ARTISTS: That mix between business and creativity
It was at a performing arts college that I realised I wasn’t really an artist.
Because I was just too commercially minded - according to my lecturers who talked about the pure heart of an artist and why that was something so much more valuable and honourable than seeking out PAYMENT.
Boy, did I feel brutalised by that.
And for years, I would think, “Oh, if only I was actually talented - because true talent has no need for money.” And I’d think about how inspired all those penniless artists were who died hungry but were LEGENDS loved by thousands - that posthumously their art might sell for millions, but it was so much more meaningful because THEY WERE POOR AND SUFFERED FOR THEIR ART.
And it’s such a twisted way of thinking.
That art, if it’s good, should not be paid for. That an artist is selling out if they think commercially.
It’s snobbery.
It’s limiting.
AND if you’re an artist or creative today, it’s that sort of false belief that’s going to prevent you from making a beautiful income from your work.
I LOVE that a growing number of artists and creatives are starting to charge for their work in a way that takes into account their time, energy, and talent.
We’ve still got so far to go - I was at a market last week and was looking at some handmade quilted totes. They were $75. The maker said, “They take me six-eight hours to make each one, and then of course there’s the fabric.”
She’d have been making more working a minimum wage job somewhere. Less creatively fulfilled, but certainly more money in the bank.
But in many ways, I see this as the age of the artist.
And there’s never been a better time to be paid for your work.
If you are going to build out a profile for your art, and become known as the go-to for your particular style, talent, and works, you’re going to need to market yourself and think commercially.
It’s hard for us all, but it’s often a scarier proposition for an artist or creative. It’s your work we’re commenting on. It feels personal. It IS personal.
This week, I did a live coaching call with Bernadette Ballantyne, an artist building a career from her works. We walked about how to change up her website, why it’s better to use it for her prints, with the commission work secondary and how to alter her content marketing.
The creative arts college lecturers were wrong.
There’s nothing wrong with having a business brain along with a creative one
And no glory in being the poorest creative person in the room.
And if you’re a bit more creative than you are commericaly minded - get help to help reset your thinking, and find your value. Artists need to be fed too. Right