The Art of Maximizing Your Time

The chapter, “The Art of Maximizing Your Time,” was much more beneficial to me than the chapter I read previously (although it is actually after this one in the book). I had already been contemplating what was in common with the works I had done this semester in concepts. And although not all of my works have this in common, I feel that at this moment what makes my art special or what it is about I guess is me, in a way. I use art as a way of exploring personal issues I have, but I won’t get into that now, because I shall save that for my artist statement. This chapter not only confirmed how I felt about my own works, but it was also inspiring. It told of several artists who put everything that had into their art, which makes it all the more powerful. Sadly, this chapter did remind of the old idea that artists only become famous and/or popular after they die. All of the artists talked about in this chapter died fairly early on, way before someone should have to depart. To think that I may have to lose everything and also die before anyone takes my art seriously is a little sad, but I also know that that is not always the case, therefore I have hope. I am not sure that I entirely understand the title of the chapter or what the author meant by it. I mean he spoke of an artist who pretty much wasted away working on one painting practically her entire life and losing everything important because of this. I don’t know if one would argue that this artist really maximized her time. Although because of the way she let herself go in this painting, it made her famous (mainly after she died of course). And now people would argue that that painting is a masterpiece, so maybe she did make good use of her time because many people and artists never make a masterpiece ever.