Hello Marlene,
Like many of the other respondents, I also find working alone in my
studio to be quite challenging at times, yet ultimately very
rewarding.
How do you stay motivated to work by yourself with no one to
answer to?
It is easier to stay motivated if you are involved in a body of work
beyond just the current item in progress. I am usually working on a
series of pieces, so as each one is being accomplished I am engaged
in an internal dialogue about the other projects in the sequence.
Different segments of the work
allow me to contemplate the details of the items and think about the
pricing and logistics. This helps keeps me focused simply because
there is so much follow up work to be done once the pieces of jewelry
are completed.
A lot of the work I do has quite a bit of planning involved at the
inception, so I know how long it will likely take to achieve a
certain result. Since the body of work itself is so time consuming
and labor intensive in my particular case, it really requires me to
stay organized and focused. I also find that staying in touch
regularly with the galleries by phone and email helps me maintain a
time and spatial connection to the world outside the studio. It keeps
me motivated and it gives me incentive to stay on track with my
schedule and commitments.
Do you enjoy working by yourself? How do you avoid feeling
isolated?
For the most part I am very content to work by myself. I do enjoy my
solitude and I find it productive to have long uninterrupted periods
of time to work diligently and thoughtfully. Much of the work I do
requires a very quiet and focused environment, so not having anyone
else occupying the same space makes that aspect easier to control. I
think as I get older I have less tolerance for distraction, or maybe
it just takes more cerebral energy to remain concentrated on the task
at hand. Either way, there are benefits to having a solitary space;
no one to interrupt or disorganize the studio, no one else’s mood or
temperament to accommodate or interact with, no one else adjusting
the thermostat or volume up or down.
On the other hand, working alone does have the potential towards
isolation and withdrawal. Isolation can be self imposed as well as
being either geographical or situational. I have experienced all
three at different times in my current studio during 11 years in the
same location. This is one of the reasons that I find correspondence
with my colleagues and friends to be critical in maintaining some
semblance of mental health. Being able to keep in touch with others,
many of whom have similar private studio environments provides
engagement and camaraderie which is motivating and nourishing to the
creative process. Knowing there are others out there whose
experiences are resonant with your own helps to avoid feeling
sequestered. This is one of the principle reasons I am looking
forward to relocating (soon) to an area with much closer proximity to
a population of artists, goldsmiths, and educators.
I find the time away from the studio when I get to meet friends and
colleagues in person especially rewarding and fruitful. Those far too
infrequent occasions when I attend social activities or industry and
trade events are akin to recharging my battery pack. Even more so is
the time I get to spend in the classroom teaching. When I am able to
apply some of my own perspective in an instructional capacity, and
experience the result through the hands and eyes of my students, it
is fulfilling in a way that is very different than the creativity I
experience at my bench. This contributes a great deal to my feeling
of aesthetic satisfaction and artistic accomplishment, and it helps
sustain me during those long sessions of productive solitude back in
the studio.
Michael David Sturlin
www.michaeldavidsturlin.com
