How Artists Work

Hello Fellow Bloggers!

This is our last week of this semester…. I wanted to share one more thing with you...

I was fascinated by a recent book, "Daily Rituals: How Artists Work." by Mason Curry who examines schedules of 161 painters, writers , composers, philosophers, and other exceptional thinkers. 

The further I read, the more I realized that for these geniuses, a routine was vital to their work.   As Currey says, "A solid routine fosters a well-worn groove of one's mental energies and helps stave off the tyranny of moods."  This book is not a "how to" manual but rather a hodgepodge of trivia.  

Workspace . For Jane Austen asked that a certain squeaky hinge never be oiled, so that she always had a warning when someone was approaching .  

For many a daily walk was essential for brain circulation and function like Charles Dickens  was highly inspired by his famously three hour walks that he took every afternoon. 

Even a supportive partner had major influences for some artists like Martha Freud, "laid out Sigmund's clothes, chose his handkerchiefs, and even put toothpaste on  his toothbrush".  Gertrude Stein preferred to write outdoors, looking at rocks and cows-- 

So, I'll close with a toast to those artists who did their work within the constraints of someone else's routine.  Like T.S.Eliot, who found it much easier to write once he had a day job in a bank than as a starving poet.; F.Scott Fitzgerald, who's  writing  was crammed in around the strict military officer schedule.  

I don't look at cows but I'm more productive in the confines of my quiet sound insulated studio, shut away from the world. 

What's your routine????