When I was in college I was an intern at a gallery in Minneapolis. The owner of that gallery said something to me that always stuck, "Don't have kids. If you have kids you will kill your artistic career." At the time I was 22 and thinking, "oh God, I'm never having kids, yuck!". But here I am 15 years later with 3 of them, ha! I wish I could say he was full of it and there is always a way to make it work... but its been a long time since I've had time or energy to make work that I'm excited about. I'd say he was 50% right, or more like 75% right. The family I've created with my husband is the best thing about my life. That being said, I miss the rush of making art that I'm super excited about. Art that consumes all my thoughts. Art that keeps distracting me when I'm suppose to be doing other things like cooking, cleaning, running, sleeping.
So here I am at the beginning of something new. I've been hired by the city of Minneapolis to make art wraps that will cover 25 utility boxes in the city. I have 4 months to get it done and a lot of work to do. I have tons of ideas and a new direction and its the first time since college that I feel like I have a direction at all. I feel like this could this could be great and take me places I've always wanted to go. So, here we go!
-Cara Jo
My new motto:
"Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work" -Chuck Close