NOT FOR SISSIES….

This business of being an artist and trying to make a living at it is definitely not for sissies! I can think of hundreds of ways to make a living that are more secure, more lucrative and definitely easier. But if this is what calls to you, I will share some of what I have learned as I have traveled my artist's path.

"Destiny Comes Calling"  Acrylic  20" x 20"
With the little messenger singing in her ear, she
contemplates the Koan (puzzle or riddle) of her destiny.

Twelve years ago I was drifting. I was in a relationship that was unfulfilling and unsupportive of my art, I had a good job that no longer interested me and my days were passing slowly by without much “life” in them. I decided that what I wanted was a life where “who I was” and “what I did” were so closely aligned that I could not tell the difference. I wanted to get paid to be me, I wanted to be fully at choice in the matter and I wanted to love every minute of it. No small order but I can tell you it IS doable.

I had always dreamed of becoming a painter. Not just someone who paints, but a successful, full-time painter who spent her days in a beautiful light-flooded studio creating paintings that she would show AND sell in the best galleries in town. At 50 years old, I decided that it was “now or never” if I was going to realize my dream in this lifetime. First order of business… learn how to paint! Second order of business… begin to lay the foundation upon which I would nurture and grow my dream.

My first body of work focused on simple iconic imagery
colorfully rendered in a reductive style of painting.

Building a business is a lot like building a house but most people, especially us creatives, don’t think about things like building a strong foundation when they decide to start a business. They just wing it and hope for the best. A good foundation is imperative to building a healthy business and it starts with a commitment to right action each and every step of the way. Your integrity will reward you with a reputation as an artist that galleries can count on. I get asked to do more shows than I can say yes to because I have a good reputation. I always do what I say I will, I stay in communication with the gallery, I never miss a deadline and I always have a body of work ready to go if an opportunity that is too good to miss comes along.

Everyone loves a beautiful card. This is the back of a greeting card
with information on the image, a nice graphic of my chop, a little advertising
for my prints and contact information. Never miss an opportunity to get
your art out there and never send your art out without your contact information on it.

So many really talented artists fail at making a living selling their art because they have a reputation for being flaky. There are countless reasons for being flaky ranging from personal problems to having poor time management skills to simply being underfunded. Artists as a group (if I can generalize here) are all about the process and much less interested in the details of running a business or creating and preparing a body of work for a show. Even when you have the talent and do everything right, it can still be tough to make a living selling your art.

So how do you surrender to your creative muses and run a business at the same time? I use tools to help me stay on track, just like most businesses do. The very first thing that I do when starting to prepare for a show is make a calendar that spans from the present through the day that I will hang or ship the show. This is not very exciting to talk or even think about, but my next blog post will be covering the importance of this tool in the business of art. And, as you might expect from a creative type, the first thing that I am going to mark off is all of the days that I won’t be doing art!

Intrigued?

Namaste,
Yarrow

To see more of my paintings, prints, cards and jewelry, please visit my Etsy shop.