I receive a lot of messages like this one from my namesake, Lisa:

I am so curious to know whether you make your living solely thru your art, or if you
also work a “day job”….I just wonder if there’s hope for someone like me, who does art as a kind of sideline, to ever make a living at this. Or does one just need to live and breathe art all day long to get to be as good as you are? I realize that talent is talent—you
either have it or not, but I guess when I say good, I’m referring more to the quality and quantity of the art you produce. I seem to create in fits and starts, not regularly and efficiently, like it appears that you do.

Lisa touched on several topics in this message that are worth exploring. I’ll start with the easiest one—whether I make a living through my art.

The answer to this is yes—and no. If the question is am I making a living by creating pieces of artwork and selling them in galleries, then definitely no. I tried doing that in a couple of different ways, and I found that making art my job just wasn’t a good fit for me. I found myself making what I thought people wanted to see instead of what I wanted to make, and that didn’t make me happy, or make for very good artwork, either.

For a couple of years, I did have an arty day job, in new product development for Design Originals, the crafts publishing company. Part of what I did for them it involved designing new products, and another part involved working with designers who were either developing products, or doing projects for books. I made a living with my creative skills, just not always as an artist. I had occasional days, or even weeks, when all I did for the company was make art, much the way I do at home in my studio. There were also weeks, or even months, when all I did was create products using my computer. So yes, I was making a living through my art.

Now I have my own company, Ten Two Studios. I do make art for the books and ‘zines I publish, but again, the pay day doesn’t come from the art, it comes from the publications. I’m hoping at some point to make a living at it, but as I write this, the jury is still out. Let’s just say that there is some money coming in, but right now, it’s not quite a living.

Is there hope for Lisa (or you) to make a living through your art? The answer to this is always yes, if you’re willing to do what it takes. This may mean creating larger quantities of work, learning how to market your artwork, making lots of phone calls, and learning how to juggle a home-based business. In order to make a living, you may have to make things that people want to buy, rather than making whatever pops into your head.

Do you have to live and breathe art, or be born with natural talent to be a successful artist? This is a harder question to answer. I don’t necessarily believe in talent as some sort of thing you’re born with. I was trained to be an artist, by a whole string of teachers who put the emphasis on daily work, in the same way an athlete must put in daily work. I was taught that creative muscles must be exercised, long, hard and regularly. I make things every day, whether it’s to photograph for an article for my web site, for a swap or round robin, or for something going on at the office. I think that’s what it takes to be a good artist—regular, disciplined, ever-expanding use of your skills. That’s one reason I encourage everyone with whom I come into contact to stop talking about making art and start making it, using whatever means necessary to prompt creation. Join a swap, commit to making Christmas presents, get involved with programs like Art by the Inch—whatever you need to get you motivated to create regularly.

As for creating in fits and starts, well, when it gets down to it, I think we all do this. My periods of not creating may be relatively short, but I do have them. I walk away from my work table for a few hours, or take an entire afternoon off to wander my favorite stores aimlessly. Although creating full-on every day for weeks on end does tend to exhaust me, I can do it, but I have to give myself some time to recover, and I don’t beat myself up for not being able to keep going. There’s a time for working hard, and a time for resting, and they’re equally important. As in every facet of life, balance is important when it comes to making art.

Judging from Lisa’s message, I know I must sometimes give the impression that I’m an art machine—that I go to my work table and produce on a regular schedule, and that waves of lovely stuff comes out of my studio like clockwork. Please don’t think that I go to my work table every day with some great master plan! Sometimes, I just go with a blank canvas, and a vague idea of where I’m going. The rest just happens. I do think that for me, it happens more easily than for others, but I chalk that up to having hundreds of hours at the work table, and not some sort of innate talent.

I take my artwork a little for granted, because I’ve been cranking it out by the bucketload for, let’s see—well, since I went off to grad school in 1984, so that’s 20 years worth. Many people who visit this site may not have that long history with making art. Just know that it’s not some sort of divinely inspired thing—it’s practice, like playing a piano or kicking a football. Do it over and over again for twenty years, and it becomes as easy and natural as breathing. Anyone who tells you otherwise probably isn’t doing it right!