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Friday’s Weekend Column
Falling Into A Routine by James Glaser
There is something comforting about having a routine to follow. You don't have to worry about what you are doing tomorrow or the next day. Right now I am going down to the Railroad Square (artist/industrial park in Tallahassee) every day, working on getting the space I rented built into a working studio/gallery. Just because I have discovered that I have fallen into this pattern of working, it doesn't mean that the work has become easy or even fun. I must admit that I am enjoying it, but by the end of the day I am tired, sometimes very tired. Things are coming along though, and I am getting anxious to actually make something. Every day I see the progress made the day before, however I have found out that if I don't do it, nothing gets done. Working up north I usually had someone working with me, and if I went to get more materials, progress was still being made by my fellow worker. Some things stay the same. I learned this a long time ago. If at the end of the day you clean up your work area and put away your tools, things go better the next morning when you start out. Also cleanup is short if you do it daily, but if you put it off, you can lose half a day doing a big cleaning, and you are constantly losing time trying to find that tool you set down some place in the mess. I am still meeting new people who also work in the Square. Some are University Art instructors, some are part time artists, and some are craftsmen. Many people work a 40+ hour week at their studio and you can tell by what they produce that they have reached a level of excellence. Every thing and every one is new to me, and that makes it very interesting. People stop in to talk while I am working, and they find that I am a good talker, but that I continue to keep right on working. If I stopped every time some one stopped over, I would get nothing done. It doesn't take long before people get my drift, and a few have pitched right in and help for a bit, others keep it short and tell me where their studio is, and invite me to stop over when I have settled in. Railroad Square is good place for me and I think I'll be happy there. Next month I'll have to head up to Minnesota and figure out what I am going to do with my house. I worry about it all the time, and Minnesota winters are hard on any structure if you don't heat it. I go back and forth trying to figure out if I want to sell or not. It will be an interesting trip. |
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