"Whitesim: Your art is only worth what people will pay for it! This is one field that you are not paid by the hour. People pay for what they perceive to be the value of the art piece.
The public decides on what art sells for. I can set the prices, but the collectors make the ultimate decision. It took me a few years to listen to what they were saying...I finally realized that I had to listen to what the majority of buyers wanted to pay for my art and adjust my prices to fit their requirements, or not sell very much."
I'm not sure how much of an "art career" I'm trying to build, my goals are a little more short sighted. I want to paint, to continue to explore and develop my abilities and that means I paint every day. For me, when the completed canvases begin to stock pile, I begin to slow down with my painting practice. I guess it's how I was raised, "waste not want not," the practical and the creative within me.
Then there's David DuChemin's wise words from his book, Vision Mongers:
"Make no mistake about it running a business is hard work. A labor of love is no less labor...By all means, whistle and enjoy it. It's your calling, after all. You should love it. But you still have to put in the hours and log the time. These dreams aren't going to chase themselves."
So there you have it, from some guys who know what they're talking about. Whistling away here in the loft, how about you!
