Earning a Living CreativelyHey, Jude,
I feel I'm ready to start earning a living from my artwork. I have saved enough to carry me for a year if I'm careful, but I don't want to waste time on false starts. Any suggestions?
Going Professional
I feel I'm ready to start earning a living from my artwork. I have saved enough to carry me for a year if I'm careful, but I don't want to waste time on false starts. Any suggestions?
Going Professional
Dear Pro,
I earned a living exclusively from selling my artwork for some years. My approach was a mixed metaphor: reinvent the wheel using the seat of the pants to put out fires with, while careening along the edge of the cliff, anxiously affirming the abundant universe all the way.
I thought if I gave my all into creating inspired artwork, recognition and money would somehow naturally follow. And a trickle did. Luckily I had a lot of fabric scraps available to patch the seats of my pants with, and I'm still here, so I never dove off the cliff altogether....but I believe there are more effective and less stressful ways to go.
If I were starting over, first of all, I would recognize and accept that although I am my laborer, main supplier and artistic director, I am also, perhaps more importantly, the entire sales force and the CEO of marketing: an all-round entrepreneur. I would not only wear the hat of the artiste. I could pick business hats that suit me, but I would not be reluctant to put them on or to learn how to make them fit.
I would take the marketplace less personally. I would give more attention to creating sustainable business structures, practices and relationships. I would look forward to meeting my beliefs, hopes and fears about what being a professional artist means to me. I'd keep using The Work or other methods to inquire into those thoughts, knowing that deeper levels of identity, freedom and connection could be found beneath them, which would only enrich my artwork as well. I'd (still) trust the abundant universe to show me the way.
And I would still make it up as I went along. When you start a creative project in a new medium, it's good to give yourself some room to make mistakes and learn from them, to explore how the materials respond, to get a feel for what you can and want to express through them. Embarking on the many faceted creative project of earning a living from your artwork deserves the same kind of space for feeling your way. It's wonderful that you have given yourself some financial leeway to support that space. Allowing yourself to willingly spend some time on "false starts"--on exploring without perfectionistic expectations of results--might be another realistic kindness to yourself.
My suggestion would be to get support with business and marketing skills, if you're not confident and experienced in those areas, and even if you are. Molly Gordon of Shaboom, Inc and Mark Silver of Heart of Business are my two favorite small business gurus. They are both amazingly generous with the valuable information and guidance they give away on their sites and through well written newsletters. Both offer excellent coaching products for people who want to create a business from an authentic, spiritually centered place.
Here's hoping you thrive in every way,
Jude
Jude Wearing Bizness Hat
I thought if I gave my all into creating inspired artwork, recognition and money would somehow naturally follow. And a trickle did. Luckily I had a lot of fabric scraps available to patch the seats of my pants with, and I'm still here, so I never dove off the cliff altogether....but I believe there are more effective and less stressful ways to go.
If I were starting over, first of all, I would recognize and accept that although I am my laborer, main supplier and artistic director, I am also, perhaps more importantly, the entire sales force and the CEO of marketing: an all-round entrepreneur. I would not only wear the hat of the artiste. I could pick business hats that suit me, but I would not be reluctant to put them on or to learn how to make them fit.
I would take the marketplace less personally. I would give more attention to creating sustainable business structures, practices and relationships. I would look forward to meeting my beliefs, hopes and fears about what being a professional artist means to me. I'd keep using The Work or other methods to inquire into those thoughts, knowing that deeper levels of identity, freedom and connection could be found beneath them, which would only enrich my artwork as well. I'd (still) trust the abundant universe to show me the way.
And I would still make it up as I went along. When you start a creative project in a new medium, it's good to give yourself some room to make mistakes and learn from them, to explore how the materials respond, to get a feel for what you can and want to express through them. Embarking on the many faceted creative project of earning a living from your artwork deserves the same kind of space for feeling your way. It's wonderful that you have given yourself some financial leeway to support that space. Allowing yourself to willingly spend some time on "false starts"--on exploring without perfectionistic expectations of results--might be another realistic kindness to yourself.
My suggestion would be to get support with business and marketing skills, if you're not confident and experienced in those areas, and even if you are. Molly Gordon of Shaboom, Inc and Mark Silver of Heart of Business are my two favorite small business gurus. They are both amazingly generous with the valuable information and guidance they give away on their sites and through well written newsletters. Both offer excellent coaching products for people who want to create a business from an authentic, spiritually centered place.
Here's hoping you thrive in every way,
Jude
Jude Wearing Bizness Hat
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