Living the art life!

Do you have what it takes to be an artist?
Being an artist requires both left brain activities and right brained activities.  There are those blissful moments when you sell a piece of your artwork, or art flow is so magical that the piece is done on the first attempt. But there are also regular challenges for every artist. Most artists are right brained making them more intuitive, emotional, visual, pulling things together with color, texture, shape, feeling, etc. While a left brained person is more analytical, detail oriented, ordered, taking things apart, methodically using logic and reason, etc. 

I love to create!  It drives me even while I sleep, vacation, or attend board meetings.  I see colors when I close my eyes and try to figure out what the image is like finding shapes in clouds.  I wake up eager to put paint to a canvas or make a stained-glass sun catcher that’s uniquely my creation.  But then there are all these other things like websites, taxes, marketing material, photographs, shipping, shows, student support, goal setting, finances, development for me as an artist, my classes and customers – on and on... Ya can’t just create…
Can you do it all?  The immediate answer is it all HAS to get done.  It’s inescapable, Left Brain things must get done one way or another.  You can tackle those tasks; you can barter for someone else who likes your work to take over those tasks, or you can hire someone to get knock out that Left Brained stuff allowing you to be completely Right Brained.  I have actually done a little but of all of those at one point or another during my art life.  Everyone is different and we evolve as we grow older.  You might need to take on these tasks now and plan to hire someone later. 

Take one task at a time.  If you need a website, start with one of the Website Builder companies like Weebly, Wix, SquareSpace.  Accounts range from free to $50/month and they walk you through setting up a website all your own.  Taxes?  You can file a Schedule C that will show your art income, expenses, etc.  Marketing?  Are you trying to market your artwork or classes?  Will your customers see your advertisement on the internet or pick up a tri-fold flyer?  Try one thing this month and see what the response is.  I’ll cover each of these in more detail in later blogs but know that for you to grow as an artist, you must find a way to get those Left Brained things done.

Through it all the bottom line is - we as artists get to live a wonderful life through the artwork we create. With each painting I create a unique world that contains all my favorite colors, subjects, and everything that gives me joy.  Living the art life!
Do those delightfully, joyous moments with your artwork counter balance business demands? On top of my art life I also work a full-time job from home, 4-10hr days which allows me to support 2 people and still get up 3 days a week a be a full-blown artist.  I have an art studio in my home and another in a local gallery – Stella’s Art Gallery, Mentor, OH.  They are filled with light, floral scents, blank canvases, fabulous pigments, and endless possibilities. Am I going to paint today or do stained glass, maybe fiber art?  A plethora of choices. Once I decide on what medium I’m going to work with today, then I select the subject and colors.  FUN! Oh, the advantages of not dealing with office clothes, brown bagged lunches, and so much more!  I am grateful for the ability to be LIVING THE ART LIFE!

#jodibaldacci #stellasartgallery #oilpainting #acrylicpainting #mentoroh 
#localartist #clevelandartist #clevelandartists #buylocalart #buyartfromartists 
​#shoplocal #supportlocalart #homedecor #artforsale 

---