These are tough economic times and tough times are tougher still for artists. Even the rich stop forking out for art and the competition for grants, commissions, assignments, sales and even teaching gigs increases. Artists can get discouraged, for sure. Some might even give up or, worse, try to sell themselves short. Some of us may even compromise our art in the hope of making sales. That’s the worst. So, how do we carry on in tough times? And can we prosper?
British artist, Michael Atavar, author of How To Be An Artist, says on Futurising, “Don’t rely on art as your sole source of income – it’ll create compromises.” The point of being an artist is that we get to follow inspiration and go somewhere totally new and vital. We get to make things. We also get to know ourselves and bring the best of who we are into the world. Being an artist isn’t just about what we produce, it’s a way of being, thinking, exploring, connecting and having fun. So, a good point—all our financial apples needn’t be in the art basket. We can diversify.
In the last recession, the one initiated by Reagonomics where the rich got richer and the rest of us scrambled, my art income stream dried up almost overnight. And I had two young kids to support. A recession is like a tsunami. One minute it’s calm, business as usual, and, the next, disaster is splashing down on us virtually without warning. For a while, even while getting drenched, I thought that life would somehow carry on as before. It can be hard to know what to do or how to change course or the ways in which the world is changing. But it’s even harder to be inflexible when the bills start piling up. One day I was downtown just browsing in a high end clothing shop. A woman came in and asked for a job. Great idea, I thought, and, as soon as she’d left, I asked for one too and got it. Listen. Seize the moment. It needn’t be perfect.
I worked there twenty hours a week for six months. It did not pay well but it gave me enough to take care of a few bills. It gave me a sense too that my feet were on the ground. It was mindless work and I wasn’t good at it save for being a friendly body in the shop. I once gave a customer who bought a $20. scarf the $300. jacket another customer had bought. That got straightened out. But, the tough thing is, I didn’t feel good about this work. I felt like a loser! Shouldn’t I be making money at art? We need to separate art and money.
Now I don’t feel that way at all. I feel that we artists are so privileged to do what we do. Economies are up and down and our economies are too. A fact of life. We can do other things to create an income-stream and we can simplify our lives. Streamline. And we can keep trying to bring our work into the world.
The great illustrator, Henrik Drescher is selling his stash of old work online. Brilliant work! Now is the time to buy and support each other, if we can.
Michael Atavar is right—no point in compromise. Carry on! Something else happened for me in that last recession—an amazing grace. One day I opened my mailbox and there was a check for $5,000. from an old and dear friend. I didn’t ask for it—he just sent it. Wow. That amazing act of kindness really got me over the hump and changed how I felt too. And from a fellow artist—the great animation film-maker, John Weldon. Thanks, Johnny, forever and ever! We’re readjusting, recalibrating and inventing as we go—with a little help from our friends. Many things can and will happen when we least expect!
What am I doing now to amplify my art practice and income? Teaching, running workshops, doing 1:1 creativity coaching and writing books. I love each of these things! For me, they’re another form of art. They’ve brought a lot of richness to my life. Not oodles of cash but real value. The Wealthy Artist is doing what we love. Everything flows from that.
I’ll be writing more on this subject as I engage in some new enterprises. It’s tough out there but I have faith that we can create good.
Please feel free to share your ideas and encourage others here!
