I’ve gotten a few responses thinking that what I mean is I’m bailing on my day job as an art director. As much as I would love to be able to be a full time artist, I’m not selling quite that many paintings. So the day job is here for now. I’m just not taking on any other side projects that occupy my time when I’m home.
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Yes, you heard it first, I am done. I made a decision this weekend regarding my future and I have decided to stop doing anything that gets in the way of achieving my goal of being a full time professional artist. Honestly, that might be the first official declaration of my goal to the general public, but now it’s out there and it’s time to become accountable to the goal; to myself.
I can’t tell you how many times I have had conversations with my mother about her inability to focus on any one project for enough time to be successful at it, but it turns out I have the same problem. I may not stretch myself out as thin as she does on multiple projects, but I definitely am not being as singularly focused as I need/want to be with my art. Time to step up or step off.
The way I look at it, I’ve spent many hundreds of dollars on all kinds of art supplies in the past 6 months and it’s about time I got a return on that investment. Now I don’t necessarily mean a monetary return, although that would be awesome. I’m not looking for more adoration either. I just want to be able to say that all the money I’m spending results in making me a better artist. The more supplies I have, the more I can do my art, the better artist I become, right? Man, I hope so because this is starting to get expensive and soon my wife is going to want to see receipts.
…but fear not the obstacles in your path
My wife could probably tell you better than I could about all the “ideas” I’ve had over the past 9 years of us being together. I change my mind about “what I really want” more than anyone I know, but I never felt compelled to truly pursue any of those paths.
I read more books on marketing than I would ever care to mention in hopes of taking what I originally studied in school to the next level and maybe being the next Seth Godin.
I’ve taken on countless freelance design projects and no matter how many times I tell myself I want to be a better designer, I truly don’t like designing for other people. The most fun I have in PhotoShop is when I’m working on stuff for myself.
There’s the gallery owner idea, the coffeehouse, the custom motorcycles, the screen printer, the real estate mogul, and on and on. Most of those ideas sucked from the start, some lasted a bit longer, but none of them made me jump out of my chair, nothing like I feel when I’m in my studio tossing paint onto a canvas (and everything else in sight).
All that other crap stops today. I have a few loose ends to clean up, a couple projects I need to finish without leaving anyone hanging, but once they’re done, it’s all done… well sorta. There might be that one design project I must do for my wife here and there, but I can justify those. They help pay for art supplies.
You can help pay for some too. Check out my stuff at http://daveconrey.etsy.com and buy lots. Tell friends.
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Congrats & Good Luck!
I am envious of your bravery because I’ve been struggling with the same decision since as far back as I can remember. I’m still too nervous to go through with it, but I have confidence that sooner rather than later I will take the leap.
Your story is very inspiring! Good luck with your endeavors!
Thanks Steve. Got my fingers crossed.
Berta – I should mention that it’s not a full time gig. I still have my day job as an art director to keep the mortgage paid, but all the other distractions are going by the wayside. Thanks for the kind words though. I checked out your site and I love your work.
Your most recent post sounds as if I wrote it, with the only differences being your application, and in October, I waved goodbye to the fine (and sane) world of a gradual, steady income.
While I could list many a cliche, there’s something to be said for following your heart, and the undeniable gratification that comes from it.
Good luck, and best wishes.