Welcome to Atelier! I wanted to make a little post here to officially introduce you to this project. I’m Hannah, a lifetime Wisconsinite and recent UWM grad, I’ve decided to start Atelier as a way to engage our community of creators in Milwaukee. I have very strong hopes that this blog will become a sharing space for artists, creators, writer and thinkers alike. From conceptual writing on the arts, to artists’ features, and all community art events in between, Atelier will be a space for all. If you would like to contribute as a writer, be featured or help organize community art events please get in touch!
To kick-off the first post here I wanted to talk about the balancing act of working a full-time job as a creative. Anyone who has ever been in this position will understand the impossibility to balancing time for creating after a long day of work. This time is the hardest by far. But there is a lot of benefit to being in a position where you can’t just be a full-time creative. Learning to make balance can be really beneficial to how you spend your time creating. It can provide a more thoughtful and well executed practice. If your time is limited, you’re going to be more intentional with what you create.
What inspired me to write about this topic was about two weeks ago, while in NYC, sitting at a bar drinking a sad excuse for an Old Fashioned (insert Wisconsin joke here), I decided to take some time off of work and spend a few days painting. Working in a digital medium can be highly beneficial but there is something quintessential about raw canvas and paints.
What I had learned by the end of my few days was that, I do indeed have my own individualistic style. My canvas ended up looking a lot like something I’d create digitally. When you don’t have a lot of time to spend developing your own style, it can seem like what you create isn’t true to you or reflective of your thoughts. In actuality, this was the opposite for me!
On my time off I also got the chance to go to the Interactive Media Lab put on by Christopher Willey, a Digital Studio Practice instructor at UWM. It’s basically an open opportunity for anyone to come and explore digital media mediums, including virtual reality! This in combination with my time spent painting kind of encompasses what I envision for Atelier, a community space where the public can come in create, learn and share plus an opportunity to focus solely on my own practice.
That being said, if you would like to work with me please get in touch! Anyone is welcome to share here, whether you want to write something or want a space to share your work. Thanks for reading!
atelier 