a little help from my friends?

when you go to art school, making art seems so easy.
then you go out into the real world and suddenly it's hard to keep it up.
for me, there have been two key elements to keeping the practice going: developing routines and rituals and creating a certain kind of studio space that works for me.

next term i'm teaching a class for seniors, the focus of which is making a body of work to be in the "Senior Show". i'd like to start by talking to them about developing their own process to keep themselves working and am looking for some ideas. i thought who better to ask than all my clever artist friends. so, if you could, would you take a minute to respond to this post in a comment with any examples of what you do on a regular basis that feeds your work?

mine would go like this:
studio must haves: sewing space, display space for both paintings and drawings, light, reading chair, dog bed.
3 ring binder: for images that might inspire color combinations or compositions.
routines & rituals: work on paper everyday before school, read arts section NYT and write friday mornings, blog, find some time during school day for sketchbook, go to 1st friday openings in boston
when i get a chance and as often as possible: talk to artist friends for feedback, go see art

i realize few people over-plan like this, but without these things i would not be productive.
what keeps you productive?
if you know of someone who has an interesting routine or ritual share that too.
help me out. if you'd like, send pics to dukebecky.at.gmail.com.
thanks!

student quotes.

this interaction occurred between me and a student who i had spent 15 minutes brainstorming with at the beginning of class.

me: "what have you produced today?"
student 1: "i've gotten two good ideas for the new project. first, i'm going to...."
me: "show me a sketch."
student 1: "no, no, let me just explain..."
student 2: "when she says make a sketch it means she's done talking to you."

differentiation...is exhausting.

we talk a lot here at my school about differentiation...figuring out how to reach each student with their various learning styles...how to create a learning environment that allows each student to thrive. i feel like this is something i've always been concerned about. i've always felt strongly that the kids should be making their work, not mine. so many schools you visit and all the art on the walls looks the same.

so especially at the junior and senior level i make every effort to design projects that are open-ended, that allow each student to find their own personal solution. i am also pretty loose with deadlines, introducing a new project every week but allowing them to finish them at their own speed. this can be tiring (for me) because at any one time each student might need to be using different materials or need a different kind of feedback. i took all the photos you see below in the span of about 2 minutes and all the students are in the same class...and yes that IS a blow torch. wait till you see the results.

student quotes.

"the snow is dancing miss roberts."

i only turned my back for a second...

in trying to mix the right color to paint her hair on her self-portrait, this student decided to cut a piece of her hair off to lay next to the paint for comparison. anything for art.