Wednesday, March 6, 2013

ARTISTS - IT'S GOOD TO HAVE A NAG!

Stalking the Long-Shadows in Maui
Anybody out there notice that after taking some time off for a vacation it’s hard to get back into the routine of painting?
If you are like me and still on “Island” time, with the sounds of an ocean lapping onto shores, palm trees rustling overhead, dancing on sand that’s too hot for bare feet, or have just experienced the ultimate silence at the summit of a mountain peaked high with snow, flakes licking your face, it is hard to get back to work.  Creatively I’m eager and poised but it’s that darn start point that blocks me up.  The “Avoidance Technique” is in high gear!
When I was reminded of information relating to setting up a schedule to assist me using the “Pomodoro Technique” (re: Robert Genn Twice Weekly and Liz Witzen’s Blog) I got myself an app for my iPhone called NAG.  It does just that!!  It is made for people like me who, when a timer goes off and ends, just ignores it.  Well with this app…..good luck!  It will continue to nag at intervals with whatever ringtone you have chosen until you actually turn it off.  Thus your eyes and hands consequently get disconnected from your work.
NAG and Pomodoro are now my new friends.   It will allow me to delve into a pressing daily schedule of painting necessary to meet upcoming shows and events.  For the Pomodoro Technique set a timer for working in blocks of twenty minutes and after five minutes of rest for the eyes or rolling shoulders to relax muscles, re-set the timer and resume painting for another twenty minutes and so on. 
Rev up your juices, reduce intimidation in getting started, provide a period of focus for creativity interspersed with a few minutes to sit back and goof off.  Ultimately the goal of a productive session of painting is behind you.
With a mind set for change and discipline this should help get over being jammed post-vacation or having to recover after some previous disappointment in the studio.  If nothing else it reduces the pull of all that awaits doing around the house.  Currently I’m being beckoned by the dryer-done-signal urging me to take out the clothes but alas with Pomodoro in charge I have no intention of putting down my brushes until my five minutes of break begin. 

1 comment:

  1. It is reassuring to hear of others having disappointments in the studio. Thanks for the Pomodoro technique. Lana

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