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SOLD

a little ditty from maine several weeks ago.

 

this weeks posts will probably be a little longer than the last several months. ive been out of town alot and i realized my posts were getting a little too generic. thats what happens when youre an itinerant artist trying to make a living up and down the east coast. youre in a different bed every few months (and nights) and the road kinda saps your strength after awhile. not complaining, mind you just tellin' it like it is. so the posts sorta get shorter and shorter and less personal.

 

folks always tell me in emails that they like the blog because it gives them insight into the inner workings of the art business when youre fulltime and make every dollar for your bills off your art (or your teaching). so for the next few posts, i'll try to make some honest observations about this life.  before i do let me first say that when i write about the frustrations or not so hot things, that i'm in no way complaining about the life just telling the good AND the bad for those that are interested. and i dont want to make this about me so i'll generalize and say that i think most artists making their living doing this will agree with alot of the things i allude to? i'd be interested to hear from everybody and anybody in the comments section!

 

Todays mythbuster: that making youre living painting is slightly glamorous or romantic

 

not so. its nerve wracking. we have bills like property taxes, kids in college, you know, all that stuff, but unlike folks that get a weekly check, we dont know if we'll have the painting sales to cover them when they come due. i know i go to the mailbox every few days hoping there's a check in there and not a spider with a full blown web constructed. or if i go to my emails hoping for a love note from Paypal (saying someone bought a little study) but instead there's a note from Microsoft informing me that my friends arent doing anything interesting, i get nervous.

 

if i think too hard on this fact i get scared. so i dont think about it, i go paint instead, or make a few calls about business, or make a to-do list. something, anything to be doing something that has to do with the business. its like, if i think about how sketchy this all is, i'll fall off the high wire i'm on.so i really try hard to not think of it. you know how they say "dont look down!" when youre way up high and scared? same thing.

 

but yes, it is a cool lifestyle full of adventures, intrinsic benefits, and the risks (butterflies in your stomach) make the sale of a painting more than the sale of a painting. its a celebration that you went and did what you do, even tho you were worried about surviving. and someone who was equally worried about surviving (and eating) thought enough about the painting you did to give up a piece of their security (dollars).they wanted it bad enough to want to own it and take it home and because of that i get to paint again next week! how cool is that?

 

tomorrows myth to be dispelled- that painters get to paint all day, every day. i cant wait!