I decided to get real serious this year about developing a profitable creative business. Last year was great, awesome in fact, in so many ways. I actually made a small profit instead of going in debt. That's huge. Not many start-ups (in any field) can say that after only one year. I'm very proud of that fact, and extremely thankful to all collectors of my artwork.
I learned so much about myself, my capabilities and my desire to create in 2017. The process of making art has opened up a whole new window into my soul. How many windows are there, you might ask? Well, the answer is many, and I'm starting to see/open up more and more of them.
I believe that every human has a unique story to tell. We may share the same experiences, but how those experiences affect us is usually quite different. As it turns out, I have a lot of stories to tell and they are pushing my brush to the canvas these days.
2017 was my year of the "Super-Brain". Both sides of my brain were firing on all cylinders, literally. I learned (and use that word loosely) a new language while simultaneously developing artistic abilities. No wonder I didn't sleep much!
What the year really taught me was that IT IS indeed possible to teach an old dog new tricks. :-)
I'm hoping that in 2018 the learning trend will continue, but perhaps in a more focused way.
Somewhere within the few 'breathing days' I took over the Christmas holidays, I started researching different online courses that may be of interest to me.
At first, I started looking at courses that concentrated on teaching artistic techniques. While those courses are great, and I will probably take several over the coming years, I stumbled upon a very interesting course by Ann Rea, a visual artist in California, USA.
Ann's year long course is called "Making Art Making Money" and it specifically targets people like me who want to better understand their artistic mission (in other words the driving force to create; why we do what we do) and then how to use that mission to structure a creative enterprise that best supports it. Isn't that fantastic?!
I was hooked from the get-go.
I watched about a dozen or more interviews from real live artists that had taken her course just to make sure it was legit. Everyone from musicians, to visual artists, to sculptors, writers; etc..... basically people who had a creative enterprise, spoke about how the course had changed not only their business, but also their lives. It showed them their purpose and how to craft that purpose into a profitable creative business.
Oh and the best part.... the starving artist myth is just that, a myth. It's a mindset that says you can't survive without the 'establishment' backing you. Well hello!
How many authors do you know these days that are self-publishing? How many musicians do you know that are succeeding without a record deal? The same holds true for visual artists. The old order is dying. Galleries expect you to pay them to show your work while you have to do all the promotion.
Why give someone 50-60% (sometimes more) of your sales when you do all the work? Here in Norway where I live, in most galleries you must also rent the wall space as well as pass over most of the sales income. That's just crazy.
Times are changing, and I'm delighted to be part of a new trend where you don't cheapen your work just to add some empty prestige to your name by having a gallery represent you.
These days all sort of creatives are doing it for themselves! Hell yeah!
I'm only 38 days in and already I have learned so much and the course has actually saved me money by teaching me what NOT to do.
If you are a creative person and would like to know more about the program, just let me know. I'll send you some info on it. It's already been worth the tuition fee for me.
So now I'm a student again, but this time I'm learning something that is of super empowering. I'm sure I'll be sharing lots of insights as I get deeper into the course. It's absolutely fascinating and SO MEANT TO BE the course I would enrol in.
For example, the very first module has us uncovering our soul's purpose in life by looking at our three most painful moments and our three most joyful moments in life and what they have taught us. Now doesn't that sound JUST LIKE ME!!!? I mean c'mon!
Wow man, the universe really is a mysterious force isn't it!
Stay tuned :-) It's bound to be interesting lol.
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