Am I an artist only for my own enjoyment or can it also be a business…?

I have progressed far enough on my artist journey that I am starting to think about whether or not to go professional as an artist.  I have sold a few paintings but not enough to cover my costs of making art let alone to let me give up the day job. However, I have to start somewhere. I want to spend more time painting and taking photos. I know for sure I do want people to see and enjoy my work. Sometimes people do want to buy it so why not explore this a bit more? I have some questions I asked my self to help me think about it.

 Why do I make art?

Since I was a child I have liked drawing, painting, taking photos, listening to music, reading and walking (it used to be running) in nature. These are all parts of my current creative practice. The practice is why I make art. I enjoy being in the flow state, being curious, slowing down and experiencing the world in artist mode, no pressure. It is so different from my other job as a project manager which is very busy and all about efficiency, organisation and communicating with others to get a job done well and on time.  I believe that having some sort of creative practice is necessary for me to feel healthy and happy.

Why is art important?

For me, art is important because it allows us to experience all sorts of perspectives from all the various unique people who create things. These communications open my mind to the possibilities in life – things I may never even have considered before, or things that resonate intensely. People make incredible things – great and small - and my life is enriched by seeing, hearing, and experiencing the creative outputs from all sorts of people. In my home I can read a book by Stephen King, watch my favourite movie – Alien, listen to my favourite song – at the moment its Storm 3000 by Leftfield. Or my favourite podcast – currently I’m listening to Trees a Crowd. Or I can visit a gallery and see work for sale by contemporary painters, or go to a museum and see a masterpiece. In Glasgow I can see works by The Glasgow Boys and Dali at Kelvingrove, or Degas, Rodin, Cezanne, Manet and Peploe at the Burrell Collection - for free whenever the museums are open.

How would I like to grow as an artist?

I want to expand my capability to paint as well as I can. I want to explore scale – by making larger work, understanding colour more, and increasing my expressiveness.

How can I expand into a more artistic life?

I am happiest when I get to do my creative practice regularly and can make plenty of paintings. In an ideal world I’d do painting full time. However, I’m delighted simply to expand my practice into more of my time and focus than at present.

What do I do with all the paintings?

My paintings are sort of a by-product of my creative practice. They tend to pile up a bit. I want people to see my work so ideally, I want to find opportunities to show and sell my work. Otherwise eventually I’ll need to get rid of the work by destroying it or reusing the boards and canvases. A nice by-product of selling work is covering the cost of materials which adds up quite quickly.

What are the practicalities of starting a small business?

I need to be aware of the legal and tax implications of starting a business before I embark on that. I think this depends a bit on where you live. I live in Scotland so I need to be aware of the law in Scotland and UK.  I also have a full-time job so I need to be realistic about what I can achieve on evenings and weekends. My current goal is to cover the costs of making, showing and selling the work. I’d like to build a base of people who are interested in my work over the next few years and then potentially have the option of expanding into doing art more of the time in future – perhaps half time as artist and half time as a project manager.

Where have I got to with all of this?

Currently I am getting some professional advice about how to set up a small business that would work well for me before I decide whether or not to take the plunge. Its taken me about two years since the first time one of my paintings got into a juried show to get to this point I am at now.  I have needed that time to develop a regular and consistent creative practice, and to start to have the admin side of things ready to consider going professional. Things like social media, a website, a mailing list, bookkeeping of my costs, having a realistic plan for the year ahead, starting to get to know a network of other artists. I have been helped enormously by joining The Connected Artist Club which helped map out what I needed to do in manageable steps at my own pace and in a way that works for me.

Where are you on your artist journey?