Artists and Day Jobs Necessary Evil or Liberating Opportunity?
Most artists I work with are looking for ways to sell art online and offline. They dream of becoming full-time artists and having their artwork pay their bills.
Are you dreaming of a career as an artist? Being a full-time artist is a worthy pursuit, but a day job is often necessary to keep a roof over your head and your bills paid on time.
Being an artist and having a day job does not make you less of an artist. In fact, it provides a liberating opportunity — if you are willing to reframe the way you view your day job.
Reality of the Fact
Entering the art industry can offer a profitable income source for your creative skills. As an artist, you can explore various career paths like painting, sculpture, graphic design, or the digital entertainment sector. These fields can provide a deep sense of job satisfaction and potentially allow you to work as a freelancer, giving you the freedom to choose projects of interest and set your own schedule.
The percentage of individuals who successfully pursue full-time careers as artists is not 100%. While not something one can attain, most never reach a level of supporting themselves solely through their creative pursuits. Therefore, it is crucial to recognize it is acceptable to be an artist with a day job.
Perhaps you have dedicated years of hard work to your craft, yet it has not achieved a desirable or sufficient income. You may have financial obligations or a desire to spend more time with family than running a business. You may not be interested in turning your art into a source of income.
Or, you might be in the early stages of your career, finding it a challenge to earn enough to cover your expenses. Here lies the realm of creative individuals who hold regular jobs, a space where many artistic individuals reside willingly or not.
When Making Art Is a Full-Time Job
Over the course of my career, I have worked with many successful artists. It is interesting to observe what happens when your art only exists to support you financially.
I once knew an artist who hit the big time. Her work started selling like crazy, and she had to work like crazy to keep up with the demand. She was living the dream, right?
For this artist, it became a nightmare. She was spending all the money she made. Bigger house. Horses. Cars.
In many ways, she felt she deserved those things. But then she became chained to them because she was now working to support them.
She wanted to change her style of painting but could not afford to. She wanted to take vacations, but she needed to keep working.
I watched this artist paint all day long and in the evenings. She moved her easel in the living room and painted all night as well.
Now I am not suggesting that will happen to you. But it is worth keeping in mind what success as an artist might look like.
For this artist, the playful aspect of creating art eventually dissipated. Would you be OK with that?
When your art becomes your source for survival (in a monetary sense), it might become less about making meaningful art and more about making art that pays the bills. So, you need to decide what your true motivation is.
A Divide Between Finances, Creativity
Having a day job — or finding flexible work as a freelancer — can provide more room for you to be creative in your art. It can restore a sense of freedom in your work. Having a day job takes the pressure off having to sell your art.
The best art often comes when you are not trying too hard. When you are not worried about your art supporting you financially, it is easier to step into a state of artistic flow.
As my friend, artist Kiki Smith, once said, “Your art doesn’t exist to support you, you exist to support your art.”