7 ways to shake up your art schedule !

Now that winter is fast disappearing and we’re all getting back into the same old routine again - you might be feeling a bit stuck in the grind, and worrying that your all-too-well-known timetable is cramping your style, and your creativity.

If any of this sounds familiar, you’ll want to read these top tips for shaking up your schedule. Sometimes, just moving things around a little and making minor alterations to what you’re used to can make the daily routine seem refreshed and new.

1) Make a point of taking a mid-morning/afternoon break. It can be for coffee, a light meal, or even just a walk around. Move about, stretch, and try to leave the studio for a short time. It’s tempting to spend all day working when inspiration strikes, but often a short break will help you get more out of the time.

2) Put time aside for experimentation. This could be with a color that you don’t usually work with, or a material you don’t often use. Alternatively you might be exploring new subject matter or themes. You’ll enjoy the time you spend experimenting, and you’ll go back to your planned work with more energy and, perhaps, more ideas.

3) Swap your scheduled times around. If you generally work with acrylics in the morning and clay in the afternoon, try doing it the other way around. You might be surprised by how much difference that can make to your perspective when you’re engaging in either activity. Small things like this can make a significant difference.

4) Take your work outside. If you’re beginning to find the studio atmosphere oppressive, but don’t want to take a break from work, take your work outside with you. Locate a spot nearby where you can create undisturbed, and where you can get a breath of fresh air at the same time.

5) Schedule in time with friends or family. Interaction with other people will often help you refresh your ideas and thoughts, because of the connection with someone who thinks a bit differently. Also, giving yourself some social time will prevent you feeling isolated or sick of the same four walls – both of which can be problems for artists who generally work alone.

6) Find out what’s on in your local area. There might be an event that is relevant to a project you’re working on, or if there’s something that touches on an area of general interest to you it might give you material for a future project. Plus, similarly to social time, it will get you out of the studio environment, and help you take time to rearrange your thoughts.

7) Consider new ways to market your work. This is important to your career anyway, if you’re a professional artist, but it will also help you to clarify certain things about your work in your own mind. In addition, if you decide to build your portfolio, present work at an art fair, accept a new commission or anything of this nature, you will have a new project – and a new deadline – to work around. This can be both motivating and rejuvenating.
http://the-pastel-cat-artist.com/