There has been a conflict this week between my home life and university life. I had to miss a really exciting workshop, the decision was a hard one but I needed a day of stopping, I was exhausted after a trip to Anglesey at the weekend.
My 83 year dad had fallen off a bike at the weekend (he hadn’t ridden one for 60 years and thought he’d have a go), this resulted in a broken hip followed by a hip replacement op. He’s fine, but the drive up to North Wales has wiped me out. Myself and my eldest daughter drove up to visit the Ex Stunt Cyclist, then travelled back home the next day, one day of work whilst in between all this the normal domestics of life continue, shopping, cooking, counselling (twin daughters arguing), clearing uni rooms (eldest daughter). There has been no cleaning and no artwork. I’m trying not to panic.
By Wednesday, I had to stop, so no art inspiration to motivate me on. The balance is hard, to take yourself seriously as an artist while the other demands are shouting very loudly but sometimes I just need to do nothing and stare at the walls.
I didn’t have to do an MA but I wanted to challenge my brain academically, but sometimes it feels like it takes second best in the scheme of life. However, my treat today is to spend 5 hours on a train, I’m going stocked up with books, sketchpads and pens.
My work is based around domesticity, so it’s quite pertinent that the domestic has taken over the art at the moment.
