“There’s no money in art, you’ll starve!”

How many times has an artist heard this statement from friends and family?  I have to admit that I bristle a little bit when people  insinuate or outright say that I don't have a real job. When I told people what I wanted to do, they looked at me like I had contracted a disease.  "What will you do if it fails?"  Reply:  "Get a job?  I've done that before you know."

A week ago while I was working on some ceramic project at the Veterans Art Project at Saddleback College, Professor Steve Dilley yelled across the room, "Hey Renee, can you make a living as an artist?"  He was standing with a small group of veterans and one of them had obviously made a comment about not being able to make a living doing art.

The truth is that I work a lot of hours for very little pay sometimes.    I have some diversity in sourcing cash flow in my business having tattoo artists that work for me.  That pays the rent and keeps the lights on so I can do what kind of art I am inspired to do at the moment.  I may want to tattoo one day, paint another or go spend time with other military veterans using art to relieve stess and PTSD.  

Veterans Art Project:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/224652327663058

As a business owner, I am the human resources manager, marketing manager, and often times the janitor.  I made sacrifices to be able to look at the pacific ocean every day and paint or tattoo.  I used to own a big house with a big mortgage and not think twice about spending $20,000 for a landscaping project or dropping $10,000 on a watch that I liked.  I have had children to support since I was twenty years old.  The world of mortgage banking was very good to me for nearly twenty-five years.

I can't do that kind of thing now.   I live in an apartment.   I am thinking about how much I can spend on advertising or how to tear out a ceiling without closing down for very long.  I am not starving but I had to modify my lifestyle pretty dramatically.

I have some great support too.  I have a husband that supported my desire to leave the corporate world and nurture my art.  He has a "real" job.  I had never had a business of my own.  I had no idea how to start but "how do you eat an elephant? " One bite at a time.  I figured it out.  He believed in me and I am grateful for that kind of love.

Not everyone has the same level of support and have met the face of horror when they tell their parents that they want to go to art school or become a tattoo artist.

“Go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”- Kurt Vonnegut  

There are plenty of artists that have a hard time making enough money to eat.  Just ask Vincent Van Gogh.   He would have surely starved without the financial help from his brother Theo and there were still times that he chose to pay for models instead of eating.  Luckily, today an artist has more options for making money than Vincent may have had.  A lot of artists have part-time jobs or even full-time jobs.

How about this one: "Real artists don’t care about money” and “You have to sell out in order to sell your art”.  Another statement that is pure rubbish.  The only people that say that are the ones that can't sell their art.

I think I speak for most of the artists I know when I say Yes!, real artists DO care about money. They have to eat and pay taxes and live somewhere just like everyone else.   They may even want to eat out or see a movie from time to time, or have a nice car. They may even want to send their kids to college.  They may want to go on vacation and see the works of artists there who may or may not have starved in garrets.

There is nothing wrong with wanting compensation for your skill and hard work, whether your work is laying bricks, raising potatoes, putting together a corporate merger, or creating a beautiful pot or painting. We do many things out of love and skill, but we don’t tell our dentist, “I know how much you love your work, so you don’t expect to be PAID for removing that wisdom tooth, do you?”

I am here to tell you  that there is a high like no other when someone loves your work so much, they are willing to part with their own hard-earned money for it. It is the ultimate compliment. Don’t let anyone tell you different.

You can make a living with art. You can make a living selling the art you want to make—IF you take the time to find your audience. It helps to recognize that the business of art is just that–a business. You are creating a product just as if you were in the business of writing a white paper for a venture capital company,  growing food crops, or making and selling food at a restaurant. 

You need the strength and power of a unique body of work, sacrificing time and effort to develop your ultimate audience. But you also need to have something that’s somewhat marketable in the meantime, and bringing in cash flow so you can continue to grow.  Like having a tattoo shop combined with an art gallery maybe?

Many artists don’t really make a living or enough of a living from their work. Some of the names would surprise you. Some are supported by spouses or trust funds. Some rely on academic careers for their bread-and-butter. I know people who support families while making work they love. Yet some people wouldn’t call them “artists”.

The moral of the story here: Don’t let anyone else define “success” for you! It will be different for each of us. And there is room in the world for all of our versions.

By:  Renee Bangerter