3 Important Lessons of Turning My Art Into a Career

I absolutely love my job, and getting to this point has taught me many lessons! I create things for a living, and who doesn’t imagine that kind of life sometimes? I get to live it! That wasn’t always the case. I’ve had my fair share of soul-destroying, fluorescent-lit desk and cubicle jobs. I know they’re not all like that, they just were for me. Now, I’m an artist. It took me a while before I even had the confidence to say that. When people asked what I did, my usual response was something like, “I’m trying to be an artist.”

Lesson one

There is no try. Yoda was right all along. I’ve discovered that I can be an artist or I can be something else. I can’t be both and do work I’m proud of or comfortable with. This is the top of my list of important lessons I’ve learned. I think that probably translates to just about any career. Yes, I have to do all the different tasks related to owning a business. I’m not trying to be both an artist and an accountant, however. I hope you see the distinction.

Lesson two

Art isn’t a thing I do. We’ve all had that conversation with well-meaning friends or family that starts with them asking, “How’s that art thing you’re doing. Are you ready to get a real job, yet?” or something similar. If you’re like me, you just want to scream in overly-dramatic fashion, slam a door, and paint or write some of the best stuff you’ve ever created!

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Conversations like that are part of the reason I can say I have an art career. I have a business that involves creating and selling art. Some artists think that once you admit that or if you have any focus on the financial aspects of your art that you’ve “sold out”. However, because I’ve accepted that my art isn’t just a thing I do, I know that I haven’t “sold out” by developing a successful business and career from my creative talents. I’ve just grown up about what I want from my artwork in addition to the joy it brings me. I still get to create art for myself, stuff that collectors and supporters do buy because it resonates with them, but it’s work that I really did for me.

I also create plenty of art on commission, for hire, by contract, and specifically for licensing because like all of you, I have bills to pay and I enjoy eating once in a while. As an artist, it’s perfectly acceptable for you to create work specifically to sell, every successful artist does it. The stereotypical starving artists are the ones who can’t come to terms with it because they believe in the purist approach, which as it turns out, is the opposite of how it’s really ever been done. Vermeer, Monet, Michelangelo, van Gogh, Bernini, etc. all did work for money to pay the bills so they could do the thing they loved, which was creating.

Lesson Three

It’s really, really tough, and I can’t imagine doing anything else! I use several tools to help me keep my art career running relatively smoothly. I prefer to have at least a general plan for my day or week. I’ve learned that in order to make this work, it has to run like a business, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s not a giant, sterile corporation type of business I run, it’s a dynamic, fun, small business. Some people have the misconception that because I’m an artist and that I work for myself, it must somehow all be unicorns and rainbows. I wish!

Actually, I don’t wish that! I honestly enjoy the hard work of setting up a booth early in the morning 2-5 times a week. I’m out there meeting people. I’m introducing my artwork to a whole new set of people every day. I get to meet new and interesting people every week! It’s a blast! It’s a lot of work, it takes a lot of planning, but it’s wonderful!

Every Thursday morning, I know that I’m going to have to sit in front of my computer and enter sales information. That’s not my idea of the best way to spend a morning. It’s alright, however, because it gives me feedback, and even reassurance and confidence. It says, “yes, despite the conventional wisdom that you can’t earn a living doing what you love because the world just doesn’t work that way, I’m actually doing exactly that and thumbing my nose at the so-called conventional wisdom and all the people who’ve told me that I can’t do this.”

So there you have it, the 3 most important lessons I’ve learned from turning my art into a career…so far. Are you an artist or thinking of taking that big step of earning a living from your creative expression? Write in the comments what’s the biggest thing stopping you from doing it? Let’s start a conversation.