People often seem to think of art as a purely mental activity. It’s all about something called “creativity”. After a day passed largely in engagement with my painting I am reminded very forcibly that art can be very physical indeed. My feet are killing me! A day passed in front of an easel is unremittingly physical. It isn’t just a matter of standing in front of the work, I am in constant motion, forward and backward, to see the image better. Then for some types of work I find that it is better to lay the drawing board flat on a table, so it has to be taken across the room, and then back again. Unfortunately I don’t have running water in the studio, so every time I need to wash brushes it’s a trip to the kitchen. Standing in front of the easel doesn’t affect only the feet. My back feels the strain after a while, and because the image on which I’m working has to be positioned at eye-level, my arm is also being tested pretty constantly also.
It’s my turn to make dinner tonight, and I can promise you that after that I will be very happy not to have to get back in the studio again …. although I know that every time I pass the door I will have to pause for a brief assessment of how the work is coming along.
An “artist” is actually an “artisan”, so don’t be taken in by this fantasy talk about “professional” artists. That’s just ideological nonsense. We’re actually manual workers.