Last weekend I participated in my third Art on the Edge Studio Tour. The first year (2023) was a great experience. The second year (2024) was pleasant, but not profitable. This year was also pleasant… and unfortunately also not profitable. Visitors came and went all three days at a good pace. In fact, I received more visitors than my first year. I can’t even say people weren’t buying; they just weren’t buying from me. I had a guest artist, and she did a good business throughout the weekend. I understand. I heard many versions of “your work is lovely, but I don’t have wall space.” Fair enough. But it is disheartening. I have to remind myself that money has never been my main goal. I enjoy my art, and I am the main person I have to please.
As I was telling this to a friend, she said, “I just wish there was some way for you to find worth besides selling your paintings.” True enough. Here are some good articles about the subject.
- How to Be Confident With Your Art
- Why Your Art Matters
- Art vs. Capitalism and How to Escape the Dilemma
- The Price of Creation
For me, and I assume many of you, the issue isn’t just about money or confidence. It’s more about looking at my art supplies and thinking they should be better organized, I should spend less money on them, and what on earth will happen to all this junk when I die. In other words, I tend to go to a dark and morbid place where everything is connected to everything else. The best description I have ever read about this is in “The Spellman’s Strike Again” by Lisa Lutz. Toward the end of the book, the main character goes to see her therapist and discusses the concatenation of problems she is facing. It’s a great scene.
During the tour, I brought out several unfinished pieces and used watercolor pencil to finish them. While not my favorite medium, watercolor pencil does allow me to easily start and stop working.
At the end of the weekend, I ended up with a clean house, better organized art, a small amount of money, and several newly finished artworks. That’s not too bad. In fact, if any of those things (clean, organized, more money, finish things) happened on a random day of the week, I’d be thrilled. But placed in this context, the accomplishment seems hollow.
I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few days thinking about whether I want to do this again. I do. It really is a pleasant experience. But I might not help so much on the planning next year.
In more positive news, Paw Prints in the Ledger is now available for pre-order through Amazon!