my 4 15

i only blogged once last week - friday's guest star post. i chose to not blog the other days because i was too busy and too into my work to find any extra time. i had to make a lot last week, get my studio ready for the first resident open house of the year, and prepare my resident artist slide presentation. i have been writing, though, just someplace else. every morning i get up early and spend one hour doing a mix of reading, writing, and thinking. i've been doing it for months now and it finally feels like a habit. i hate to let a day go by without doing it. i break up the hour into 4 sections of 15 minutes each. for the first 15 i read from various books on mindfulness, next i mediate, followed by some automatic writing about my work or studio practice, and then i finish by reading a book about jewelry. i feel incredibly good when i do this. it's a rich hour of my morning and helps set the tone for the day. the writing portion has enabled me to consider my work in ways i never imagined - sometimes i respond to something i made the day before or i write about why a particular day was so productive; other times i write about something i'm stuck on or where i want my work to go. i have never taken the time to process my work like this before. this daily practice helps me to learn about my work and myself as an artist. i feel i am honoring my work, too, and i am grateful for this special hour each day.

all this week i'll be posting about what i've been up to in the studio - new work, sample making, and projects.

thanks for reading.