How do you know what you don’t know?
Too many of us hold unexamined, internalized definitions of what it means to make art and be an artist.
And to make matters worse, it is often the case these subconscious beliefs about our art are negative and critical.
Just recently I was in an artist room on Clubhouse where artists were sharing different parts of their journey and asking for support. This one artist (whose art is truly awesome by the by) came on and shared his fears about dipping his toes into the art world; in his community and amongst his peers, he is the only artist he knows.
As we learned more about his work, it was clear he was already doing the work and even living wholly from the sale of his art! Despite this, he still felt unqualified, inexperienced.
He opened up and shared he “only” had a GED. It’s as if these things made him feel like he wasn’t qualified to do the work he was doing, but also made him feel intimidated at the thought of applying to something like an artist grant.
EVERYONE is capable of this with the right help and support. (Not to mention being an artist has NOTHING to do with the certificates attached to your name.)
But it also reminded me that it doesn’t matter where we are in our art journey, or even if we are selling our art successfully, imposter syndrome is a real thing.
There is one situation where I think we can be the worst. (I touch upon it above).
Any guesses?
It’s about numbers, math and money.
In this chat I talk about money mindset and offer some tips on understanding budgets when it comes to grants.
What is your biggest takeaway from today’s conversation? Tell me more in the comments below.
I guess in establishing value to my art, I ALWAYS get hung up in hours to create. Im not the fastest worker..and thats ok. But some of my drawings take 20+ hours to create. I knew my hourly rate at my real job..(retired now)..and already im at $500.00 +, unframed..no matt..wear and tear on my pencils..and I get hung up now on would I buy this piece for x dollars..its establishing your value, which I guess is the scary part..do I keep the original and make quality copies to sell?..
Establishing value ALSO depends on the goals you have for your art. A gallerist I respect (Jen Tough) told me in a workshop that if we want our value to grow, sometimes it means we should price lower to start. She finds generally “newer” artists price their art too high.
Her advice is to price it to sell. Sell out of your work, and demand will increase! She argues if we have a large stock of artwork in storage we haven’t priced our art well.
If creating and sticking to a price is important to you from the get go, selling will be harder. That’s okay, but then we need to embrace the work that will come with it to really communicate the value of our art. This means time blogging, showing up, talking about your art, recording the creation, and any other way you can demonstrate value.
This of course takes more time, more time that is “unpaid.”
I wish more artists would seriously look at this and ask themselves what they want, so they could know and go after it. (And that could be a hobby that sometimes sells, or a business making art, for example).
This was extremely helpful; thank you!
I’d always wanted to just hear the process, from someone that had gone through it.
(I’m a ‘beginner’, (like, never had a show or anything, but have sold a few things), it’s a long beginning, but I will keep going.
(I’m already on your mailing list, btw)
Kim good for you! We ALL start at the beginning. That was the first grant I received, and so far the only! But I will keep applying and learning 🙂 That’s how we grow and learn.
Thank you for being part of our email community <3 Glad to have you <3
My biggest takeaway from this is how important having a growth mindset and grit truly is. Having the passion and perseverance to overcome obstacles, like math and budgeting, is essential to get to where you want to go. I too, always wanted to hear the process. It is not something that I heard anyone talk about. It was reassuring to know that there are people willing to help artists figure that out. Like Kim, I feel like I am in the beginning stages. While I am not ready to seek out a grant yet, I do find this extremely interesting. I would like to sell my art. In the past few months, I have felt my passion for creating art really grow. I been feeling like creating art as a hobby may not be enough for me anymore.
YES growth mindset! 🙂
I find a lot of creatives like the idea of selling and showing their art, but actually have no interest in the steps it takes to get there. A lot of our culture also promotes the myth of being discovered, which only further disempowers creatives from stepping up to make their own way.
Oh wow! That was so insightful. I am so afraid to do anything with numbers having struggled with dyslexia through school. But you are right, we just need to take our time with these things. No judgement, just slow down and do it at your own pace. Love this <3
One step at a time, and ASK for help! 🙂
NICE POST!
THANK YOU FOR SHARING…..
thanks for reading/watching!