Painting and Marriage

I think most of the barriers to achievement are in our own heads, not something we should readily blame on other people, particularly our long-suffering partners.
I say long-suffering because however much we are dedicated to the pursuit of culture or art, and want to place this above all other considerations, if we are leaving practical considerations to someone else it is intrinsically unfair, unless you are partnered with someone who particularly wants to emerse themselves in domestic matters. My experience of this is that however good someone is at domestic matters they do it with their own aspirations, ideals and values in their mind too.
So in short I believe that all people are equal, so overballancing someone else’s life with more than their fair share of the humdrum element of life is cramping their freedom to have goals and an imaginative life. This will create a rift between your very different life-styles, just as the rift between rich and poor creates cultural, political and social disharmony.
As for painting; the feeling of desperation, depression, frustration, is our motor. When you feel like that it means you must paint now, not necessarily that you must paint every waking hour.
My advice, to myself as well as others is to give your life some flexibility to paint when you are inspired, and not force yourself to paint when you are not. Painting only seems to work when you have a point to make…