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| Detail from current work in process, oil & charcoal on canvas |
hīˈādəs/
noun
- a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process.
"the spring hiatus gave us time to rethink our next project"
I was on what you might call a hiatus since December 2014, with good reason. I became a mother for the first time and my creative energies were shall we say being pulled in a slightly different direction. Others may have found the secret formula of how to balance work and look after a baby... but I opted for a break from my studio practice. I have been so eager to get back to work it has been keeping me up at night. I can only describe the feeling like being a runner at the starter block waiting for the gun to shoot.
After a hiatus however, it can be tricky to pick up exactly where you left off. The interruption in the work flow has both positive and negative. The negative side you tend to forget some of your little short cuts that make studio time not only fun but productive. I have also found that for myself it has brought up the question of should I continue in the vein where I left off or start something completely different? I have changed during this break in work, should my work not change as well? This last point lays in the pros column as well. One very big pro to my hiatus is re-thinking or really thinking about what kind of artist I want to be including the kind of work I want to do, how I market myself, and the types of projects I want to pursue in addition to studio practice. Having a child for me, has equaled having less time in the studio.
This means I can't apply for every residency, grant or exhibition I am interested in. Instead I must be more selective thinking is it a good fit, why do I want to be involved, and how much time will this take? This is my new approach. I can't do everything and perhaps this selective way of being will be more fruitful?
Time will tell.
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