Robert K. Abbett - Working at Home

Since artists were invented, they have, to a great extent, worked at home. While we’ve touched on this phenomenon previously, it’s time to update our insight into a facet of art to which many of you may not have been alerted.

The advantages are compelling - as opposed to renting a separate space or commuting into ‘the city’ - when one thinks of the savings in transportation, presentable clothing and lunches alone, the home studio makes irrefutable sense. But might there be a down side . . ? There certainly is - at home there lurks a covert array of seemingly harmless temptations cleverly designed to lure many a modern day Leonardo from their half finished Mona Lisas.

The most obvious, in a family atmosphere, is simply being involved in the usual day to day activities; answering the door and phone, running errands, bringing in the groceries, getting the kids off to school; you know the pitfalls as well as I. Working out the familial ground rules early on is certainly best for everybody; when his or her highness may be approached, when not, etc., and providing lots of accessibility during off work hours. That’s the easy part.

But be on guard! An innocent peek at the daily morning television and/or newspaper can be merely the opening trap - a few harmless moments won’t really put off working, after all even artists should be well informed on civic and world affairs. We can defer doing the crossword puzzle till lunch.

Lawn care is the next evil, lurking ominously like green quicksand; mowing, seeding, fertilizing and trimming can displace huge blocks of time, once started, and engulf the wariest artist into a bog of artistic ineffectiveness. At an earlier home, I enjoyed planting trees which went on seducing me out of the studio for years until I realized the line between tree husbandry and sawing firewood was becoming blurred. Back to work in the nick of time!

For some of us who live in the country, horses can spell ‘downfall’ for the most well intended artist. If you don’t have a veterinarian in the family you should give serious thought to having your child marry one. Marilyn once owned a mare, though attractive to look at, commanded an unintended amount of quality time. She was a ‘weaver’, constantly swaying even at rest - when she put her head out the upper stall door, her 270&Mac176; motion looked for all the world like some battery run toy, "Still going…!" As a result, It needed therapeutic shoes and we literally had to pad the stall sides with cast off mattresses. Another artist friend whose horse was relatively healthy was encouraged by his wife to drop his brush and go retrieve some hay bales which had fallen from a passing farm truck. There’s no respect!

The computer is a most fiendish - though useful - machine designed by those hoping to keep artists from working. If the computer’s ability to concoct it’s own artwork isn’t bad enough, the popularity of the internet, and its associated scanned photos, E mail and chat rooms can be an artistic doomsday. "I’ll just sit down for a minute and drop Harry a line"; of course the thing doesn’t work properly and so there goes another half day on the phone, on hold, listening to bad music waiting for tech support to tell me my syntax was improper.

Do it your selfism? One friend bought an old motel unit and had it moved it to his property where he remodeled it into a fine studio, deftly avoiding art work for the considerable time necessary for the redo. Back to work? No way. He became an incurable fisherman; and, like an ichthyological pied piper, would be seen with half the neighborhood kids in tow, trudging off for another day’s search for blue gills.

Whatever your weakness, be it a protracted flop on that too comfortable studio couch, a turn around the yard on your new "Grass Hog" or dialing up that friend in New Mexico who you know beforehand will not even be warmed up in the first half hour - it takes a firm hand and an iron will to be a working artist in this the age of residential distraction. I’m sure glad this kind of thing doesn’t bother me; and as soon as I (review how to) set the VCR to record tonight’s ball game, I’m going back to work!

Slide of fishing rod and empty frame

-30-



	Behind the Easel This Business of Working at Home Published in Wildlife Art
	Since artists were invented, they have, to a great extent, worked at home. While we’ve touched on this phenomenon previously, it’s time to update our insight into a facet of art to which many of you may not have been alerted. The advantages are compelling - as opposed to renting a separate space or commuting into ‘the city’ - when one thinks of the savings in transportation, presentable clothing and lunches alone, the home studio makes irrefutable sense. But might there be a down side . . ? There certainly is - at home there lurks a covert array of seemingly harmless temptations cleverly designed to lure many a modern day Leonardo from their half finished Mona Lisas. The most obvious, in a family atmosphere, is simply being involved in the usual day to day activities; answering the door and phone, running errands, bringing in the groceries, getting the kids off to school; you know the pitfalls as well as I. Working out the familial ground rules early on is certainly best for everybody; when his or her highness may be approached, when not, etc., and providing lots of accessibility during off work hours. That’s the easy part. But be on guard! An innocent peek at the daily morning television and/or newspaper can be merely the opening trap - a few harmless moments won’t really put off working, after all even artists should be well informed on civic and world affairs. We can defer doing the crossword puzzle till lunch. Lawn care is the next evil, lurking ominously like green quicksand; mowing, seeding, fertilizing and trimming can displace huge blocks of time, once started, and engulf the wariest artist into a bog of artistic ineffectiveness. At an earlier home, I enjoyed planting trees which went on seducing me out of the studio for years until I realized the line between tree husbandry and sawing firewood was becoming blurred. Back to work in the nick of time! For some of us who live in the country, horses can spell ‘downfall’ for the most well intended artist. If you don’t have a veterinarian in the family you should give serious thought to having your child marry one. Marilyn once owned a mare, though attractive to look at, commanded an unintended amount of quality time. She was a ‘weaver’, constantly swaying even at rest - when she put her head out the upper stall door, her 270&Mac176; motion looked for all the world like some battery run toy, "Still going…!" As a result, It needed therapeutic shoes and we literally had to pad the stall sides with cast off mattresses. Another artist friend whose horse was relatively healthy was encouraged by his wife to drop his brush and go retrieve some hay bales which had fallen from a passing farm truck. There’s no respect! The computer is a most fiendish - though useful - machine designed by those hoping to keep artists from working. If the computer’s ability to concoct it’s own artwork isn’t bad enough, the popularity of the internet, and its associated scanned photos, E mail and chat rooms can be an artistic doomsday. "I’ll just sit down for a minute and drop Harry a line"; of course the thing doesn’t work properly and so there goes another half day on the phone, on hold, listening to bad music waiting for tech support to tell me my syntax was improper. Do it your selfism? One friend bought an old motel unit and had it moved it to his property where he remodeled it into a fine studio, deftly avoiding art work for the considerable time necessary for the redo. Back to work? No way. He became an incurable fisherman; and, like an ichthyological pied piper, would be seen with half the neighborhood kids in tow, trudging off for another day’s search for blue gills. Whatever your weakness, be it a protracted flop on that too comfortable studio couch, a turn around the yard on your new "Grass Hog" or dialing up that friend in New Mexico who you know beforehand will not even be warmed up in the first half hour - it takes a firm hand and an iron will to be a working artist in this the age of residential distraction. I’m sure glad this kind of thing doesn’t bother me; and as soon as I (review how to) set the VCR to record tonight’s ball game, I’m going back to work! Slide of fishing rod and empty frame -30-