Many of my decisions for my art career and business over the years have come down to gut instinct, where it’s not just based on your rational mind, but also being open to all of your senses. Gut feelings are a combination of wisdom, experience and intuition. Knowing when something isn’t actually a good fit and pulling back is better than doggedly pursuing something and becoming unhappy.
"Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." Steve Jobs
In the early days, part of me wanted to follow the herd in case I was ‘missing out.’ Although this served a purpose, to pursue something I may not have considered, eventually we each have to base decisions on what is best for our lifestyle and unique needs. Today I want to share how I arrived at this opinion.
If you read my last post, I mentioned having recurring pneumonia in 2018. It was a few months before my first solo art licensing show (the previous time was before another art licensing show... clues!). I had already paid for a myriad of things, from my exhibition space to banners and flights. I toyed with the idea of pulling out, as I was desperately tired. However I pushed on regardless and deeply regretted it by the second day of the show. Some of my friends around me were deeply concerned with my sudden melancholy despite good face to face sales. To my dismay, as I sat in front of my banners and lookbook, I slowly grasped that creating and selling at art licensing shows just did not fit in with my lifestyle.
After eight years as a stay-at-home mom and all the work I had done since launching my illustration career with that first online course in 2013 that had promised so much, this show should have been a massive highlight culminating years of effort. It had not turned out as expected. My inner feelings didn’t match my logical thoughts (‘surely this is great — everyone else wants to pursue art licensing’). I was stuffing down my sense of fear or dread, and ignoring what my body knew and was trying to communicate. I had spent over 6 months toiling away, being horribly angsty with my kids, and putting on hold the illustration side of my business. Doing the maths I could not see how I could justify the time, money and energy I’d spent, not just on this show but all the previous licensing shows. To me it didn’t make sense bringing up two kids off the income I could expect even if this show were successful.
I felt some guilt and shame that I had been unable to turn art licensing into a fully viable part of my business. In early 2019 I consulted Betsy Cordes of February 13 Creative, who was able to assist me with unravelling some of my disorganised thoughts. We looked at my strengths and weaknesses, and my ultimate business goals, whilst taking into account the need to financially support two kids by myself.
We concluded that if we took out most of the art licensing part, then food illustration, teaching online and various passive income streams do fit into my lifestyle while meeting my family’s financial needs. It was a-ok that I only wanted to design greetings cards, if that was what made me happy.
Betsy has some more words of wisdom that she kindly shared with me:
In many ways, it's never been easier to make a living as an artist. The technology and information so widely available today put the tools and educational resources literally at your fingertips. Combine your creative talent with your strong work ethic, add your willingness to embrace the responsibilities of business ownership... the possibilities are tremendous! While connections and good timing can also play a part in success, I believe the real secret sauce is a willingness to trust your heart as much as your head. You will receive so much advice about how to build your business, about what sells and how to sell it. Your intuition will rarely be as loud or as definitive as guidance from those external sources yet it will always be working to get your attention. If there's one trait that's shared by my most successful and happiest clients, it's that ability to tune into and to trust their inner knowing, even when it flies in the face of conventional wisdom.
Since then I’ve been able to touch base with my intuition and slow down my hectic pace that I thought was the norm. Betsy encouraged me to take up journaling again, and to give The Artist Way 12 week course along with ‘morning pages’ another try. Both of these proved wonderful experiences to enhance and tap into my intuition further.
It helps me to sit with my eyes closed and listen to thoughts that relate to a certain topic — e.g. ‘should I take on the meh project to pay the bills?’... I write them down in my journal with very little editing and see what comes up. I have found that this very often leads to insights that you might never have tapped into had you not … your thoughts by writing them down. Another trick is to ask the same question and scan your body. Do you feel excited to start? Can you picture yourself happily completing the brief? Alternatively, does your chest or stomach feel tight? Sometimes I feel slight aches in my neck. Again, I write about these feelings and see where it takes me. I’ve learnt to trust this process.
Your needs and ideas or successes will be different from mine or the next artist’s. There are no right or wrong decisions, only a series of possibilities and experiences you will learn from. I’ve found mindfulness, meditation and journaling have helped me get in better touch with my intuition. It can be very difficult to recognize what our guts are telling us. Even allowing yourself to listen to your gut can take some practice — and often some time. But I honestly feel I have gained access to deeper wisdom and intelligence. And the decisions I’ve made for my art business in recent times align with my core values and sense of purpose. That sense of well-being and alignment makes my business much more sustainable and personally rewarding.
NOTE - art licensing is just one of my income streams, just not a substantial one at present. My next blog post will address why passive income is preferable as an art business owner.