The Business Side

Dear Artist Friends...

The past few weeks have not been painting weeks. After releasing new paintings there is a lot of packing, cleaning, photo editing, email responding, and inventory to take care of. Not to mention the studio was such a disaster I needed to paint the floors.

My son noticed and asked me how much time I actually spend painting and how much time I spend on other business stuff. I don’t really track my hours, but my best guess is 25% painting and 75% other stuff. He actually told me that he felt bad for me.

But what he doesn’t realize is that I’ve come to enjoy the other tasks that go along with being an artist for a living (most of them anyway). On top of that, there is something to be said for the rhythm of creation time vs business time. I'm not sure I could paint every day/all day for an extended period of time. I need breaks from the studio to rest my body and create some mental space to allow for shifts in perspective.

But I wanted to write this in case any of you had the fantasy that I was spending all my time painting in my studio and you are somehow doing it “wrong” because you have a hard time getting painting hours in. You’re not doing it wrong. This is the way it works when you are as committed to your business as your art. And if you’re lucky, with enough creativity, your business also becomes your art.