I've been thinking a lot about my efforts to balance emerging art/collage interests with my long-established design practice. There have been times when I felt I could walk away from design and focus completely on collage. Then I have moments, like today, when I'm mulling over how to visually re-position a business and can't imagine not having that interaction and challenge in my life.
I'll always think like a designer. It informs everything I do. It certainly contributes significantly to who I am as an artist.
Balance could be wildly over-rated. Heading full-tilt in the direction of what I'm most interested in at the moment may be the best approach. One creative endeavor feeds the other. At this time of hybridization and collaboration, perhaps a renaissance approach suits me best.
And then there's the overlap. Many of my design clients also collect my artwork, while many of my artist friends ask for design advice. My card says artist/designer. Maybe it should say artist+designer... It's all connected.
(Photo is a pattern of light through moving tree branches, cast across a wall, just another random but visually intriguing moment in my day!)