I started a new video for my YouTube channel this morning. It’s going to be a ‘day in the life’ video. It’s hard to tell what the footage will look like until I upload it and watch it, so I really don’t know what I’ll come up with in the end. It may be a ‘day in the life’ video or it may not.
Several years ago I made some films that were shown at the Luminaria Art Festival. I had done a ‘day in the life’ video where I did still shots of things like the computer at work (it was huge) and then I used the audio of me using the computer from another clip. So I never was in the video but you could hear me typing, making tea, waking up in the morning, driving. That’s a bit of what I’m going for with this video.
I woke up to the sound of rain this morning. I get up at 5:30, so it’s always dark, but it was especially dark this morning. The rain added a great mood. I filmed my meditation room, the plants, the sounds of the rain. Afterwards I filmed myself lighting a candle, making tea, making breakfast.
Filming my canvas while I painted may not work out. I had the aperture open too much unfortunately. I may have to redo some things tomorrow. Either way, I filmed myself painting, loading up my palette, mixing colors, cleaning the palette. Again, once all the clips are together I’ll be able to tell if they make a coherent story or not.
I’ve been wanting to work more on my videos for a while. I don’t really want to be in the videos, but I remembered the video I did for Luminaria and it made me think I could do something meditative. I want to chronicle what it’s like being a full-time artist, what it’s like to work from home, and what goes into being an artist. It’s not just standing in front of an easel.
There are aspects of my life that aren’t, on the surface, art, but nonetheless are part of my artistic journey. Mediation and Yoga are part of my job as an artist. Writing this blog is part of my job as an artist. Writing my novel is part of my job as an artist. I try to make my entire day part of the creative process. Even reading and what I read is part of my job as an artist. All those things contribute to the way I see the world, the way I interpret what’s out there and how I reflect it back for others.
I think of creativity as story telling, whether it’s a written story, a film, a painting, or a blog. It’s all about sharing and expressing from one’s point of view. I sometimes have a hard time choosing a medium. I like to make films, but I also like to write novels and paint pictures. There’s a part of me that would like to make music too. I never pursued that, but right about now I’m wishing I had. It would be great to be able to write something for my videos. Instead, I’m going to use the natural sounds that occur throughout the day as my soundtrack.
I want my stories to have a calming affect. For the past thirty years I’ve wanted a calm, serene life, and it makes sense that my artwork would express that. My hope is to continue making videos as twelve minutes of serenity that people can soak up and enjoy. It’ll take work, but hopefully, the end result will be worth it.