Artist Michelle McSpadden

Have you ever gotten to that place where you were totally exasperated and ready to explode? Well, that happened to me at work last week and I got to thinking “wow, I haven’t had a vacation since summer 2008…” Like a lot of other artists that are striving to perfect their craft and pursue it fulltime, I work at a “day job” and work on my art when I can. Since 40 hours of my week are devoted to my day job, my artwork often takes the back seat. I also notice that when I’m tired, my creativity doesn’t flow the way I would like it to, compositions are weak, my line quality is poor, not to mention my attitude. What’s an artist to do? Take an Art Vacation!! Ok; this isn’t first the first Art Vacation for me, but I haven’t done this in well over a year…so I’m very excited about it! : ) What is an Art Vacation you ask? Well, for starters, I’ll be taking off a WHOLE week from my day job at the end of October, but I won’t be telling my family about it. Does that sound m

The execution of your creative idea can a difficult part of the creative process, but if you’re prepared, it can be a little easier. Think of all of your notes and sketches concerning your creative idea as a roadmap to where you’re going…now it’s just a matter of starting the journey and getting to your destination. Here are some tips to help you along the way: 1. Keep your vision/goals in front of you. Write down your goals on a large posterboard and put it in a prominent place in your creative work space. This will help remind you and keep you focused. 2. Set Completion Dates. It’s important to have an idea of how long you want to spend on a project, but make sure that your timeline is reasonable. If you go beyond your deadline, that’s ok...the main thing is that you finished what you started. 3. Accountability Partners. Tell one or two people what your plans are and ask them to follow up with you about your project(s) periodically. 4. Prioritize your creative side and clear your sch