It was brought to my attention by a legitimate, salaried member of society that perhaps I shouldn’t be baring issues of a personal nature in a so-called “professional” website and blog.
Well, I have to start somewhere, and that somewhere is here and now. I write about what’s happening around me, what I know.
For one thing, the line between my art and my life is so blurred as to be indistinguishable. My work is starting to eddy around the emotional hot spots in my life’s river. I am not making sculptures for hotels in Las Vegas or Lahaina…yet. Not that I would be opposed to doing that. Instead, I’m struggling to make ends meet. I made more money at my garage sale two weeks ago than I did at the Studio Tour last weekend. I’ve been fortunate up to this point, making due with odd jobs, but now I’m contemplating getting a “real” job.
I took a temp job for a few weeks that required me to be around people. Don’t get me wrong. I like people. And I liked the people with whom I worked. But at the end of the day I came home with the life sucked out of me. Some people get energized through their interactions with people. Not me. My interactions with people-while lovely and enjoyable–tend to deplete my energy. I need time alone to decompress and recharge my batteries. It was all I could do to lift the cutlery to my face to eat, and then fold myself into bed only to start the whole routine again a few hours later. I told myself, “This is what people do”. I began to understand why people drink a cocktail or six after coming home from work.
After work, I had neither the time nor the energy for art. Shaky and distraught, I came down with a terrible case of the Art DTs. I had always taken for granted my need to do art. Now I’m grappling with what I could do to make money that would also allow me the freedom to do art.
My name is Teri Hannigan and I’m an Artoholic.
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