routines of creative people

After devouring all the old posts at Daily Routines I decided that I should make record of my current daily work.

I suffer from insomnia, and have throughout my life. The hours in which I do these things slowly shift later and later, until the day begins at nightfall, This progresses until eventually, I once again wake up early in the morning. Right now I’m in the morning phase, in about three months I’ll be back around to the night time again. But the order in which I do everything stays the same, only the tattooing hours change, being sometimes early in my day and sometimes at the end of it. I do all but the tattooing every single day, I take no days off usually unless I am feeling under the weather in which case I shorten all my work hours and spend more time reading or watching movies. I do at least some little bit of creative work every day.

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• 8 AM- wake up. coffee and toast or bagel, lounge in bed, take dogs out. I’ve never been a morning person so I take some time to get going. If the light is good outside I bring the camera along. I tend to be grumpy in the morning. Cranky/crotchety.
• 9-11 AM- read emails, letters, write for this site and any others. Reply to messages. Often I accede to requests to write about specific things. I like when other people give me my ideas for free. I usually do some class work too.
• 11-12-Look through art posted for critique, look at art books, read
• 12-1- run on treadmill. exercise. shower/bath…
• 1-3 or 4- paint. If I can’t focus I force myself to at least stay in the studio until 2. This often leads to experimenting with sculpting, charcoal, setting small things on fire…I either paint or I fiddle around in the studio for at least three or four hours.
• 3-5- eat, usually I also nap for half an hour. I never used to nap but now I do. take the dogs for a trot. Since I live alone (well, I have a room mate but that’s different) I have no responsibility to anyone…if I am dating someone this is usually when I end up talking to them. But I haven’t lived with a lover for years, mainly because I can’t handle the demands on my time.
• 5-9 or 10- tattooing at the shop. I usually tattoo slightly more than half the hours I am there. The rest of the shop time is divided between talking to clients, reading trade magazines, checking internet for personal messages, and making phone calls. If I am not at the shop that day, I garden, go out, read.
• 10-11- eat. sadly not many restaurants are open when I’m done working.
• 11-2 or 3- have a drink, watch a movie, read a book, go out, walk the dogs…take a bath(if the day was difficult). Usually I have some food right before bed, as I am trying to gain a little weight. I like to go shoot pool at the pool hall (lucky’s) or go down to my room mate’s work and get some food…otherwise, and usually, I stay home and relax. This is where my friends get me, at the tail of the day. Most of them think I’ve only woken up a few hours before…this ensures my quiet time at the start of the day.
• I’m a bit of a hermit, so I tend to be in my house more often than not. The less people I meet the more time I have for my work. I have usually just enough friends who love me to stay sane, and so I try not to make too many new friends. I find this to be the best thing for my work. I do chase some people and try to be closer- mainly because I think they’ve got some kind of spark, that we might inspire each other, or because they’re attractive to me. I don’t seek out new connections very often. though.

of all the creative people listed on the site I cited above, Kafka’s schedule seems most like what mine has been before. I used to work full time, minimum wage, odd shifts. I remember so well coming home exhausted from that day and physically being stunned, and still sitting down to write or draw something. Nights at my window looking out at philly, listening to bad jazz on the radio, trying to write something on a crappy old typewriter I’d gotten at the thrift store…gluing stuff together for the zine until four AM…how tiring that was.
My life has improved vastly. I’m glad of it.

originally written and posted in dec of 2008.