of searching for the end of the internet because I don’t believe the end really exists.   

The current project I am working on is a tuck comb inspired, ball jointed, needle sculpted, cloth doll with a face overlay.  When I am not working on the doll I am immersing myself into her time period.  I watched a movie on Netflix called Mansfield Park put on by PBS based on the book written by Jane Austin.  I assure you it was just for the sole purpose of costume research and the time was well spent because I had cloth and needle in hand during the entire movie.  In my spare time between doll making and sleep I have been reading Mansfield Park and Mummies by Vera Nazarian. As you may have guessed it is a parody on Jane Austin's Mansfield Park.  And during my endless search for the end of the internet I have found this website http://www.janeausten.org   that has everything you might want to know about Jane Austin.

I started working on this doll about 10 months ago while working full time in a demanding job outside of the art field, driving a ridiculous amount between work and home, and trying to keep up with the daily ebbs and flow of life.  I was able to experiment with and create some beautiful ball jointing techniques for this doll during this time period.  Typically I start with the head first but I was so excited about trying to develop different ball jointing techniques that I started with the body.  Unfortunately by the time I got to the head and costume during this time period I was exhausted and out of steam. The first head and beginnings of her costume reflected this and I tossed them into the dead head and dead costume pile.  I redesigned the head to have a more realistic shape and used a cloth overlay to cover that unsightly middle of the face seam often found on needle sculpted cloth doll heads.  I believe she reflects the contentment and balance that I am starting to feel as a result of entering this new phase of life.  Don't you agree?

Transitioning to the Life of a Full Time Artist

I have six weeks of working full time at my day job left before becoming a full time artist. I would like to share with you how things are going through this transition, some of the practical aspects of preparing for this transition, and what I learn through the process.  I truly believe that there is always more than one path to each destination.  I am only sharing the one path I am taking in these articles but keep in mind that there are always different possible paths to take.

First, I’ll share how it’s going as I face the prospect of abject poverty (no full time job, no full time paycheck).   All of a sudden I am starting to smile more often.  My heart is beginning to hear the music again.  I am starting to lose some of that unwanted weight.  An inner calm is beginning to pervade my inner being.  The list of future artistic projects is growing and filling my dreams.  So in a nutshell the transition so far is going well. Keep in mind that I haven't faced the abject poverty yet.

Second, I’ll share some of the practical aspects of how I have been preparing for the transition. The first thing that you need to do to prepare for the transition to full time artist is to never allow your fears to get in the way of facing the challenges you find along your path (you can read more about the 10 lessons learned from a well lived life here http://orsinisangels.blogspot.com/2013/02/in-memory-of-princess-ten-lessons-from.html ).  In preparation for this path I have started teaching online doll making classes a few years ago. I have something that I know I will be working on as I transition and this helps me handle the abject poverty fear.  It’s not that I expect to make a fortune teaching online doll making classes, but I enjoy teaching them a great deal, I believe in sharing techniques and assisting other artists along their way as others have helped me, and I hope that teaching will help pay for some of the art supplies I need to continue to create.   I have been working for the past year on a tuck comb inspired doll that I will teach a new class on called Brigette.  As I mentioned in my last post it is difficult to find the time to create when you exhaust all of your energies in your full time non art field job on top of your other everyday responsibilities.  So the project has moved slower than I would have liked but I have so enjoyed working on her.  One of the challenges of the project was to create cloth doll jointing techniques to imitate the mortise and tenon joints of the antique wooden dolls I fell in love with.  That took more than one try.  I also have a little OCD tendencies when it comes to my art and online classes.  So I created more than one pattern for the doll, more than one undergarment, etc before I was pleased with the outcome. I didn’t like how some of the pictures came out so I also created an additional doll to retake some of the pictures for the class.   I am currently working on her costume and hope to get quite a bit done on her overdress this weekend.  Here are some pictures of her in progress.

Other things that I have been doing to prepare for the transition to full time artist is setting very clear goals and expectations.  My goal is not to make a lot of money as a full time artist.  My goal is to set aside the time to fully immerse myself in my art and develop my art as far as it can go.  I don’t expect to bring in much of an income from my art for several years.  That being said, one needs to eat, one needs to sleep.  My husband and I have been preparing for this transition for quite some time. To prepare for this transition we have lived within our means for a long time and have added ways to keep our expenses down once I make this transition.  We will have our mortgage paid off shortly, our cars are paid for, and we have cut our utilities by adding geothermal and solar to our home. Our credit card balance is paid monthly.   We live in the country with plenty of space to garden.  I have grown many of our vegetables for several years and we are putting in more raised beds to grow more so I can freeze or can some of our food for the winter.  I love gardening and look forward to the time I will have to spend doing this.  I have dried the herbs from my garden for several years already and not only does this cut the cost of buying seasonings but they also taste so much better than the dried spices you buy in the grocery store.  If you don’t expect a lot of income coming in while pursuing your art it helps to minimize your expenses.  So a lot of the preparation has focused on minimizing our costs.

How all of my plans fall into place and what I learn from this I can’t share with you yet but will continue to post updates on this blog to let you know how it goes.  So follow, or check back in from time to time, pour yourself a nice cup of tea, and I will continue to share the story of living the full time artist dream.

