I have recently been working through The Artist's Way (a fabulous book for anyone wanting a more creative life), for the third time since 1992. The first two times I did this course, I got a lot out of the early chapters. This time, the later chapters pertained more to where I am now in my life. I took the quiz about being a workaholic, though I clearly knew it did not apply to me.

Although I only book 24 hours of paying work per week, I hadn't realized that my erratic hours, underbid projects that spill over into the weekend, and the never shrinking mountain of marketing tasks and paperwork were workaholic indicators. As far as I know, I am the only one in the group who bombed the test. I, Dawn-Marie, happy-go-lucky, trust-the-flow, take-life-as-it-comes, Artist in Wonderland am a workaholic.

I have found the recovery process pretty painless, so far. I am on the clock from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. I will return a phone call if the person needs to hear from me before 10 the next working day, but otherwise, I must do non-work activities.

This is not all fun and games, of course, as evidenced by my very sparkly bathroom sinks, but it is now much easier to relax, knowing that I am not allowed to think about all the things that didn't get checked off of the list. So, being an artist, what I do with my time off is make other art.

Today's pictures are of polymer clay pieces I've made under the tutelage of Maureen Carlson. If you haven't yet visited her website, www.maureencarlson.com, now is a good time, as I think it has been recently updated with Spring class info. Maureen is an amazing teacher and author. She has been featured on shows like Carol Duval, and has taught at conferences across the U.S. She won't tell you this, but she's kind of one of the rock stars of the polymer clay community.

That said, don't be intimidated. She's still a Midwestern gal, and she has classes for both beginners and advanced students. If you are still nervous, get a friend to join you, and if the only one you can think of is your Aunt from Arizona, then check out the overnight accommodations there. Maureen's is located in an old boarding house, and students fly in from around the world for classes.

Not all of the classes are polymer clay. I've taken a fabric embellishing class from Barb Kobe there, and taught one myself on turning and old chair into a garden planter. You can also reserve the space, when there aren't classes scheduled, for your own group to do something like a family scrapbooking reunion, or an annual quilting retreat.

Whatever you do, make sure you take time to smell the roses...or plant them, or paint them or sculpt them...or leave them on your desk, to enjoy again tomorrow. Have a lovely Valentine's Day!