Hello and salaam there. I feel I need to get us up to speed with where I am at the moment, so that my ventures make sense from this point onwards. So brew yourself a hot drink, an early grey or a coffee perhaps and settle in.
Moving to devon and starting work as a junior doctor
After graduating from Cardiff Uni in July, I moved down to Devon to start junior doctor-ing and have pretty much settled in over here since then. I was nervous about everything at the start, and felt a little out of my depth when ‘Black Wednesday’ came along and I was allocated to start on night shifts. Black Wednesday is the first day of work for all graduating medics on the first Wednesday of August across the UK. Being a doctor and spending five years as a medical student are two very different lives. I think I also found it harder to really settle because I juggled starting work with an exhibit that I really wanted to get right. Thankfully, I made it through the first of the hard days, and although I know there are many more to come, I feel more confident in myself than I did when I first started.
As someone who is committed to both Medicine and art, I found it difficult to make time for my creative side, and then to rest from both medic work and artwork. Being a junior doctor means that I don’t have all the time in the world to work on my ideas or potential collaborations. My time is limited, and sometimes I just don’t have the energy after a long shift. This is something that really gets me down at times, but I am trying to work towards a life of batch working and better time-management that includes ‘salamsanctuary’ days and ‘100% rest days’ too.
I thought I would be alone in my unique life of chasing the creative world, but my colleagues at work have been incredibly supportive and excited through my art journey so far. I moved out of hospital accommodation pretty quickly, and live with two wonderful fellow doctors who are lovely housemates. One of them paints and has cardboard boxes filled with art materials too! I feel like my worry of being a soul-less F1 in a soul-less busy hospital couldn't be further from the life I live now, and I thank God for that every day because I know in my heart that I would not have coped if that were the case.
Exhibiting artwork
30th August 2019. I finished my duties on the wards in August and asked to leave early to head to London to set up my artwork before the exhibit the next day. Driving from Devon to London is such a pain! It took about 4 hours, and I arrived too excited to realise how shattered I was. The next day was a day of networking with fellow artists and speaking to visitors about my work. I made sure to have business cards, and bubblewrap paper if I made a few sales. Bring prepared comes in handy! I did not realise how far I had come from exhibiting twice before. I think I tend to move so fast, that I forget to slow down and reflect.
I spent my evening in London celebrating by going to dinner with a close friend of mine. I remember waking early the next day to head to Harley Street to drop off pieces of art I had sold. I won’t forget that moment. I’m a post-grad student that has been working tirelessly as an artist through medical school. And there I was, in central London, handing over two of my beloved art pieces to a buyer who could see me going far as an artist.
Someone pinch me.
Getting paid
I wanted to talk about money a little. Because that is what we chase when we choose our degrees or our jobs. My view of money may be different to others, and it is also circumstance-orientated. I am a young, just-starting-out post-grad who doesn’t have to think about a parter or a family yet. But there are many people out there like me. Getting paid as a doctor for the first time felt really weird, and also underwhelming. If you are chasing money as a medic, you’ll probably end up working bank shifts and locus shifts all the time to make some extra cash. I can’t see myself working extra shifts more than I need to, just to get money in the bank. I felt like I needed to say that as someone who was raised that being a doctor brings in lots of money and stability.
Being a doctor is a long, hard journey. You work night shifts and long on-calls all the time for a perfectly average salary (for the first chunk of years, at least). My seniors move around hospitals that are hours away from each other every 6 months and a lot of them have long-distance relationships with their partners or haven’t met anyone because of their hectic medical training. When I first got my salary after four weeks of working, I didn’t feel like how people said I would. The money helped keep my head above water; pay my rent and fuel, pay for my unfurnished room and for groceries. For someone with incredibly big dreams, it was just a means.
Having sold artwork at the London exhibit, I made an extra 30% that helped me save a little cash for future ventures. It also helped me gain a little more confidence in myself and in my creative skills.
If you are reading this as a student, please chase passions and purpose. NOT money. We must shift our mindset with money, or at least take a good look at it. Because a monthly pay cheque will not bring happiness, it will bring a means for what you want to do with your life. Let me say that again. A monthly pay cheque will not bring happiness, it will bring a means for what you want to do with your life. Rent. Tax. Groceries. All things we need to pay for. But what else? What else do we need the money that we tirelessly make, for? If we can’t answer that, I’m not really sure what the point is.
Where i am now
I spent September resting and settling into work and my new home in Devon
After spending every weekend driving away from Devon, I felt like I needed to chill a little! I forced myself to spend my weekends exactly where I was, and not pick up any projects. I needed to rest, in order to rejuvenate and move forward - which is where I am now.
I re-worked my website for a new wave work
I need my website to serve my creative spirit, and so I couldn't help but work on it a little. I have been re-branding (in my head, haha) towards a necessary more eco-conscious art brand that has been reflected a little through my new logo. My website will help really communicate what I want to build, on top of my use of instagram.
I organised a trip that i thought i could only ever dream of
I won’t reveal anything about this, until I go, what I will say is this; I am feeling very blessed and excited!
i realised that i am not where i want to be as an artist
It’s been a little tough going for me at times, because I haven’t been ready for collaborations or commissions. I need to accept that slowly, but surely, I will work towards the ‘salamsanctuary’ I dream of. I also need to bring all the tools that will help me, all together. I need a LOT of time to figure out what I want to build to the exact detail, and then have the time and energy to work towards it slowly. What you see is probably 5% of what I would like to create, if that.
So, October is here. I have a week of on-calls starting tomorrow, and then a few days of rest from being a medic.
Speak soon,
Shaimaa