Your Creative Season

hidden installation bits from Rotten Little Fruits at MASS Gallery Austin.

Every once in a while, I listen to the Creative Pep Talk podcast. It's a fun, easy listen. This week, the host talked about recognizing the 'creative season' that you're in and leaning into it.

Oh boy, did this connect with me.

Over the last 6 months, I've been making some major changes in my creative life. It has felt very scary and deeply freeing at the same time. This has included investing major $$$ into my work, taking classes, and hiring some help. I've been asking different kinds of questions and listening to some new perspectives, ones that the art school kid inside me wants to roll her snobby, little eyes at but later realizes ... shiiiittt. They're right.

In order to give myself room to process all these wild ideas and grow something new, I had to accept that my studio work would suffer this fall.

I had a busy summer with exhibitions and building a new body of work, but I knew this fall would require me to focus my time on other projects. If I didn't start saying 'no' to some things, I would stretch myself way too thin.

So while I would looooove to be making some big ass drawings or finally make the studio table I've been talking about for months, I'm putting these projects on hold because my current creative season is about building something new.

So my question to you is:

What's the creative season you're in right now?

Are you in school and learning something new?
Are you a new parent trying to get a handle on things?
Are you trying to change jobs?
Or do you just need to be kind to yourself, watch the Great British Baking Show, and eat a piece of seasonal pie?

Wherever you're at, it's worth easing up on yourself. Because trying to grow in a thousand directions is just damn impossible. Focus on your current season and see where it takes you.