An Artists Practice and What I've Learned
What I’ve learned over the past 18 months, and a few things I already knew…
Hard work,
determination and never giving up: Three things I preached to my daughters
and had to accept and hold to over the years especially the last decade.
5 years ago I was in the hospital for 16 days because I once
again failed to take care of myself, my mind, my soul, my needs, my life’s
path. I put myself last, as is my pattern that I learned early in childhood and
have carried through. My brain works different than many and I can struggle
with situations that are very clear to others. I know how I “need to think and
react” yet decades of feeling and reacting the “wrong way” have created a deep
groove that is difficult to navigate through and above. Not one to believe in
limitations or disabilities I’ve found my own way to manage my feelings and
while it may not be the “right way” it works for me if I let it.
I have been told many times there are no coincidences. Each experience I’ve had over the past
18 months and the years leading up to now have shown me that the stuff that
happened previous had to happen for this stuff to happen now.
Mixed in with this belief system is my deep love of the
natural world of our earth. Everything that grows and breathes is to me
mystical and awe-inspiring. I remember my grade school lessons of single celled
creatures and how all things evolved from these. I read Darwin’s book, “On the
Origin of Species” when I was 12 and it captivated me. His theories of origin,
diversity and our interconnectivity have affected my view of the world and what
I express through my artwork.
I’m telling you this because I feel that the first step
towards determining what motivates you and what work will make you happy is to understand your beliefs. Your purpose
and what motivates you are aligned with each other. Motivation leads to purpose
and purpose reveals motivation. This doesn’t just apply to your art practice
but to all things in life. I’ve also learned it’s not something that can be
forced. You need to allow it to happen naturally, which basically means you
need to give space in your life for it to come in and reveal itself. And even
if you do allow space, it might not be obvious at first.
My purpose for many years was to raise my girls and make a
life for them. I am grateful and glad for those years. When you are a parent
you learn so much about yourself. And you have the wonderful privilege of being
a major influence in the life of another being. I practiced my art sporadically
through those years never forgetting the joy of creating.
Each of us experiences life differently based on how things
unfold for us, the people we interact with, our lived experiences and how our
own brain and heart processes our emotions and experiences. That’s why there’s
no one way to live a life. It’s truly fascinating if you consider it. Yes, we
have similar lived experiences but none are exactly the same. This is why I
strongly believe that every artist’s
work is completely unique and remarkable. No one can create the same work
that you do. No one. That is why your
work is so important, because it reflects you, your experiences, how you
see the world and how the world affects you. So create your work. Borrow ideas and
techniques and styles from those you admire but maintain your voice through
your work and ignore well-meaning advisers of what you should create. Make what you love. You will only find
your “tribe”, those who believe what you believe and who will follow your work
when you are true to yourself. This is why I strongly believe that artists are
not competing with each other because each of us creates uniquely and each
attracts a unique follower. So be you.
And know that you will change, your art will ebb and flow with your life
experience and that’s okay.
Things I’ve Learned in the past 18 months
·
Be you, create what you love and you will
attract like-minded people
·
Doing
what you love is a lifestyle not a job; embrace the lifestyle. And if you
find you don’t love it then it’s not for you.
·
Be ready and willing to dedicate all your time to what you love
·
Persevere through all challenges, these have a
purpose too. You’ll only know this when you look back years later. Never give up. Stay the course. It can
take 5 years or more to begin to earn a modest income from your work.
·
Be
willing to take chances. Try a new medium. Apply for an overseas residency
even if you’ve only been practicing your art for a few months. Talk to a group
of strangers in a new environment. Create art in a rain storm. Get outside your
comfort zone.
·
Have
multiple sources of income. Keep a full time or part time job. Seek out
opportunities in galleries, art competitions, markets, online galleries,
residencies, festivals and fairs, teach workshops, etc
·
Get your
work out there!!! Art festivals, art markets, farmers markets, flea
markets, retail walls
·
Don’t
sell. Selling artwork does not work. Create
relationships instead. When you have a booth at a festival talk to people
who come in to look at the work like they are a new friend. Listen more than
talk. Let them ask you questions. Don’t
run up and push in your comments. Let things happen naturally. Artwork is a
very personal thing. We know that as artists. Every piece we create reveals
something about the artist. Allow viewers to naturally find something in the
art that they can relate to in a personal way. When a fan/follower finds a work
that speaks to them and makes a connection to them that is when your work will
find new collectors. You can’t make this happen. All you can do is to find
every opportunity to get your work out there to be seen by as many people as
possible so that your followers can find you.
