One Year Later
It might be June, but as far as I am concerned, it’s the start of a brand new year. My life has always flowed with the rhythm of the school calendar and it has always seemed to me that summer was when my life could really begin. Summer always marked the time of year where I finally had control over my time and what I wanted to do with that time and though I may now live in an endless summer where my use of time is always within my control, Memorial Day weekend still marks the close of a year for me- the close of my first full year of working for myself. I have to say, it’s been a good year. A year full of painting, exploring, learning, hustling, flowing and enjoyment; all thanks to believing in myself and being open to whatever possibilities present themselves.
I am thankful and grateful for the last 12 months of my life and all that I have accomplished and learned. Between working on commissions and painting my own personal ideas I have found so many other ways to earn my income and pursue my passion. I participated in my first artist market back in October (Gordonston Art Fair) and I have been in 6 other artist fairs and markets. I have learned so much each time I vend. I have had the opportunity to be a live event painter at events and locations in town which is one of my favorite ways to share my love of painting with people. In March, I had my first solo show which was hosted by White Whale Craft Ales and gave me the confidence to stick to my path after a rather slow January/February. I started busking at Forsyth Park which has allowed me to not only plein air paint in one of the prettiest parks in town, but gives me the chance to talk about my art with complete strangers and I have met so many interesting people that way. Most surprising to me, is I have also found my way back to teaching. Between my former careers teaching and coaching I thought I was completely burnt out on playing that role of instructor, but I have had a couple opportunities to lead classes and workshops this past year that have renewed my previous passion to share my skills. All these different avenues have made me realize that there are so many different ways I can choose to pursue art as a career and I am not sure I am ready to commit to any one way just yet.
A portrait commission from December 2022
Painting is the passion and it is easy to get caught up on commissions and lose the passion. Often for me, commissions have been a practice in realism which is great for the practice but limiting for the passion, fortunately my commissions are starting to become more relaxed and less focused on realism. I have been very thankful to have clients this year that weren’t just open to me being creative, but actively asked me to just follow my intuition in how the project should unfold. Despite the freedom, I don’t want commissions to be my only source of income because a big chunk of my painting time ends up getting dedicated to someone else’s idea and ultimately I need to have days (and weeks) where I am only pursuing my own ideas and developing my personal paintings. Commissions will remain a big part of my income as I enter this next phase of my career but I realized this year they can’t be my only source of income if I want to continue to develop my own ideas.
Markets have been a great way to supplement my commission income and while I have learned a whole lot about what you need to vend at a fair, I feel like there is still a lot I need to learn to make them successful for me. On the one hand, it is so gratifying to have my booth set up with all my work and get real time feedback from people about what they see, I still don’t know what products are a best fit for me. Over the past year I mainly focused on creating paper prints of my favorite paintings, but there is a whole world of merchandise that I don’t know enough about to invest in from stickers to note cards to canvas or metal prints- there is just a lot of product options and they all cost money and time to create so I suspect the coming year will be more trial and error. What I have learned is I need to streamline my prints. Right now I have giclee, archival and basic prints (all in different sizes) and I am transitioning to having all archival prints in either 5x7”, 8x8” or 9x12” so it is easier to price and display my options. I’ve also learned to build height at fairs so I am slowly collecting display options for my fair tables that allow me to best utilize my space from top to bottom. Over all, I really enjoy fairs so I know I will continue to do them and continue to perfect my table as the year continues.
My second fair was at Tybee Tour De Art in November 2022.
My first live painting gig at Starlandia
When I was stepping away from my job last year, I knew I wanted to try live event painting and I was so thankful when Starlandia Art Supply hired me to paint at their 7 year anniversary around this time last year. It kicked off a love for painting at events which led to a two month residency as a Tuesday night live event painter at the Thompson Hotel downtown at the Eastern Wharf. Live event painting combines a lot of things I love doing- I love painting from life, I love socializing with people and talking about my art and I love the challenge of working with a time restraint. Live event painting isn’t for everyone because not every artist likes their work being scrutinized throughout every stage and not every artist wants to chat while they paint, but I think it is a great way to share my passion and show people what goes into painting and that even beautiful paintings go through ugly stages so fear of creating something ugly shouldn’t be what holds anyone back from creating, it’s all part of the process. My love for live event painting has grown the more I have done it and I am open now for weddings, engagements, birthday parties, and corporate events.
January and February marked some really slow months for me financially. I was burnt out on commissions and there weren’t any fairs happening so my live event painting was my only income and I was starting to question whether being an artist full time was sustainable. My solo show at White Whale Craft Ales completely erased my worries. Not only did the experience provide me with an income for the month, it also showed me an out pouring of support from friends, it showed my art to a new market of people that I didn’t know, and it gave me a lot of confidence in what I create. The whole crew at WWCA are just amazingly supportive of artist and they provided me a space I wouldn’t normally have access to and a platform to reach an audience I wouldn’t normally see. I hung the whole show myself and learned so much about mating/framing/pricing/displaying that even if I didn’t make any money from that show, the experience alone was worth all the effort. I hope I have another opportunity in my future to show my work off in that way, it was such an empowering experience for me to see my artwork all displayed together.
Opening night at my solo show at White Whale Craft Ales
My favorite stream of revenue from this first year of being an artist has been busking at Forsyth Park. It is like a combination of doing an art fair and doing live event painting.
A single day out at Forsyth Park may not be as profitable as doing a fair or a live event, but it feels the most sustainable because it is something I could see myself doing every week. I love being at Forsyth; I love being outside, I love painting and seeing all the other artists out there. It’s a chance for me to get out of the studio, to socialize, to be surrounded by the beauty that is Savannah and I walk away with more money in my pocket then when I got there (which I can usually never say for any other trip downtown).
The most recent addition to my resume has been teaching one day classes. Well, not really a recent addition since I did do a few classes during the pandemic, but when I quit my full time teaching gig I thought the teaching life was over for me and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed being back in front of a group of people looking to make some art. I have even gone so far as to add art educator to my business card because I don’t just see it as a gig, I want it to be part of my persona. I miss being an educator and sharing my passion in that way and I hope this coming cycle of my life gives me more opportunities to share my passion in that way.
An example from a two hour virtual painting class
I have learned a lot from this last year of my self guided “school of learning how to be a professional artist” and I can’t say I have graduated because I know there is a lot more for me to learn, but this may be the last time I see the approach of summer as the mark of a new year and maybe I will finally shake off the school calendar from my life. Regardless of what the calendar says, the past 12 months have been some of the best months in my life and I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months bring.
