So Why Do I Do This, Again?

During this summer of making art solely for myself, I've also been thinking about why I do it.  What's the point?  

A lot of people, when they hear me say that I'm an artist, think automatically that I'm doing it for the money.  They want to know if I've sold anything, how much I've sold it for, and if I'm making money at it.  The dollar signs are in their eyes.

I'm not going to deny that I love it when my work is sold.  I love hearing the 'kh-ching' sound on my phone when I make an Etsy sale.  I love the delight people have when they look at my work at a show.  And I love the sound of money changing hands, and the knowledge that my work is finding a new home.  It helps pay for art supplies, after all, and I have to do something with all the art I've accumulated, right?  I can't inflict it on my friends and family members all the time.  Just joking.

For me, though, art is a way through the darkness that surrounds me so frequently.  Through art I can see that there is possibly that light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.  Making art is therapy, as I've said many times before.

It's therapy when I am making something for the shop such as this cool piece that I just love (yes, I have to plug my shop once in a while.

Check it Out Here

And it's therapy when I'm creating something that's for fun or self-expression, like these journal pages inspired by a favorite Coldplay song.

Art is my way of realizing that there is daylight up ahead - even if I don't see it.

Isn't that enough reason for doing it?

later,
lin

It is Finished

No, silly.  Not the blog.

I'm done with the Day Hospital program I started on May 29 to try to get me back in the groove.

Day Hospital (also known as Partial Hospital) is where you are in a mental health program for a portion of the day but go home at night.  For many it's a step-down from inpatient hospitalization, for others it's a stand-alone program that one does if they're unable to deal with acute psychiatric symptoms on their own.

I am glad that I reached out early in the development of my own acute symptoms and asked my psychiatrist for a referral sooner rather than later.  The program was useful to me in bringing me out of the chaos my emotions had become.

It was also very useful in that I finally had an additional diagnosis that I'd known I'd had for several years - but which my providers disagreed with.  The new diagnosis, in addition to Bipolar II and PTSD, is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), which you can read about here.  

Many psychiatric health providers are uneasy about trying to treat BPD patients because they can be more unstable and demanding than other patients.  Some providers won't treat BPD patients at all.  My own therapist has said to me that I didn't fit the profile because I was too nice and sensible (well, sometimes).

But that's OK - she'll get used to it.

So now that I'm done with intensive day treatment, what's next?

As I mentioned in my Sabbatical post, I'm planning to take time off from running the actual Etsy shop although I'll still be doing maintenance tasks.  I want to make this time for me, to deal with things that came up during treatment through art and to make art that I won't necessarily sell anywhere.  I'll be sharing a lot of it with you.

Somewhere along the way I lost the sense that making art should be fun.  I'm hoping I'll rediscover that sense of fun.

Two photos that I found on the Crafts Report Facebook site remind me of just that:  

The first makes my point and plan quite clear - 

But most importantly - 

And I mean to rediscover just that.

later,

lin