The Myth of the Starving Artist
How deeply do you believe the starving artist myth? How deeply do you believe that if you invest in your creative journey and try to make money, you will continually struggle? I want to tell you about my own personal transformation. And yes, I went from financially struggling, waitressing artist to a multi 6 figure bustling art shop. I want to tell you about something far more core, more essential, and more necessary that literally transformed my life. And that is this essential MINDSET SHIFT that is required if you want to sell your art.
The starving artist myth is alive and well. You might have heard it from your parents or teachers, who told you that your love of painting or pottery won’t pay the bills, and you have to be “practical”. I actually agree with the practical part. You need to be savvy and smart with your finances. You cannot be sloppy with money. But I do not agree that art doesn’t pay.
Story time with Josie! I had watched my painter daddy struggle to sell his incredible work. For most of my life, I knew so many artists, musicians, writers, who had the same struggle. I believed this struggling artist myth because everyone I knew was experiencing it, they told me it was true, and it was all I had ever seen. I persisted in being an artist, not because I thought I would make the story different, but because
my love was stronger than my fear.
BUT I experienced a radical transformation about 10 years ago. I’d been a declared artist since I was in my teens, while I did sell art, my income wasn’t enough to live enough. I got a studio space with a wonderful artist named DC Ice, and the studio was in a giant artist studio building that would host an art crawl a few times a year. It’s an extremely popular event in Minneapolis with thousands of visitors.
During these events in the 5 years or so that I shared a studio with DC, I witnessed something that blew my mind. People would line up out the door to buy DCs paintings. Literally. I saw some fights over who would get a particular piece. In any given art crawl, she would sell 100 paintings and I would sell maybe 2. Yes, I was jealous. But I also loved DC and her work so much that I was more in AWE. The first time we did an art crawl together, I thought it was a lucky weekend for her. But after art crawl sitting with her for 5 or 6 years and watching her sell the shizz out of her art and make a great living, it slowly, slowly transformed some of the negative beliefs I had deeply internalized about the near impossibility of being profitable as an artist. I probably watched her sell 1000 paintings or more in that time and the experience of witnessing sale after sale, absolutely changed my internal wiring.
DC had figured out an incredible alchemy. She successfully combined her original, unique artistry, a price point, and her access to her audience to create alchemy cash money alchemy.
For me, I never did sell much work in the art crawls. I probably broke even on the rent over those 5 or 6 years. It took the internet to get me to over 10,000 sales and 6 figure art business. But the education, or rather re-education, that I got from DC, gave me hope and a sense of the potential of the maker. I got to watch DC make art, support her family, interact with her fans, and beautify their lives and ignite their imagination, all while being an incredible human. Thank you DC.
Now, you may not have a DC in your life. But you have a Josie, and I’m here to tell you, getting paid for the incredible creative you put out into the world is possible.
