You're good enough

Don’t waste time thinking you’re not good enough. If you feel passionate about what you’re doing I am willing to bet you are good enough. Good enough to make it in some area of art doing what you do best. Take a look around you. It’s not always the most talented, but it is often the artists who believe in themselves who get jobs. If you don’t believe you can do it than no one else will. I’ve learned a lot by trial and error. Most of all I ask you to please not let rejection or negative comments from people get in your way. I have faced many, many rejections and I always try to learn from it. Maybe the lesson is something I can change. Maybe the lesson is simply – this is not the show for me, so I won’t enter it again. Whatever it is, feel it and move on to the next thing. If art is your passion you should never give up. Just take it day by day and follow your dream. It may not manifest in exactly the way you imagined, but it will happen.

get motivated

If you feel you want to create, but haven’t in so long that you’re stuck in a rut or don’t know where to begin, what medium to try, or where to learn – don’t fear. There are many places to get inspiration. You could start by taking a class that sounds interesting. Colleges and community colleges have many classes for credit or non-credit, as do libraries, park districts, art supply stores, and art centers, to name a few. Classes are great because once you pay for the class you feel you’re wasting your money if you don’t go. Then you are not only exposed to different ideas, but you try things you wouldn’t try on your own. You also get to know people interested in the same things you’re interested in and get to see how different each person’s art is – even when you’re all working on the same assignment.

Welcome!

I want to write about the business of art here every once in a while so that other artists can get some ideas of what has worked or not worked for me - it also keeps me thinking of new marketing ideas for myself.

One thing I’ve found in my many years of working as an artist is that most successful artists don’t get ‘discovered’. Being successful both financially and personally is usually something that builds up little by little by little. One good thing happens, a few rejections here and there, another good thing happens and pretty soon over a matter of months or years you find that you’re actually making money doing something you love. Listen to your instincts and trust that it will happen if you make it a priority. That doesn’t mean you should quit your day job immediately. It just means you can do small things every day that add up to much progress over time.