Why I Sometimes Don’t Answer the Phone While Painting

If you call my studio during work hours on a work day, often you will get the answering machine. You might be thinking, “That flaky artist doesn’t work much!”

Au contraire!

Sometimes I just can’t get to the phone.

Inside Jana Botkin's painting studio

The phone is on the far left of the photo, atop the filing cabinet, and requires that I put down my paintbrush from my left hand, take the one out of my mouth, put down the one I am using, and climb over the cords to the speakers and to the laptop. Ain’t happenin’. Sorry.

When it is hot, I can’t even hear the phone over the swamp cooler on high and the music coming from the laptop. Sorry.

This is what it looks like while I am painting a large commission. I’ll show you more about it tomorrow.