Susan: As an adult has your creativity always been encouraged, or have you had setbacks? (As a child, Tammy’s creativity was always encouraged at home and at school.)
Tammy: My creativity was always encouraged because people liked to see what I came up with – but many people only encouraged me for as long as it was a definite hobby. Beyond the hobby stage no one thought it was a real way to make a living. People said it was never gonna get me anywhere and that no one would want to pay me anything for something that should be a hobby.
Susan: What about now that you work at your art full-time?
Tammy: I work harder now than I ever did when I worked outside the home and yet I still get little comments that I’m not really working, that I just sit around all day playing with my paints or on the computer. It's funny that people have such different ideas on what is considered work and not work.
Susan: But you don’t let that stop you!
Tammy: No, I don’t! I love what I do - there are times I sleep only four hours a day and spend about 16 hours a day or more on creating. I take my creativity very seriously and devote a lot of time and energy to it.
Susan: And you have the results to prove it…
Tammy: I’ve had my work published in magazines and newspapers, won art shows, been invited to exhibit in galleries, illustrated a children's book and now I create my own greeting cards from art I’ve produced and sold over the internet. I have sold artwork to people all around the globe. And I guess some of my efforts were to prove that creativity can be a productive, income-earning job.
Happy Birthday Dad card:
"Susan: Who was it who discouraged your creativity?
Tammy: It was the guys, mainly – Dad, brothers, and hubby for a few years. Well - they did until I started getting into the children's illustration market and selling art on a full-time basis. Also, of course, everyone came round to it when they saw that nothing they said was ever going to stop me. I made up my mind when I came back to art after my kids had grown that it was now or never. It was too important to me to be never.
Susan: What do you do to protect your creativity time - for example, against waste-of-time phone calls and uninvited visitors?
Tammy: Most of my creating happens at night and in the wee hours of the morning because those are times when I can be undisturbed and creative. I learned long ago that life doesn't stop happening around me, so I try to adjust and make time slots available. I get very little sleep at times by doing this, but I make up for it on occasion. Phone calls aren't really a problem for me, nor are visitors, but when I do get visitors, I just take the time to visit and enjoy it - it keeps me fresh because it forces me to take a break.
Susan: How do you deal with it when life gets in the way?
Tammy: I now devote more time to creating art digitally because it is easy to access and I can do it in stages and save my work. I can get up and leave it and not have to worry about paint drying or losing my concentration. I think to some extent we just have to be flexible, adapt and find multiple ways to be creative. It helps to broaden our horizons, gives us new challenges, and the path of discovery is endless.
Notecard:
" (Susan: I felt quite humbled by Tammy’s attitude towards other people when they interrupted her creativity time. However, it still won’t stop me from not answering the phone and the door when I’m in mid-flow!)
click here to see Tammy's shop on GCU
and click here to see my just-getting-started shop on GCU
Creatively yours
Susan
