Those tough days

Working for oneself as an artist has its great moments like when you have a show and you sell something or several somethings and everyones telling you how much they enjoy your work and such. However those seem to happen less often than the times you have a show and sell nothing. Then its back to the studio to work some more. Those are the tough days, weeks and months. Going back to work and working hour upon hour on new work wondering if it will ever sell.

So what is it that I actually do?

I refer to what I create as illuminated sculptures. They are created out of wood, paper and electricity. As you can see in the  photo they are very organic in form. I like to tell people who have never seen my work to envision a Chinese paper lantern, then imagine that lantern on drugs, thats what I do.

Even though these pieces are made of some what mundane materials they are labor intensive. On average the pieces take anywhere from 60 to 80 hours to make start to finish. Obviously smaller ones take a little less (but not that much less actually) and larger ones take much longer. The piece pictured here is 7 feet long and took over 1000 hours to create. So pieces such as that are true labors of love due to what I can realistically sell it for.

The back story

So a little bit about how I got here.

Back in June of 2009 I had a few significant life altering events take place all within that month. Firstly while on vacation, actually on our way home. We found out our first dog Wiggy (a loveable Shiztu) was killed by a larger dog. Then a week later my then wife and I decided we would go our different ways. Then 2 weeks later I was let go from my job as a graphic designer of 13 years.

I lost track of how many days I sat at my desk at work with sometimes very little to do and wished I didn't have to work at this job so I could instead work at creating the artwork that I wanted to make. Additionally due to many factors my then wife required a lot of time an attention (above and beyond what most women need or desire to keep happy lol). So being set free from these two obligations I felt God was saying, "Well you've been asking for freedom now you have it so get to it." I do honestly believe being let go from my job was one of the best things thats happened to me as an adult.

So taking some of my 401k money I invested in myself and my art. The way I see it is you never hear about an artist or actor or musician retiring. I think its because most people retire from their jobs to do what they really want to do. Artist of all types are actually already doing what they really want to do. So I don't see myself as retiring from this life.

Where I am right now

So I guess a short introduction is in order. I am a full-time working artist. Sometimes I make money sometimes I don't. Well right now most times I dont. Presently I work about 8-10 hours a day in my studio creating my illuminated sculptures. Then I go home and spend an hour more or less on the computer dealing with emails and searching for opportunities to show my work.

I started this blog to help dispel the myth that artist don't really work. It hit me when earlier this year to earn some money I was working for a friend that owns a landscape and mowing company. I was working with a great guy named Tim. We had been working together for a few weeks. One day when we were taking a short break it came up that I was an artist. Tim's response was, "Your an artist? Huh I would never have pegged you as an artist. Your a hard working son of a bitch. LOL" So it was then that it hit me that most people think artist firstly dont work very hard or wont work hard. The truth is any artist thats serious about being a successful artist works very hard. Working as a full time artist is no different than running and working your own small business.

So thats what made me decide to start this blog. It will basically be an online diary of my triumphs and defeats, ups and downs as a working artist. Hopefully I will be able to make it interesting enough to keep people around.