Thursday, June 01, 2006

Too long

I know it has been a little while since my last post. Have I mentioned how hard it is to get things done with everyone home from school for the summer? I know, I'm whining. The main reason for this is that I just want to be on vacation too! So after fighting it for over a week now, I've decided to take it easy and have a little vacation time. I will still process any orders that come through and answer my email, but I'm going to give myself a little slack in the work department.

In case you didn't know this (if you know me you should), I am a workaholic. If I'm not working, I'm feeling guilty about not working. Basically, all I ever think about is working. OK, most people would say that I don't really work, because I'm an artist and I do what I love. This is true(that I do what I love), however, being an artist is more than just painting! There is a LOT of business related work to be done in order to make a living as a full time professional artist. People often ask me how I have made it this far, how am I able to work as a full time artist? First off, I have to admit, I have a wonderful husband who supports me AND pays the bills! So, just because I spend my full time as a professional artist, does not mean I make lots of money at it.

What has been most important for me is perserverance AND hard work! I have a business plan that I review yearly. Believe it or not, I actually spend more time on the business side of things than the art side. I have read that it takes 50% of your time on business, but I think that should be raised to at least 70%! If only I could spend ALL my time painting and creating!

So, now that I finally completed my newsletter and sent it out, I'm going to spend the next couple weeks working on art and only art! I will try to get something new posted here soon. Until then, I hope everyone is having a great summer, whether you are on vacation or not! :)

2 comments:

jafabrit said...

gosh I would slap em with a wet paintbrush if anyone suggested that all that stuff I did today wasn't work. Iv'e got sore hands from lifting all those bon bons between stretching canvas, painting canvas, updating gallery website,decorating toilet plungers, painting cockroaches, photographing paintings, bla, bla bla bla bla, where was I. Oh yes a tangent. oops!
Hey have a great week.

Cynthia said...

I know what you mean about the 70% business and 30% art. The business side of it takes soooo much time!

Thanks for visiting! I love your photographs of the ruins! I live in Colorado and always enjoy going to Mesa Verde.