two roads diverged

I don't even know how to say what I need to say. I had it in the car last night as I drove through a dark and peaceful thunderstorm. It was all so clear. It was much about how I shy away from certain topics here on this blog because they are not art related. And this blog was set up to be mainly about my adventures and struggles with becoming and being an illustrator. And sure, I add bits about my life here and there, but I generally frame it within the context of art. But in the last few years I've kind of diverged from that path and have found myself digging new holes of spirituality… yoga… sustainability… simplicity… mindful child rearing… and the sacred bits of a life lived bravely and with awareness. All of this is really important to me now and I've been struggling with how those thoughts and ideas merge with art. Where is the point at which they meet?

When that Communication Arts article came out, it was an eye opener for me because it seemed to focus just as much on the yoga/spiritual aspect of my life as it did my art. Because I didn't have a hand in writing or directing it, I was surprised that it wasn't just about the art. I guess that makes for a better article… to give a broader scope. But I didn't know it was so evident to the author who interviewed me that both were equally important to me.

I don't know where I'm going with this thought exactly… but I guess I'm looking for a way to marry my art with all those different interests and aspects of me. How do I bring those paths together? Do they come together at all? Or do they need to? And I am not sure of the answers.

I have started another blog where I've been writing for over a month now. It's all about yoga and my attempt to live a yogic life. And I started it as a totally separate thing because I didn't feel like this blog could hold it. But maybe that's just all in my head and I'm over-thinking this (as usual!) and making up rules that don't need to exist. My brother read my other writing and said that he could see big cross-overs between the two fields. (He was maybe just being nice.)

Other questions that are floating around in my head are: How do I push my art in a more yogic/sustainable/meaningful direction? How do I find clients who share my value of those things? And how do I apply art to those really sort of intangible ideas? It's not like illustrating for an editorial story or an ad for something. It's illustrating with consciousness and soul. (Does that make sense?)

Wherever all these things come together... That's where I need to go.

(p.s. These are all sort of rhetorical questions… I just felt like I needed to put them out there into the universe… via my blog… which apparently, in my mind, is some kind of taut string with two styrofoam cups attached at the ends.)