This is a blog posting sort of going from the same notes as a my video the other day. One of my pet peeves, as an artist, is when folks say they "do not have time" for their passions, or for the things they value in life. People in life will frequently hide behind their lives, work, children, family responsibilities, etc. to not put the work in it takes to pursue the things they love. If these things are truly important to them they will find time for them. We give time to the things we value. There is always time. For me, much of that work time has included my lunch breaks at work, a couple hours on the weekends, and an hour or so at night after the day to day hustle and bustle has calmed down. It is slow going, but the time is always there if it is something you truly value. This has been how I have approached Coal Republic (my upcoming feature animated film) over the past four years. There are times I have had to take a break because of life, but it has been a drive of mine to finish this film. In those four years I have had two small children, helped organize a statewide teacher strike, and improved my skills as a classroom teacher. Animation has, up until recently, always been a great passion of mine. I have been doing independent animation since the age of 16. It is something I have invested a great deal of time and energy into. I relate much of my present state of health to years of choosing to set working and stressing over projects over taking care of myself (again, we put time where our values are). To me, ones work in life is the most important thing they contribute. Without it, your time is meaningless. Though I have invested so much into this, still now many people have no idea I have shown many films abroad, and am an award winning animator. Animation has been an exciting adventure... but I am bored. I always said that before I walked away from it I would have do a feature to feel like it meant anything, and that is what Coal Republic is. Nearing the end o this project is cathartic, but it is also necessary so that I may close this chapter of my creative life, for now. I am not going to to walk away from animation entirely. I am already looking at doing some short films for some friends YouTube channels and publications, and surely will do more projects for myself later. What I am saying is it will no longer be the focus of so much of my creative energy. I want to make things with my hands again, build artifacts, and be able to step away from a computer. I need that for wellbeing in my life. This time was here and now, it stayed and now, it goes. I am excited to view my work as a pleasure rather than a burden again, and for me that is already starting to be realized. Being a one-man animation production team will kill you. I have learned that. I would be interested in doing another feature in the future, but not on my own. That was stupid, but again, necessary. Thank you so much to my fans and followers who have offered support and been so patient and understanding. You all rock.
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Jacob FertigArtist, Educator, Activist, Micronationalist, et al. Archives
November 2019
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