Change is one of the few constants in this world. We get used to something and then it changes. We get comfortable and settle into new routines and then…….. boom! Something changes.
My life has been a shitstorm of changes this last 3 years. I separated from my husband. I joined my first ever studio space. I started a new job having been out the workforce for over a decade. I travelled alone camping. We sold our family home and I moved into a cosy council flat with just me and the kids. For the few years to follow, life became kind of stable. I showed up to work and my studio space as much as possible.
However, this last few months has seen yet more change for me. My work hours were cut following a social work review across the board. Then my car finally reached her last legs. We all know the way it goes with that. The repairs end up inevitably costing more than the worth of the car. This has resulted in me having to make some very tough decisions. I could do more hours at work and take a new car on finance but as an artist that would impact hugely on the time available to me to invest in my art practice. At almost 50 (and menopausal)I just don’t have the energy to keep juggling all these plates anymore.
The one plate I will not give up spinning is my art one. I am an artist first and foremost. My job is worthwhile and contributes to society but essentially it is a means to an end. So I chose to sell my car and return to public transport. That is not the end of the world at all. The hardest decision, for me, was having to give up my sacred studio space in Glasgow. This felt like losing a limb. I was absolutely heartbroken. It was a privilege to have had that space and be part of the creative community in the shared space. To be able to afford and access that space was a luxury not every artist gets to experience. I never took it for granted and worked hard to afford it. A studio is like a sacred space where magic happens.
I have discovered that magic follows us. I was an artist at my kitchen table, in my living room, then my small shed and then my first official studio space. I am equally an artist in my garden, on holiday, at work and everyday life. Artists see things differently. Artists see magic in the mundane.
I will continue to be an artist as I move onto this next chapter. Fortunately I can still access the Etching Press there and I plan to visit and remain part of the community there. I will allow my art to take over my home and a new shed studio which I have built! I will live and breathe it even more than I already do and I will do whatever it takes to make that possible in my life.
Collette x