P.S., P.S.

I am teaching a class on A for Artistic beginning next week on how to create a Boudoir inspired ball jointed cloth doll called Mistique.  You can learn more about the class and sign up for it if you wish by clicking here.

http://www.aforartistic.com/classes/open-classes/mistique-cloth-ball-jointed-doll-with-marla-niederer.html

How to transition from a full time job to becoming a full time artist

I am in the process of transitioning from working full time with a full time pay check to becoming a full time artist without the full time paycheck.  Jumping into the starving artist realm has always been financially scary for me so I have pretty much always worked full time with my art placed on the back burner.  But as any of you artists out there that have made the same choices by now know, it is really difficult to find the time to create when you have exhausted most of your energy into making a living outside of the art field and keeping up with your other responsibilities in life.   So I finally set aside 51 days last summer to create art every day.  It was wonderful!  I couldn't wait to get up each morning and start my art projects for the day.  Thoughts of my artwork filled every waking moment and filled my dreams as I slept.    I smiled so often my smile grew wider than the Cheshire Cat grin.  My heart sang.  I glowed with inner calm and contentment.  I even lost some unwanted weight.  One of my dolls won the people’s choice award at the Figurative Artist Consortium in Ottawa.  Another one of my dolls won second place in a Doll Street Dreamer’s contest.  I taught an online doll making class on A for Artistic.  Then I went back to work.  I gained back the weight.  My heart doesn’t sing like it did last summer.  My smile isn't as wide as the Cheshire Cat’s grin.  I stopped glowing.   Life is short.  I am fortunate that my husband has always been my number one fan and has always encouraged my growth as an artist.  My husband and I had several conversations and both agreed that it was time to take my art off the back burner and leave the education field earlier than we had originally planned for me to do.   So as of July 1^st this summer I will be a full time artist.  I plan to share with you what works and doesn't work during this transition and first year of living the full time artist dream.    I will share some of the things we have been doing to prepare for this change in a later post.  Until then I am wishing all of you well and hope you are able to find some time to be creative.

 

P.S.  If you are interested in taking my online class Mistique it is starting on May 22^nd and you can sign up for it by clicking on the link below.

http://www.aforartistic.com/mistique-cloth-ball-jointed-doll-with-marla-niederer.html

Boudoir Dolls

When I visited my grandmother as a small child I remember that she always had a doll seated on top of the console TV and one on her bed.  The dolls were dressed in beautiful costumes with full ruffled skirts.  I was always fascinated with these dolls, and if I recall correctly, they were boudoir dolls.

Boudoir dolls were popular during the 1920’s.   When I started creating dolls I became intrigued with Lenci dolls and fell in love with the Lenci boudoir dolls. There were several different types made but the ones that fascinated me the most were the ones elaborately dressed in romantic court dresses such as those worn by Marie Antoinette.   Out of my love for these dolls I created Mistique and costumed her with all of the ruffles and frills I could imagine worn by a beautiful boudoir doll.

Mistique is a 17” needle-sculpted ball jointed cloth doll inspired by the romantically styled boudoir dolls of the 1920’s that I have always loved.  I will be teaching a workshop on how to create your own Mistique on May 22^nd online for A for Artistic.  This work-shop will present a multitude of cloth doll making techniques. You will receive instruction on needle-sculpting a cloth doll head, hands, and feet. The workshop will present techniques on creating hidden ball joints, using watercolors for cloth doll facial coloring, needle-felting an elaborate hairstyle, how to create an elaborate costume, and how to create beautiful doll shoes. All of these techniques will be presented while you are in the process of creating a beautiful heirloom doll!

Hope to see you in class!

It Was Another Spring Snow Storm or the Birth of Two Very Silly Bunnies

Last Saturday morning I woke up and took a peek outside my window and was disheartened by witnessing yet another blustery snow storm.  It was the 22^nd of March.  Enough with the snow!   It was time for the snow to have long been melted and time for the daffodils to bloom.  I couldn’t quite do anything about the weather outside but I was determined to start making it look a little more like spring inside!  At that thought I felt impelled to pull two bunnies out of my very full bag of unfinished projects to complete on that blustery spring day.  The bunnies were two that I had started two years ago when I had designed and shared the pattern for them with my doll club in Ottawa.  The first bunny was made to show an example to the doll club during the presentation and the second bunny was used for the demonstration of techniques used in the creation of the bunnies.  Somehow life moved on and the bunnies were forgotten and left unfinished until last Saturday.  I had quite a bit of fun completing and dressing the bunnies.  Just looking at them helps it feel more like its spring don’t you think

Tuck Comb Dolls

It was a blustery winter day, and I had the day off from my day job, so I pulled out some needle sculpted ornaments  that I made and a package of paper clay and decided to try out some ideas I've had to create tuck comb inspired dolls.  The ornaments were going to be practice heads but I really like how they are turning out so I may make them into complete dolls.  I will keep you posted on my progress!

View from my window

This was a view from my bedroom window during the ice storm we had a couple of weeks ago.  I thought I would share its beauty. I hope you are enjoying the start of the new year.  May it be filled with beauty all around you!