I would consider myself an artistic person. My house is decorated with numerous sculptures I’ve built from clay, I enjoy building and painting miniatures in my free time, and I always make my own costumes for Halloween and Purim, from scratch if I can, but sometimes I just modify a pre-existing outfit. Recently I finished a sword prop that took me at least 15 hours to fully construct and paint, including lots of cutting, sanding, gluing, and sculpting. When I show things I’ve made to other people, it’s not uncommon for their first response to be something along the lines of “have you ever thought about making money off of these” or “you should consider starting a store for the stuff you make.” I’m not necessarily opposed to making income from my works, but I kind of have mixed feelings about this being one of the most immediate responses.
Again, I’m in no way against artists turning their craft into a business, I can’t say I haven’t thought about it, and it’s really amazing that it can be a viable career path for someone to support themselves through creating art. I’m just a little concerned by what it says about our society when the first response to someone demonstrating skill in something they’re passionate about is “how can you profit from this?” It’s great that creating art is an achievable way to make a living, but I’m afraid of art just becoming another form of work, I’m afraid that we might start valuing it based on how much money it can make, I’m afraid that painting, and singing, and sculpting and dancing will become just a way to make money instead of the things that humans just do because they’re beautiful.
To reiterate: It’s phenomenal that we live in a time where creating art is a valid career, and it’s not like an artist is somehow worse or evil or something if their main motivation to create is just to support themselves and make money, but I’m concerned that focusing on art as a business might eventually erode the intrinsic value of making art for no other reason than being passionate about it and creating for the sake of creating. Does that make sense? What do you think is the right balance between artistic endeavors being regarded as fully valid as both a hobby and a job?
I think you can sell your art while also enjoy doing it as a passion. It wouldn't take any value away from your artwork in fact it allows you to love the way you make money.
ReplyDeleteI think as long as you're happy with what you're creating it doesn't really matter who it's for! If you want to make money great, if you want to just create also amazing. If you love what you do and make that's what really counts.
ReplyDeleteYour work is very impressive and beautiful. I agree with what you say about not wanting to sell it; I knit many hats and I donate them to the hospital! I enjoy creating and art is my hobby. I think you should just see where your art takes you.
ReplyDeleteYour art is super cool! I also love seeing the costumes you create each year for Purim!! I think that you could sell your art if you want, and it would be a win-win because you love creating it anyway!
ReplyDeleteThat art is sick! You're definitely right though - it would be a shame to monetize a passion of yours and then see that passion dwindle into tedious work. I think the key is to do what makes you happiest, and if you give that passion enough effort, the money will follow. Maybe you start a Vlog or something, and just profit off the publicity! But, then again, there's nothing wrong with keeping work and pleasure separate.
ReplyDeleteYou could totally get away with selling that. If its something that you love to do, you can make some money if you want.
ReplyDeleteHonestly agree so heavily with what everyone's been saying. I wish being an artist was a more sustainable career because so many artists are so incredibly talented, but don't get paid enough to do the work they love to do. But with that said, if you have the means to do so, selling your art while being passionate about it is awesome. To be able to profit off of something that makes you happy is a really huge thing, but there's also a certain love and protective-nature to not want to sell your art children and just kind of hoard them for yourself.
ReplyDelete-Bella
I dont really see it that way. I think that if you have a passion that you re good at, it is a plus if you could make money off of it. I agree that some people may go into it for the wrong reasons, but I do believe that enough people have good intentions and will only be successful in their business if they are truly passionate about it because no one wants to enjoy art that was created without love. You can truly tell the difference between art that was created by someone who had fun doing it and art that was created by someone who just wants to make a profit.
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