I just came back from a week-long trip to Michigan. For a mom, a week-long trip is really a three-week trip. It takes a week or so to plan, pack, and get everything ready. It takes another week to do all the laundry, dishes, meal planning, grocery run, put everything away, and get everyone’s circadian rhythm reset. (Thankfully, my ever-gracious husband sees household management as a shared activity, so it’s not all on mom.)
Getting the house back in running order is one thing, but I also have to get myself re-oriented in the studio. There is a rhythm and a momentum that builds when an artist is working regularly in the studio. It’s very easily broken by getting distracted by other things and comes to a halt when I go on a trip. Thankfully, I had several dreams about sculpture, so I know it’s not far from my mind.
I don’t really have a method for getting back into the studio groove. I putz around in there, moving things, looking, reading, thinking, cleaning, sweeping up sawdust from old projects. Maybe then, I’ll gain the courage to touch the clay again.
How do you get back into the rhythm of creative work after a long break?
