Having an Artist as your romantic partner can be a wonderfully chaotic mixture of adoration, inspiration, intoxication, and of course frustration. What you should know.
- Late Hours and Long Nights ~ Nothing good has ever come without time, patience, and a lot of work. And oftentimes great ideas and inspiration come in the night and after endless hours of work and concentration. Do your best to allow them time to finish their creative sprint, understanding that creativity ebbs and flows.
- Constantly Spitballing Ideas ~ One of the needs shared by all artists, whether authors, painters, or musicians, is a common need for validation and an audience that will appreciate and acknowledge their work. Having a significant-others approval of ideas can bring more insight and be helpful to the creative process. Don’t be afraid to give constructive criticism, as too many “it looks great” responses can also feel as though you aren’t really invested in what the artist is working on. If you are invited to share your thoughts, participate!
- Pressure to Produce ~ Many artists that work for firms, groups, companies, or even for themselves tend to want constant production, rather than to be stagnant and not have something new to work on or to share.
- Sudden/ Random Inspiration ~ As a person with a creative mind, there are many ways that inspiration can suddenly come or spark, whether it’s by a song, a picture, or something we’ve heard. All your artist time to break-away at unexpected times to put their ideas into action.
- Needing Alone-Time ~ Often an artist’s best work is done when they are alone. Just the artist and their thoughts to think, a little peace without any noise or distractions to take away their focus. It’s natural to want to show them attention, checking to see if they need anything or just to show them affection; but give them space. They need it.
- Mental Support ~ Needing time alone, putting pressure on themselves, and spending long nights and hours on one or multiple projects can be mentally draining. Having a significant other that is there to support them mentally and share the weight with them when having a hard time moving forward can be encouraging and helpful.
- Financial Support ~ For some, coming up with ideas is the easy part. But for almost every artist, especially those who are just starting out, not having the financial backing to support their career can be frustrating and challenging. Asking for money is never easy, but being able to help fund their dreams can show just how much you believe in them.
- Good and Bad Publicity/ Social Media ~ One way an artist is able to establish themselves is with social media. For some this may help, and for others it can also be a damper on relationships due to the amount of attention that your partner can get from becoming well known. As an artist, being put in the spotlight is what they want the most, but sometimes that spotlight can shine too bright in the wrong areas, bringing the wrong attention and bad publicity.
- Attending Parties ~ ATTENTION! As an artist, your significant other needs to establish a brand. What better way than to go to places that are filled with people (ie. Parties!) and meet people that can help support their artistic careers and possibly feed inspiration?
- Traveling ~ Only being known in one place such as your hometown for
example, isn’t usually enough for a person to get the type of recognition that they want in order to form a full career or a fan following of their work. Traveling to new places, like other states and cities apart from where your significant-other is from can open doors to new career opportunities
In conclusion ~ artistic spirits can seem selfish, and often their creative process and deep thoughts can be misconstrued as moody. Building and maintaining a lasting relationship with an artist can be a monumental task if you insist that the standard dating rules apply. The key is to recognize that the same things that attracted you to the relationship in the first place are the things that can drive you crazy. Don’t ask that they tame the creative beast, but instead remember what sparked the relationship in the beginning. Enjoy the whirlwind of impulsivity, emotion, inspiration, and investment in a partnership that will undoubtedly be one of the greatest adventures of your life.