Monday 19 August 2013

A Day in the life of an Artist - A Blog Carnival

This is your chance to find out what daily life is like for an artist....Today I share what my day is like!
Click on the links below to read about the days of other participating artists.


   






This is where I paint my smaller paintings, I use a the glass palette seen here and the easel to the left of the photo....larger ones are painted in my studio at the back of my house.


A day in the life of an artist.... well I am not sure I have a typical day! There are so many different activities to keep an art business going. Some days I gesso boards, varnish paintings,buy art supplies and package paintings to name a few. Other days I  simply sit and wonder what I am going to paint!!

This is what happens on a painting day:


My day starts between 6.30-7am, I get up and take my dog for a walk for 30-40 minutes...I take my camera too and often take photos for reference. When I return I have breakfast and do whatever household chores are necessary.
I like to get into my studio by 9am. (not always possible) The first thing I do is spend an hour checking emails and facebook. Because of the time difference here in New Zealand I find it easier to do this before I start to paint. It's an important part of my day because I use social media  to build relationships, having conversations with artfriends, followers and fans.
I start painting around 10am...I mix my colors on my palette first. Most times I use a limited palette so it does not take very long to do it.


I paint until 12.30ish then break for lunch for an hour...during this time I check social media again. I am back painting at 1.30pm, coffee at 3pm, then finish up at 4pm. (If I am working on a larger painting I will work longer.)
I take photos of the finished painting so it is ready when I want to upload it to my blog, daily paintworks, and website. The last thing I do is clean my brushes and turps tin...by this time it is about 5-45pm.
That is me finished for the day!!

P.S. This probably seems very organised, but believe me it is only like this when I paint. Other days only relate to the first sentence of what happens on a painting day and can be a complete shambles!!!

For this carnival I will  hold a two day sale on my available 6x6in or 8x6in daily paintings...$50 each!  View here. Sale ending on August 20th. Send me an email to let me know which one you would like and I will change the paypal button to the new price or if you would rather I will send you a paypal invoice.

Thanks so much for reading about my day..and thanks to Marla for organising this!

15 comments:

  1. Fun to read about your day. Thanks for sharing. Now on to the other artists. :-)

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  2. Thanks for letting me visit New Zealand and your day! I've admired your work for some time. Love the realism, yet painterly feel. Wish I could stop by in person. . . .

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    1. Thanks for those lovely comments Johnna..it would be lovely if you could visit here!

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  3. Someday I would love to be this self-motivated. Your studio is really lovely - looks like it has great natural light, too. Thanks for sharing your day with us Karen. I'm inspired! ♥

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  4. Nice 'visit' Karen. I really enjoy your work and happy for the opportunity to get to 'know' you better. :)

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  5. It seems like dog walking is a big part of an artist's routine! I can't see walking my cat Igor...

    Thanks for sharing your day with us.

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  6. Love your work space! Your day is very similar to mine in your time frame, only you work longer.

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  7. Love you work...as you know and it is great to see where you create! Your day sounds much like mine...I try to keep to a schedule when I can...but sometimes life gets in the way. Thanks so much for sharing!

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    1. Thanks Maria! Love your work too and yes life does get in the way:)

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  8. I just love your glass table/palette!!

    Hmm...seems like we kind of have the same routine. Take the dog out, computer stuff, paint, more computer stuff, although I am trying to curtail my computer time...it seems to consume me! :)

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  9. Thanks everyone!! It seems we do have similar routines:)

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  10. Hi Karen,
    Loved the insight into your working day. You have a wonderful studio and seem very organised with your materials. You certainly have beautiful results emerging from this lovely space and routine.

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    1. Hi Wendy, I love my studio...I'm not always organised like the photo, I had a cleanup!

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts and comments, I love reading them...they keep me inspired!