·
Don’t
discount or underprice your work. Yes many see art as a product. It is but
it isn’t. Those who truly love art will bring it home because they love it. To
fall in love means to make a connection. I compare this to music (which is
art). I have certain songs, albums that I love because I feel connected to them
in certain ways. When I listen to that song it triggers a memory or feeling
that is significant to me. And so I want that song in my life and available to
me when I need it. In the same way a work of visual art can trigger memories
and feelings for the collector. When you put your work on sale or underprice
your work you devalue its importance and your own efforts as a creative. A
mentor of mine once said to me; “if someone buys your work for a cheap price
they will not think twice to throw it out or sell it at a garage sale in the
future when they no longer need or want it. If your work has value, they will
keep it forever and pass it on to generations.” Value is measured both in the
monetary value of the work and in how much of a connection your follower has to
your work. If they walk away when you tell them the price, they did not truly
love the work.
A few practical things:
ÞCreate a space in your home to create art.
Depending on what you have available this can be a corner of a room, a whole
room or a space you rent. I live frugally so I recommend finding space in your own
living space rather than renting a space.
ÞOrganize yourself. Create do to lists
daily, weekly, monthly. Make lists of goals; daily, weekly, monthly, yearly.
Keep a log of your work. This is known as an archive. You can download apps for
this but I prefer doing things that cost nothing. I use an Excel sheet to list
my work as I complete it. Word would work for this too. Just make a table with
columns for “Title”, “Size”, “medium”, “date completed”, “price” and location
(I use this column to keep track of where the artwork is; ie. Which gallery,
retail space etc.) Mark the piece as sold in another column, the price it sold
for and where it sold (which festival, gallery etc) I have additional lists of
market opportunities I’ve applied to; when I applied, a link to the application
online, how much it cost, the due dates and the notification of acceptance
dates. (And label your work as you complete it. ) I have a similar list for
competitions and gallery applications. These are useful because I can refer
back to them and determine which opportunities were a good experience and which
ones were not helpful. Plus it helps to keep you organized. I also use my
calendar in my phone which is also linked to my google calendar to put in
reminders of dates of when to apply for things, when to expect notifications of
acceptance, when and where to drop off and pick up the art and other things
related to my art practice. Having a calendar keeps you organized and on task.
You know what you need to do day to day and if someone wants to schedule an
appointment with you you’re able to give them a date and time because you are
organized. Don’t buy into the artists are messy and disorganized
generalization, its rubbish. Be organized and dependable. People will know you
are serious about your work if you conduct yourself in a professional manner.
It doesn’t mean you can’t be yourself, it just means show others you are
dedicated by showing your dedication.
ÞKeep any and all receipts related to your
art business. I’m still learning this part. I recently found an app called
Mint that keeps track of my budget and can track payments. It doesn’t do everything
I want but it’s a start. I’m hoping this will make it easier for bookkeepers
and accountants to do my tax returns.
ÞFind
tools that are either free or cost almost nothing. By tools I mean software or
apps that help you to organize your business, website for selling your art,
marketing tools to help promote your work etc.
ÞLearn as much as you can from as many
sources as possible. I go to free workshops and listen to YouTube videos
and podcasts from other artists all the time. Often I have these playing while
I am working in my studio. Take from these what appeals to you and discard
anything that doesn’t feel like it’s a good fit for you. Your practice is not
the same as anyone else’s. It will take time for you to sort thru everything
and figure it out. Be patient.
ÞSurround yourself with other like-minded
creatives. Keep in touch with them. Share your experiences and create art
together. This helps to motivate you in your work.
ÞDedicate 20 to 30 hours per week to
creating artwork. Dedicate another 2 to 5 hours per week on marketing,
administration, research, learning, website/online store maintenance and other
related tasks. Add these tasks to your calendar and schedule them in weekly.
Having them in a calendar and set to give you reminders and alerts will help
motivate you to get these things done. Don’t
beat yourself up if you had a lazy week. You can start again in the new week.
ÞSocial Media: Same as already
mentioned. Don’t sell. Just post pictures of what you are doing. Show your
enthusiasm about a project or event. Share knowledge and experiences. Show your
creative process (viewers really love that). If your post sounds like an ad for
something change it. If you are promoting an event that you are selling/showing
work at tell them where and when and invite them to meet you. Or just say how
excited you are. Don’t say things like NOW ON SALE, LIMITED TIME ONLY, BUY THIS
NOW. No one wants to be sold to. You’re an artist. Just be you. Be personable,
reveal a little about your artist lifestyle. Any posts I created that purely
tried to Sell Sell Sell fell Flat Flat Flat. So just be the unique and fascinating artist that you are. Your followers
will find you.
Last thing: Patience.
Every artist I have spoken to, listened to on the internet
or in a live talk has said the same thing. Be
patient. It takes time to start to earn a living wage from your art
practice. The exact length of time is not fixed. But many of these artists have
said 5 years is usually the tipping point for when your art begins to receive
regular attention. This may not mean a living wage. If this is what you are truly meant to do, if
you believe this is your purpose; you will persevere and it will come. Know
that there will be many times that you feel like giving up. I’ve had lots of
these.
When I feel really terrible, I go into my studio and just
create. Less than an hour in, I feel it again; that feeling I get when I am
creating. Then I remember why I am doing this.
Remember;
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