Yesterday, I delivered the group of paintings for my show, which opens next week, to the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown. It felt pretty good to finally have the work out of the studio and in place for this show which I have been anticipating for so long. Relief set in on the drive home and soon turned to fatigue. I had a chance to think and began to consider all of the things that one has to do in order to pursue a career such as mine, all of the seldom thought of aspects that are necessities but have little to do with the actual act of painting. Things like dealing with galleries, framing and matting, packaging, delivery, pricing and the endless promotion of the work. The gritty unromantic details that take a toll on one’s energy. Basically, the same things any small business owner has to face.
It’s like someone who has a gift for cooking, making glorious food in their kitchen with great ease. They dream of opening a restaurant where they can share their gift with the world and make a living doing what they love most. But once they open the doors they find that the act of cooking, their great pleasure, is only one aspect of being a restaurateur. They find themselves buried in heap of things far from their love of cooking. They must deal with staff, advertising and promotion, dealing with suppliers and a thousand other details. They find themselves fatigued like they never felt before from their cooking.
That’s kind of how I felt yesterday. I was fatigued from all of the detail work– the driving, packing and shipping, framing paintings, the talking about and promotion of my work and events. Even writing this blog. They were all things that, while necessary, were far from the creation of the work itself. Actually, I never felt real fatigue from the act of painting. In fact, quite the opposite. For me, painting is invigorating, energizing. So much so that it makes these other tiring details tolerable, especially if it means that I can do what I love as my livelihood.
I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m complaining. I am definitely not. Every job, every career, is tough in it’s own way and I have done enough other things in my life to know that this is, by far, the sweetest gig I have encountered. The many positives of my job far outweigh the negatives. It’s just that occasionally when I am away from painting for too long, I get a little tired and stressed, feeling that need for the rejuvenation that painting offers for me.
Probably like that onetime cook-turned-restaurateur who, standing in the midst of a busy dining room, longs to be in front of a stove, simply cooking and happy.
Redtree Times 
The analogy with the restaurant owner feels perfect. And in fact, not everyone can learn how to deal with those nitty-gritty details that are so critical for success. There’s a reason the failure rate for restaurants is so high – and why so many artists, writers, and so on can’t support themselves with their art. No matter how delicious the food or beautiful the painting, it takes enormous effort to get it “out there” for people to find.
It’s marvelous that you’ve done so well in that regard – and I suspect the fatigue is already passing.
It will pass soon, thank you.
I know what you’re talking about. I feel sometimes after shows that there has been so much useless tiring stuff which was still necessary in order to make the show happen. I often regret that it’s almost impossible to do only what one would like most, experiment, paint, sketch, so on. Too many distractions, in my case also the health condition, thus, have to interrupt working when I absolutely don’t want to.
Painting itself is a rewarding and re-energizing process. Good luck!
Painting is rewarding and energizing. The main reason I don’t mind putting up with these other fatiguing factors is that they allow me to paint most of the time. Although I sometimes get tired, it seems like a small price to pay.
Good luck to you as well!