Next Art Goal: Get Paid to Make Art

Dear Reader,
I've been spinning around thinking about what to do next with my art.  I got a into a bit of a mire recently and haven't made more than a few sketches in the last couple of weeks.  Part of the problem is I'm not sure what I should be making.

Today I think my next goal should be to get paid for making art.  Right now I make art and I show it in a few galleries.  I can keep making art to show in galleries.  I pay to put my art in the galleries but that doesn't necessarily mean people will pay to buy the paintings I make.  There must be jobs out there that will pay me to make art; perhaps paint, illustrate, design. Now it's time to see if I can find some.

The Day Job vs. Earning a Living with Art

During the day I have a different job.  It's the job that pays the bills because my art does not right now. Many of my coworkers really enjoy their jobs.  They express how much they appreciate being in this line of work.  Many people outside of this line of work or those who have retired from this line of work also are positive about it. Since I consider it my day job and not my career I feel a little fake when I hear how committed others are to it. I try to do a good job but I'm also just there to earn a dollar.

In the afternoons I come home and create my work as an artist.  At home there is cooking and cleaning to do.  Sometimes I need to go to the store or do other things.  But I try my best to put in my time with painting.  When I think about the possibility of making art for a living instead of working at my day job I'm motivated to work as hard as I can.
Recently, I met some artists in galleries around this area and found that they first retired from other jobs before creating art full time. I really don't want to resign myself to being someone who waits until I retire to create art.  1. Putting off the creative process is not acceptable. How can I consciously tell my creativity to dry and and blow away for the time being and then expect it to just be there waiting for me 30 or 40 years from now? 2. Art is my career. 3. I don't expect retirement  to be a plausible option for most people when I am 60 or 70.  I am a pessimist and I don't see America being able to sustain things like social security.

I recently bought the book "Artists and Graphic Designers Market".  I have been trying to think about how to earn a living with my art. It's hard to know who to ask when I have questions about how to earn a living with art. It's also difficult to sift through which information on the subject of selling art I should be concerned with.  I'm not sure which information is more important and which is less important.  What I can say is this, I'm working towards the goal of being a full time artist rather than a part time one.

When I go out to beautiful scenic locations I try to take photos I may be able to use for paintings. 

Sometimes I have the opportunity to paint on site.

I sometimes make a watercolor sketch before I make a final oil painting.  It helps me to work through the composition, colors and details before creating the final painting. 

I try to apply to put my work in art shows. 

If I get my work in to a show I prepare it for hanging.  This painting has been framed and I have attached a wire to the back for hanging. 

Turning in my art to the gallery

Dear reader,
Today was an exciting day.  I was nervous this morning because after all the painting and preparation to try to get into a local art gallery the time had finally come for me to turn in my art work for a show.  I had previously paid a member's due to become a member of the art association.  I had had my art work juried to see if my art qualified for showing in the gallery.  I had chosen the work to put in the show, framed it and put the hanging wire  on the back of the frame.  Now it was time to bring the work to the gallery for the show.

When I took my work to the show I was nervous that something would go wrong and I wouldn't be able to show after all.  I thought maybe they would take a second look and reject my pieces.  Or perhaps they would say I had framed the work incorrectly. Fortunately when I got there things went smoothly and I was able to leave my work at the gallery for them to hang.  I felt relieved after leaving my art in the gallery. I was glad to know I had finally reached this goal that I had been working towards for several months.

Now that my work is there I look forward to going in to the gallery to see it hanging on the wall in a professional setting. I consider this one step in the direction of trying to be a full time artist.  Right now I earn very little money from creating my art but I want to continue to work towards a goal of earning a living from art.

The next goal that I have in mind is to choose an art competition to participate in.  I don't expect to win an art competition on the first try but I would like to find an appropriate competition and then successfully submit my work so that I can go through the submission and competition process.  I'd like to see what it's all about.

The photo below is an update to this blog entry.  I am standing next to two out of three of the paintings I entered in the art show.

Looking into what I need to know about getting my art out there

Dear reader,
I have been thinking a lot more about the goal of selling my paintings lately.  I have been thinking about how I can learn more about selling my art.

I am beginning to realize that there are a lot of little bits of information out there on the internet about selling one's art or handmade creations.  Whenever I see another blog post or website talking about selling one's art I feel like I am chasing rabbits through their rabbit holes.  All the information starts to feel like a random assortment all scattered around me.

I am starting to find that reading books helps me a lot more than searching the internet.  The reason why is because a book contains so much more information than a single blog post.  A book organises the important points that it wants to say into chapters and it goes into much more depth in explaining it's points.

I am thinking about this as I am currently reading a book called "Art Inc." by Lisa Congdon.  I am finding it very informative for my current place in making art.  I want to find ways to put my art out there more either by finding places to show it or ways to sell it.  I was reading another blog post recently and it was talking about how someone often asks artists how they are selling their work.  The writer said that more often than not artists were not actually selling their art.

Lisa Congdon's Blog (photo above from Lisa's blog)

 Lisa's book can be purchased on Amazon.  I am viewing a free copy thanks to a library.

I think at a certain point I am going to have to move beyond reading books and begin talking to people face to face about my art goals.  I have never considered myself an expert in the art of conversing - particularly when it comes to asking questions.  However, I think I can eventually prepare myself with some questions that I want to ask others about how to continue to develop as an artist.