And that's exactly what things are like for Thornhill art teacher, Eamon McAteer.
His love of fine art has not only developed into a career as a teacher and department head in one of the Province's top schools, but he is currently the only local finalist left in the Province's largest ever public art competition, having recently been shortlisted along with five international artists for The Foyle Public Art Project (www.foylepublicart.com ) which is the largest single public art commission to date in Northern Ireland.
But it would seem that even that is not enough, and Eamon is also currently putting the final touches to a collection of paintings for his latest solo exhibition.
The picturesque An Grianan Theatre on Letterkenny's Port Road is the venue for what will be Eamon's fifth one-man show. The exhibition will formally open on Friday evening at 6.30pm, with a drinks reception, and in a wider context will mean that Eamon has been exhibiting his work for 31 years across the UK and Ireland. HIs first public showing was in 1997 in London.
His work on the sculpture project to produce a piece of street art for Londonderry is the latest in a long line of imaginative commissioned works that are to be found peppered around the Cityscape.
A large sculpture of his is on show at Thornhill, one of his paintings hangs in the coronary unit in Altnagelvin, as does another in the Teachers' centre, while two sculpture relief pieces of his can be found adjacent to the Albert market Gate at Bishop Street, and Eamon McAteer is an honours graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art, London.
As well as working in his studio and being a full-time teacher, he is a founding member of the North West Artists' Association and has been a prominent exhibitor with the group in various shows throughout the region for more than two decades.
Eamon's most recent award was the winning of the Derek Hill special award at The Glebe Gallery Open Submission exhibition in March 2005.
The Office of Public Works, Dublin, bought the winning painting and exhibited it in the Art of the State 'Across Boundaries' touring exhibition 2005. The Glebe Gallery has one of his paintings in its' permanent collection.
For more information on this amazing local artist log on to www.eamonmcateer.co