“Art is a necessity apart from being a profession”.

This was one of Alice Neel’s quotes, plastered across the walls of the exhibition I visited yesterday at the Barbican Centre, displaying some of her most famous pieces.

Wandering around the exhibition, I was reminded of the blog post I wrote featuring Ali Miller, who talked about her art being both her work and her life. At the time of her interview, Ali said: “Art has never felt like work. It’s a part of me, like breathing”.

Given the chance, she says that she would flip her work:life ratio back to what it was before having children: “I’d love to know what I would create if I had the privilege and time to do artwork all day long. That would be a lovely thing to do”.

But duty calls.

Extract from the blog post: Ali’s Story – Artistic License: When ‘work’ is life, and ‘life’ is work – Dyslexia and the Trappings of Domesticity

Every portrait of Alice Neel’s I saw in this exhibition told a story. Not just of the person, but the world around them.

It was an inspiring reminder to be sensitive and humane to all people, without fear or judgement, and to observe and absorb your surroundings with compassion and curiosity.

As for finding balance as an artist, Neel demonstrates what it is to commit to your passions whole-heartedly, even if the rewards only reveal themselves after the age of 70.

Keep going, staying true to yourself, she teaches. Lessons echoed by my latest podcast guest Ruth Todd too, who says:

Everybody is different and being comfortable to make your own choices is part of managing your work-life balance. But whatever that means for you because as long as you can live with what you’re doing, then that’s great. That works.

Just keep checking in with yourself that what you’re doing is authentic and keeping it true to yourself.

Quote taken from the podcast episode featuring Ruth Todd CBE: Season 2, Episode 4 – Ruth’s Story: On Finding Balance When You Want to “Have It All”, Teamwork, and Avoiding Stress

Lessons coming from multiple directions are surely ones to be heeded. I’ll take that.