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Do You Make Time for Personal Growth Artwork?
Why It’s Important
As working artists, taking time for personal growth artwork can be one of the hardest things to do. There is a slippery slope where one loses sight of creativity for your own sake and instead, only works on commissioned work. After all, that’s where the money is coming from, right? With your focus on keeping a steady stream of work, you might even start to feel guilty about working on something for yourself. But how can you argue with getting paid? That can’t be a bad thing, right? So what’s the big deal?
One word.
Burnout.
The Mayo Clinic defines burnout as “special type of work-related stress — a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.” And most of us know that mental and physical exhaustion can lead to any number of illnesses.
Yes, it’s fantastic being able to make money creating art for someone else. But let’s face it, creating art for someone else is still considered work. You might enjoy the work for the most part, but it isn’t the same as creating your own artwork, or…
