Unfortunately ,there is a perception out in the world at large, that artists and creatives are a rather, messy, untidy, disorganised lot who live on a somewhat loftier plane that's the rest of us and therefore don’t really live in the ‘real’ world, like the rest of us.
Is this true? For some of us maybe - but certainly not for those artists who achieve a measure of success within their own lifetimes.
I came across a great book tecently by Sheila Chandra - Organising for Creative People - how to channel the chaos of creativity into career success.
Although Sheila Chandra is a singer, this book is written for creatives from all disciplines. She covers every thing from to - . She includes sound business advice along with …a system that is transferable to all disciplines.
She addresses the issue of how to manage your business and your home life - that the two are inseparable. She addresses right up front, the issue that being in chaos is unavoidable for a creative and that in fact, the messiness is part of the magic of creativity at work.
Something she points out early on is how being disorganised can lead to your own disempowerment. How? Simply by the fact that if you are not really aware of what is going on in your own business then you may be taken advantage of by unscrupulous managers, galleries and so on.
This book is the Marie Kondo for the artists life - how to clean it up and streamline your art practice so it functions more efficiently for you.
It s a great book and worthy of many revisits. Even if you only read the chapters you feel might be relevant for you, it's definitely worth getting. She asks the hard questions and challenges you to be better. I originally bought it as an audio book, however I found, especially in some of the later chapters, that there was simply too much information to get my head around so I bought the book as well. It's the kind of volume you need to underline with dayglo pens and dog ear the pages of…. Without question - a great read!
Next Week: What is next off the easel?
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