Working in Public

I travel…like, a lot. I spend more time away from my studio than in it, actually, so if I want to create, I’m often on the road for at least part of the project.

I work on kitchen tables, in cars, and (often) in coffee shops. It took a long time for me to work in public - I mean, it’s intimidating! People are very likely to come look at what you’re doing. Sometimes they’ll call over friends or family and even keep watching until you finish or until they have to leave, whichever comes first!

Years ago, though, I realized something funny and liberating. All humans want to be creative, we’re just programmed to believe only a select few can be. People believe I’m good at what I’m doing, just because I’m doing it. They’re not judging the work, they’re appreciating the process and living vicariously through me.

That realization freed me and now I sketch at coffee shops a few times a week. The change in scenery helps me generate ideas and frees me to focus exclusively on the project at hand. And those people who come up and look at what I’m doing? The ones who ask questions about how and why my work? They lift my spirits and remind me that we’re all so similar when it gets down to it. Art work is important because it unites us.

Even when the “art” is a sketch of an overly squished old sailor with a wonky eye.