What You Want:
You want to realize your dream? Answer your calling?
You want to make your living as an artist?
You want your art to sell?
You want to be known and respected for the work you create?
And is there, at least a small part of you who wants to prove them wrong? To prove it’s not too late, and that following your passion is not a dead end street?
The Bad News:
If you answered yes to any of the above and you keep doing what you’re now doing, chances are you’re not headed in the right direction.
The Good News:
If you answered yes to any of the above, there are choices you can make and steps you can take that will set you on the road towards your goals.
How?
First, create. Do your work. Come up with a system and a timetable and stick to it.
Second, realize that as you create your art, whether it be painting, film, writing, music, or another art form, you’re going to need to forget everything you now know or think about art and the artist’s life.
Why?
Because those believes are limiting not only what you do, they’re limiting who you are.
Most of the ideas and beliefs that we hold about art only serve to shrink our horizon. We believe what we’ve heard and we don’t want to break the mold, buck the tide, rattle the cage… you name it.
Case In Point:
The other day I was speaking to an artist who decided not to go forward with a creative marketing idea, because a curator told her that’s not how things are done in the art world. That one conversation stopped her cold. An idea that could have taken her to a new level was immediately abandoned because someone in authority told her it was not how things were done.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard similar stories from people afraid to take a leap because of how those in authority or the gatekeepers in their industry, or their peers will view them.
The ironic part is that I’m speaking to artists; people whose job it is to create to forge new paths, show us new visions and open new worlds.
Limiting Beliefs:
But the fact that someone is an artist does not mean that he or she is not limited by the same conventional thinking as the rest of society. When it comes to spreading their wings, or creatively showcasing their art, artists tend to be a pretty conservative lot.
In fact, in my experience representing artists in a wide range of fields, I’ve found that when it comes to marketing or promoting their work, many artists are more bound by limited thinking than those in other arenas.
Standing Naked:
In a way it makes sense. Artists are exposing themselves. Their work has them stand naked in front of the world.
It ain’t easy to stand naked and then have to call the world’s attention to you, but that’s what art requires.
If broken down into steps, it’s all doable.
There is a process designed to do exactly that, to make the unthinkable doable and your dream of being a working artist achievable.
Step One:
So, for now, step one is to work on forgetting everything you know, or think you know, about being an artist.
Step Two:
Learn the process.
But for now stick with step one for a bit. That’s a tough one. It takes work.
And step two is on the way.
Copyright © Mora Communications 2014