Keeping the fun in making a living

[Michael Fournier]

I have a few questions to ask the professionals on the forum.
First I had to stop painting for a living and have been doing other work for the past 3 years to earn a living.

Funny when I was a full time artist wood working was my hobby now I am a carpenter/cabinet maker for a living and now starting to paint on the side.

My question is how do you manage your working time in the studio and the rest of your life pay your bills and still have control over the quality of your work life.

When I was generating 100% of my income from my art I found I spent more hours painting alone in my studio letting the client dictate what I painted and sometimes how I worked and it started to feel more like production line work then creating art But that seemed to be the only way I could get the income I needed to support my family. I hated it every reason I became a artist was gone so I quit.

I am not a art student (not that we ever stop growing in art and life) and I do not command the fees of a Nelson Shanks that would allow me to make a excellent income doing 1 or 2 portrait commissions a year. My clients are not presidents, princes or Popes.

So in the interest of trying to turn my bad experience into a positive I am looking for ideas on how others have faced these problems.
I know some of you do get high commission fees now but I am sure that was not always the case so how do you produce enough work to make a good income without sacrificing the joy in making art that lead you to become a artist to begin with?

I know we chat a lot about process and the making of art but the Money side does have to be addressed unless you are a student or lucky enough to be living off someone else's income you just can't create art for art's sake as they say you have to create art for the art market. I just want to know how you do that with out loosing the joy.

[Michele Rushworth]

Your questions are perennial ones for anyone making a living in any field, I think, not just art.

I make a living with my portraits. I love what I do AND it is also a job, with regular -- and sometimes very long -- hours, tight deadlines, clients with very high expectations that need to be satisfied, plenty of bills to pay, etc.

I am running a small business here, as an artist, and anyone who wants to make a living doing this needs to understand that. A good portion of my time is spent doing administrative stuff, or repetitive stuff.

That is all balanced, though, by the wonderful pleasure that comes from creating something new, a painting that never existed before, and hopefully a beautiful one. The other day one of my portraits was delivered on the other side of the country and I heard later that the client was "jumping up and down with joy" when she saw for the first time. People often say and write all kinds of nice things about my work. That recognition doesn't come with a lot of other jobs.

And, finally, when it comes right down to it, many of my happiest hours are the ones I spend completely alone, in silence, playing with all my wonderful colors in the studio. That makes all the paperwork and deadlines well worthwhile.