“Are you making a living from this?”, he asks. It is not a question loaded with malice or skepticism. It is asked with genuine interest and even a little concern. You see, he knows someone that has tried and failed…
For the better part of a decade, whenever April rolls around, I take a moment to thank my lucky stars (and those stars’ lucky stars): It marks another 365 days that I was able to make a living doing what I love. This year, The Happy Struggling Artist turns eight!
I can say with complete honesty that it has far less to do with skill and talent than it does with luck and sheer grit. And, most importantly, remaining focussed on passion, rather than money. This, dear ones, is the hardest part of all!
I’m reminded of a moment of brilliance in a really stupid comedy movie (the title and storyline that thankfully elude me now), when a group of people admit how far they’ve strayed from their childhood dreams: One man wanted to be a vet; he grew up to own a chain of slaughter houses! In an attempt to generate an income from something that is precious to us, it often gets twisted and warped so badly out of proportion that we can no longer recognise the original dream. Or, somewhere along the way we are disheartened by how difficult it is. Suddenly, something that once brought value to our life is saddled with proving its value (read that again, slowly…).
The brutal, honest truth is this: Not every hobby or passion should be turned into a business. There will always be a risk of growing to hate what you once loved. Another hard truth: Making a living off of art alone is extremely difficult; some would say impossible. Go watch this amazing video where Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat Pray Love) talks about the difference between a hobby, job, career and vocation — it was an eye-opener for me! Throughout the years - especially in the beginning - I’ve had a strange collection of part-time jobs and took on freelance Graphic Design clients to keep the ship afloat, while I side-hustled my art. Even today, I still occasionally do a bit of design work, although I now have the luxury of being very picky about what I take on!
Of course, I also have an incredibly supportive husband. Apart from Alex’s hard-earned income (he’s also an entrepreneur - musician and carpenter!), he shares in all our day-to-day responsibilities and often picks up the slack when I’m working ridiculous hours (because regular working hours is another challenge in entrepreneurship!). I can’t imagine how I would have been able to do this without him…
When I first started out, Tannie Google was my best friend (although she doesn’t always have the right answers). I often wished I had a mentor! For the past few years, I’ve had an incredible business coach and a group of bad-ass-lady-bosses that hold each other accountable, share sage advice and generally serve as cheerleaders while we build our respective small businesses. I can’t stress enough how important - nay, life-changing - the influence of this support network has been. None of these women are artists. But, they are business owners. Thinking like a Creative comes naturally to Creatives. Thinking like a Business Owner? Not so much… In entrepreneurship (and in life!), it’s important to admit to your own shortcomings and find a way to improve on that; find a resource or a person that can help you learn and get better.
Even though The Happy Struggling Artist is eight and I have been a full-time artist for about four or five years now (the lines are quite blurred, really…). Of course, you can fill books with all the lessons I still need to learn and the improvements I need to make. And I bet as soon as I’ve read those books, there’ll be new books (or worse still - A FRIGGEN APP!). I am by no means…….. A brief interruption to this sentence — I just asked Tannie Google to translate a really great Afrikaans word so that I can use it here: “volleerd”. Literally translated, it means ‘fully learned’, or ‘full of knowledge’. Tannie Google’s English translation? ‘Completed’.
I am by no means yet COMPLETED?!?!
Ugh… Well, this has now totally derailed my trail of thought (and this blog post!)…
But wait — on second thought, perhaps this is a good segue to a nice, big, peppy finish:
Perhaps the reason why so many fail at making a living from a passion, is because we believe that if something (including ourselves!) is not perfect - or COMPLETED - it’s better to just give up (or not try at all!). My approach is this: Instead of focussing on being ‘fully learned’, perhaps we should focus on working towards being fulfilled, whilst we learn.
Perfection is unattainable. Fulfilment is not.
And sometimes, it’s best to keep sacred and separate the fulfilment that a hobby or passion brings to your life, instead of turning it into a job.
Sitting under the kitchen table with Alex, taking a break from building a stall in our tiny living room (below)...
Same kitchen table, but here I am painting a giant, wooden giraffe in the middle of the night.
The wild dog painting that kickstarted my career (above) and revisiting the subject, ten years later (below)...
Painting a baby name commission.
Making a fool of myself, shooting tutorial videos for my annual wildlife calendar.
PS. If you have a burning question that you'd like me to answer, feel free to comment below, send me a Whatsapp or an email, reach out via social media, send up a smoke signal, homing pigeon...... I'd love to hear from you!
