Have you ever wanted to bring a workshop instructor to his knees?

It's easy, free, and fun -- when you enter the workshop, suspend your beliefs about how things need to be done, and follow the instructor's lead. If he says to put away your small brushes and paint with the giant one only, then do it.

If he says to put away all the blue paint and use only the red, then do it.

If he tells you to run in your skivvies out in the parking lot, then by all means bundle up in your coat and take an early lunch. Enough is enough already.

The point is, you're investing time and money to listen to this person (who could be female as well, I know; I'm just using the generic "he"), and you won't get the most of out the experience unless you consciously decide to not do things the way you always do them, and to try something different, maybe a little strange, possibly way out of your comfort range.

You don't have to continue the instructor's way of doing things once the workshop's done and you're back in your own studio, but just the process of trying a new technique -- or several techniques -- will give you something to take back and chew on.

Believe me, that attitude will knock the instructor senseless.

Good Question, and one that many artists have, since very few -- especially in this economy -- are able to keep Nutella and spinach dip in the cupboard on art sales alone.

The first thing to do is to stop comparing with other artists -- lamenting that they are "making it" fulltime and you are not.

Remember that you do not always know the full story. They may have a spouse that works in something with a steady paycheck, and indeed, this is frequently the case. They may be retired. They may have a part-time job, related to art, on the side, that they pursue.

Dont' ask; they probably won't tell.

If you work elsewhere for a living, you do not have to wait until you are retired with a pension (I've heard of pensions; my 90-some year old parents had one) before you can pursue your dream of becoming a fulltime artist.

And remember also that you do not have to paint or sculpt full time before you can call yourself an artist.

Look at your week; prioritize; be brutal about the things you're doing now that you really don't want to do and have the option about dropping: committee meetings, volunteer labor at church, children's sports events (seriously, you don't have to attend EVERY one), Facebook playtime, indifferent television watching --

Yes, you're tired at the end of the day, and you feel like a pumpkin, but is there any time at all -- say a half hour -- that you can spend just doodling on the sofa and playing with ideas? Getting started is the hardest part; once you are moving, even slowly, even a few steps a night, momentum takes over and makes the next installment easier. Things always move slower than what we want, but as mothers universally say, any progress is better than no progress at all.

You may, or may not, be able to quit your job and paint or sculpt fulltime, but it's guaranteed that you won't if you don't do your art, in the beginning, at least part time. Life moves forward, step by step, in stages.

Well, neither the Norwegian Artist nor I are over 60 yet, but if we were, we'd give the Artist's Magazine over 60 Art Competition a try.

There is a $15 entry fee per image, with no limit on the number of entries other than what your credit card screams at you. You can enter by mail with a CD of images, or online.

Okay, so $1000 worth of prizes, divided amongst 10 winners, will pay for a celebration of Thai food take out and a bottle of red wine (or do you drink white wine with Thai food?), but the sweet part is being published in the March 2012 issue of Artist's Magazine, as well as on the website.

While you're here, I would be remiss not to mention that you can subscribe to Middle Aged Plague on your Kindle. You can also download it to your computer if you're one of those people, like me, who has hinted and hinted and hinted to friends and loved ones, and not found that slim little box on the pillow yet.