Kris Carr: Another Reason To Do What You Love!

A very neat little article was brought to my attention today by one Kris Carr. It doesn't have any astounding medical science to back the ideas up, but I really don't think you need an excuse to believe in this concept;

The 40 hours a week you spend working is a very important part of your life, your time and your health.

Haven't you ever felt the negative affects from working a job you shouldn't be in? The stress, the physical pain, the drained energy - it's just awful. I know most people need to work a job they don't like so they can afford to live, but that doesn't mean they can't soul search and form a plan so that one day they can break free from that dreadful job and start living a healthier, happier, more balanced life.

Clearly, since this is a craft blog, my dream job right now would be paying the bills through glass. Actually, my dream situation would be living hidden away on crown land so I don't have to worry about paying any darn bills, but I'm sure that will be another post later.

I'd rather put 80 hours into glass than 40 - or even 20 - into a job that wasn't for me. I want to live a happy, balanced life, and to do that I need to seriously figure out how to pull off being a glass artist.

Article by Kris Carr: 40 Hours That Are Critical To Your Health and Well-Being

Have you thought out the details of your dream job at all, or are you keeping it at arms-length so you don't get disappointed?

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There Are Polyculture Farms, Are There Polyculture Studios?

When you think about the idea of local farms, what comes to mind?

For me it's a polyculture farm, as opposed to the industrial giants that plant giant monocultures (of say, corn) so that they can successfully fill all of WalMart's thousands of orders.

Assuming the information I've been reading is correct, a polyculture farm - one that has different types of produce and different animals - can;

Check out these healthy grasses!

-Be healthier for the environment
-Be more nutritious for consumers
-Produce a higher quality of food,
-Avoid the use of pesticides
-Act as it's own ecosystem
-Support local businesses
-Make for happier animals







At least, all of these things seem to be true of Polyface Farms, which is the particular farm I have been reading about. If you read about how this farm operates (say, in The Omnivore's Dilemma), you might come to the conclusion that this is the ideal way to farm, and wouldn't it be great if everyone had local farms again?

At least, that's the conclusion I came to, and thanks to a friend I have started wondering, is there such a thing as a craft polyculture? A complete studio ecosystem? I'm thinking about it more before I write out my answer.

Is there any way artist's materials and practices can help support each other?

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