Pierre Speaks: Working From Home

Working at home.

Three very simple words.

Working.... at .... home.

I am always.... let’s say “amazed”, but not really the word I would use..... at how people cannot seem to be able to understand what those three words mean when they are forming a sentence together.

People... whether family, girlfriend, friends or roommates cannot seem to be capable of understanding such a simple concept.

Not sure if it is because for pretty much everyone.... being at home means “not doing anything”.

Or if it is because for most people.... drawing means “not doing anything”.

Or a combination of both.

For most people... working means getting up in the morning... going to work.... spending all day at work.... and then they come back home at night after a “hard day’s” work.

For them.... if you spend all day at home.... you did not do anything. Since when THEY spend all day at home.... THEY do not do anything.

So they fail to grasp that working.... whether you do it from the office or at home.... implies that a certain amount of work needs to be done.

And for most people.... drawing cannot possibly be considered work. It is something you do for fun just to pass the time. Everyone seems to remember when they were 5 years old and they were “drawing “in their coloring books.

And they seem to think that it is the same when you work as an artist. That what you are doing is just for fun to pass the time.

Too many times have I explained what I do to someone and being told “That at least it passes the time” or that “You’re not doing anything”.

So I now have a laundry list of people to whom I no longer bother to explain what I do or what projects that I am working on.

When you try to work at home... there are various advantages.

No longer do you have to take the bus/drive to work in the morning. You get up.... walk a dozen feet and you are at work.

Heck when my bedroom and studio were in the same room.... I had only 3 feet to walk to to get to work.

Ah.... the memories.

So from home... you can plan your work schedule as you wish.... as long as you actually DO the work.

If you are not a morning person.... you can get up at noon and work up until midnight if you wish to.

It does not matter how you plan your schedule as long as you can do the work.

But people always expect you to be available 24 hrs a day since you are ALWAYS at home.

Your girlfriend did not have time to go grocery shopping?... no problem.... Pierre can do it since he spends all day at home.

Your uncle needs help cutting down his tree in his backyard??... no problem.... Pierre can do it since he spends all day at home.

Grand-ma has a doctor’s appointment?... no problem.... Pierre can go with her since he spends all day at home anyway.

You need to build a spaceship to go to Uranus?? ... no problem... Pierre can do it since he spends all day at home anyway.

What they fail to realise is that you spend your day at home.... to actually DO some work.

But once again... being all day at home drawing = “not doing anything”.

When you live alone... it is not as bad since it makes it easier to say “no” and hang up the phone and get back to work.

Although there is one time when I had to literally kick one of my friends out of my apartment since he kept on bothering me every 5 minutes. He wanted to watch some DVDs at my place for some reason, and no matter how many times I told him to watch the goddamn DVDs and let me work in peace.... he HAD to bother me every five minutes for stupid reasons. When he bothered me to ask me what time it was.... and there was a clock about 5 feet away from him.... I lost my cool and kicked him out uttering a lot of profanities.

But when you live with your girlfriend, a roommate, a relative, etc... it never fails. They HAVE to bother you. They cannot leave you to work in peace.

It never fails.

They HAVE to bother you to tell you that the Montreal Canadians have scored a goal.

They HAVE to bother you to tell you that they just saw something on sale in the paper.

They HAVE to bother you to tell you that Lindsay Lohan broke up with her girlfriend.

They HAVE to bother you to tell you that Barrack Obama was just elected..... okay... maybe that time was okay to bother you bother while you were working.

But too often.... people HAVE to tell you right away. They cannot wait... it is sooooo “important”, they CANNOT wait, they cannot, they HAVE to tell you right away.

They HAVE to.

No matter how many times you ask them that it could have waited. It could have waited until you took your lunch break. It could have waited until you stopped working for supper or at the end of your work day.

It could have waited.

But Noooooooo.

They could NOT wait.

Since you are here and “not doing anything”.... they have to tell you RIGHT AWAY.

Right NOW!

And it is a problem that is common for many artists.

One solution is to actually rent a studio.

So you rent a studio somewhere where you can get away from home, where you can actually get your work done.

A common practice is to get three, four or five artists together and share a studio. It helps to lower the cost of renting a workspace.... but you run the risk of being interrupted by your colleagues not unlike when your friend/roommate keeps on bothering you.

It happens.

Or you can get an assignment where you HAVE to work at the studio.

So like everyone else, you get up in the morning... go to work.... spend all day at work.... and then you come back home at night.

Although even then in your case, it cannot be that you come back home after a “hard day’s work”, since all you do all day is make some “silly” drawings.

So even then.... you still are not doing anything. ;)



Until next time