Take a break

When was your last coffee break?

Everybody has had those days where they are either working themselves into a stupor or not having the motivation to work at all. Not working at all will always be a problem but most people don’t see anything wrong with over working. Finding the balance between the two can be difficult and differs from person to person.

During my first year of college I found myself getting into the routine of trying to “work until it is done.” Sometimes my projects would turn out great because I was working off of inspiration when I had it but other times I found that what followed was stress and mistakes. One project will stick in my memory the most and was the deciding moment to change my work tactic. I was working on a sculpture of mine that I had spent 10 hours hammering out metal without a break. I was riding this inspiration for as long as I could and instead of setting it down and picking it up the next day I decided to push on. Hour 11 I started to assemble my piece. All the edges were sharp from being hammered flat and the edges were cut to a point. During assembly I sliced my hand badly and found myself trying to make something I was proud of with one hand.

The piece suffered because I did not give myself that break, I didn’t give myself that moment to take everything in and give myself that the opportunity to think out better solutions or even reinvention that could push is further. Sculpture is not the only area that requires time for trial and error. Mistakes are made when your brain is tired and sometimes it can cost you personally or even professionally. Taking necessary breaks and beginning a project with proper working times is so important to making a livelihood with art.