Midnight in a studio

Working on a big art deadline is kind of like running a marathon; you must keep a steady pace for a sustained amount of time in order to finish the race. But sometimes you can misjudge and find that the last day, the last mile, you still have a long way to go.

I try not to work late nights anymore. But on a recent job, I found myself faced with this situation. The house is quiet; everyone else is snoozing away, including the cats. But I'm still at my board. It's midnight and I'm tired; I'd worked over several days but there is still a final stage to finished art. I need more than my trusty Pandora mix of music to stimulate me. Caffeine can be tricky on the night shift. I get too wired; drawing lines erractically and hey, I AM also wielding a surgery sharp exacto-blade! Wine makes me sleepy. And I almost never eat snacks. But I needed something, so I went up to fix a cup of peppermint tea and there on the counter, was a left-over donut from breakfast. We are not huge consumers of donuts, but a new neighborhood shop, Daylight Donuts, is a current siren call to our family on Sunday mornings. I eyed this blueberry flecked cake donut and thought, I'll see what carbs and sugar do to me and my deadline. It was delicious. About 15 minutes later, I felt reborn. I swirled the paint with gusto, scratched with precision, and finished earlier than I thought I would. I slept like a baby for a few hours and then shipped out the art the next morning. So, not that I advocate junky food as midnight snacks for stalled-out artists, but this time, it did the trick for me!