Journal entry for October 8, 2001

Today's summary: "Making it" financially, as an artist.

Here's a transcript of advice I gave to someone concerned about "making it" as a painter. She seemed a little intimidated by the whole concept because she was worried she wouldn't be able to survive financially. I said...

It's only natural to worry about your success, about being satisfied and enjoying life as an artist. I think it would help if you forget about "making it" as an artist for now, and just focus on why you love to paint. Enjoy it. It's therapeutic. Paint and paint and paint, and relish it.

"Making it as an artist" is a totally different concern, and you shouldn't allow yourself to worry about the business end of things _during_ the creating process. Just paint and then when you have some paintings you feel really right about, start to explore your options for showing and selling.

Think of it this way... you NEED to paint. You LOVE to paint. You're going to end up with a whole pile of paintings no matter what, whether you show them or not, whether you sell them or not. So just stay true to yourself and don't obsess over 'is this good enough?'. There's no point in pressuring yourself like that.

The most important thing is that it be good enough for YOU. Keep challenging yourself and developing your skills as you see fit. That's true success. Everything else is just a combination of your business skills, and the fobiles of collectors and galleries.

Very very very few artists produce their work full time as a sole source of income... and the ones that do, it took them a long time to get that established. So don't beat yourself up just because you want that and haven't got to it yet. Think of it as an ideal goal, not a yardstick to measure yourself. You can still find rewarding fulfillment in the meantime, with the right attitude.

I'll write more tomorrow about how I've been handling art and income, past and present.