By Artists Network
We asked 12 artists what a perfect creative day looks like. Their answers may help kickstart your own time of unconstrained creative bliss …
“For me, the perfect creative day is when I both finish a work and later start another. The icing on the cake is if I also learned something in the process.” ––Mary Whyte
“My perfect creative day would start with a walk in the woods. It would include reading and pondering a bit of text (a poem or essay) and working from a model. Later, there’d be some conversation about art over dinner with friends.” ––Juliette Aristides
“No deadlines, nowhere to be, and music playing in the studio. While every painting begins with a plan––for me––a perfect day of creativity is one in which I let the painting take me where it wants to go.” ––Tracey Maras
“My perfect creative day starts outside. If I’m home, I wander the neighborhood with my plein air kit; if I’m traveling, I’m chasing whatever light and landscape the day offers. There’s something about beginning with direct observation—responding to the world in real time—that resets me and sharpens my eye. From there, I head into the studio, carrying that same energy forward into more considered paintings. Some days that means digging into a large project; other days it’s a demo for a workshop and getting to share the process with other painters. Being around other artists—talking shop, comparing notes, trading stories—always feels grounding.” ––David Jon Kassan
“As a 95-year-young artist, the perfect creative day for me involves quietly sitting at my table and completing a painting, taking my time with every detail.” ––MK Ramamurthy
“My perfect creative day begins when I wake up with an ideal picture in my mind. Then after satiating myself with food and coffee, I start to work on the picture that I saw in my head. After a while, I realize I don’t even know what time it is because I’ve been lost in my own world, creating.” ––Bonnie Lea Townsend
“The perfect creative day starts with a cup of coffee and a mind full of ideas.” ––Teri Kent-Herron
“My perfect creative day is one in which I can be alone in my studio. There are easy meals that don’t take a lot of time to prepare, background noise that allows me to think, and lots and lots of mixed-media paper.” ––Alma Hoffmann
“Going for a walk in our local park at sunrise, spending time with my amazing son, helping others and making art are all components of my perfect creative day.” ––Andy Griffiths
“For me, the perfect creative day involves a nature hike in sunny weather. The terrain must include water, woods, a hill or mountain ridge that’s challenging to ascend, a gorge and some good local eats.” ––Jennifer Sowders
“My perfect creative day begins with freedom and no responsibilities––alone, coffee in hand, old denim shirt on, hair up, paintbrush ready. The windows can be open to birdsong or closed in silence; creativity flows either way.” ––Jacqueline Ropars
“My idea of the perfect creative day is to pack up my camera and sketchbooks and head to a local nature reserve. I find the perfect trail with an abundance of wildlife to observe. My heart and soul are filled with so much inspiration that I can’t wait to get back to the studio and transfer my sketches or photos to canvas––all while remembering the details that captured by my senses, such as the smell of damp bark, the cast of early morning shadows, the play of light on the subject and so on.” –– Jan Gee
