The Artist in the Office

"Anything can be art. You just have to change your mind."
~John Cage~

This is one of the many quotes from Summer Pierre's ingenious book The Artist in the Office that has changed my perspective, my way of life, and--in short--my mind about everything that I believe to be important. Pierre's humorous and helpful drawings, her collage-style organization of information, and her genuine assessment of life as an artist are truly enchanting and absolutely inspiring.

Reading this book as a freshman in college is what inspired the creation of Nine to Phive both as a blog and as a lifestyle.

When creative individuals try to make a foray into the professional art industry, friends and family will often joke, "Don't quit your day job." Even in jest, their meaning is clear. In this day and age, making a living as an artist is difficult, if not impossible.

I couldn't disagree more. You see,

There is a difference between making money and making a living.

Money is something that my husband and I need in order to live in our apartment, fill up our car, and put food on the table. Art is something that we need in order to live.

Many incredibly talented individuals forfeit dreams of filling their hours on this earth with creating beautiful works of art because they know that they have rent to pay and at least one mouth to feed. People in this depressing hole (whose company I might be in right now if I hadn't read The Artist in the Office) are very often missing the daily opportunities to create that their begrudging "day jobs" provide.

One of Pierre's many too-simple-to-be-true life-changing tips

I am a housewife, student, and library assistant in this stage of my life. In the past I have worked as a janitor, carpenter, camp counselor, and Taco Bell cashier. In all of these environments, one aspect of who God created me to be was always trying to be realized--trying to convince me that it was still true even as I passed a bag of Crunch Wraps out of a drive-thru window--

I am an artist.

Pierre's book helped me see the seemingly mundane moments of my life that could be turned into works of art. Guess what? It turns out that this applies to EVERY moment.

Making dinner becomes an exercise in the culinary arts. 

Dressing for work becomes a fashion design experiment.


Your morning commute becomes a photo shoot.


Writing a personal journal becomes poetry. (I mean, look at how easy it was to rhyme that last line, haha)

And anything . . . ANYTHING can become a work of art if you just change your perspective. Think about it this way:

"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." ~Genesis 1:27~

Your life is already a work of art. Why not start living it that way?

To join me in the daily adventures of my own personal creations and those of others that I admire, either buy Pierre's book or hang around Nine to Phive for a little while. Or both!

Here are a few ideas from The Artist in the Office: How to Survive and Thrive Creatively Seven Days a Week to help kick-start your creativity. Your life as an artist starts now.

Lunchtime Adventures
Make Your Own Magazine
Commuter Bingo (adapted by Dora of The Diary of an Aspiring . . .)


What more could you be doing with the hours from nine to five?