This year has been pretty slow in terms of creating, and my art life, but I’ve been getting situated with a full time job which has been essential to having a creative “business” on the side.
When I first started selling my art in 2012, I didn’t think it would cost much - just paper and ink, and a few hours of my time every day. Eventually I realized that I had to restock my supplies, order lots of prints, then pay for packaging and shipping. There’s much more to it, but basically, it isn’t sustainable on an inconsistent artist’s income - not to mention pretty much in possible with Bay Area’s cost of living ;)
My advice to any creative starting out - have a day job, preferably in your field and with benefits ! It’s made life less stressful, and I can really focus on making quality things vs. making them out of necessity.
Aside from that, I have my own pair of Bucketfeet shoes!!! This was a major accomplishment because it’s always been something I wanted to do. Granted I found out last year that my shoe was selected for one of the contests, but this year it was put out for sale.
One of the coolest moments of my life was when I went out to the Castro one night, the day I saw the shoes online, and I saw this girl wearing them! Just some stranger from New York whom I’ve never interacted with and had zero connections with. It was pretty surreal!
Having that happen in the middle of a slow year was definitely the universe’s way of saying “Hey, don’t give up — look what you did!”
That being said, I’m looking forward to strapping up my boots again and putting in some creative time. Next goals : Pow Wow and Art Basel.