Using Art to Relax

Fork in the Road between starving and thriving artist

After buying our cafe/art gallery almost one year ago, I’ve virtually had no time to relax. The business was open seven days a week and open from six every morning. So I’ve been working those hours as well as being a husband and parent to our two young girls. Needless to say my illustration work has been on the back burner for a good part of that year. Only recently I’ve been finding time to get back into my art. Since getting back into illustrating I’ve noticed a definite shift in my mood. I’ve definitely become happier and more relaxed. I think getting into a drawing or a piece of art uses a different part of your brain than what you’re using all day at work or being a parent. It’s like a form of meditation for me. Realising I need my art to be a relaxed and better person all round, I’ve been making more of a conscious effort to get it back into my life. Other ways I relax is getting out in nature, walking and meditating. Anything that takes me out of that busy mindset of all the things I ‘should’ be doing. And of course nothing beats sleep. I go to bed not long after the kids are asleep, normally about 8:30 and wake up at 4:30 to get ready for working at the cafe. I virtually never get 8 hours sleep tho as my kids still wake me up a couple of times in the night. But I do treat my sleeping hours as precious and the amount of sleep I manage to get affects my whole day.