6 Must Haves to building your Art/Creative Career

My biggest failure in building my art career was thinking that I needed to know what to do—not just at the beginning, but at every stage. 

After college ended, I felt lost but I was determined to find a way to turn my love of making art into my full-time job. I would be on the internet, searching for every which way to sell my work and network. I would borrow books from the library on marketing.  I would study other artist shops on what made them successful. I would watch endless videos on what sells and what doesn’t.

And then…I would get so overwhelmed with information overload I would abandon everything all together. All motivation and excitement went out the door and I went back to my 9-5 until the urge to get everything going came back with a vengeance.

By building an art “business” from scratch, making art then felt less like a gift and joy to share and more like another day job obligation. When navigating that line between enjoying what you do and having to do what you do, decisions can then become blurry. This is the push and pull that comes with the territory of doing what you love for a living. 

In my brief experience of pursuing a creative career, some things are becoming quite clear. This might cheer someone up:

We don’t have to know it all—not now and not ever. You get to be MESSY, TERRIBLE, and REALLY BAD ACTUALLY. Whether it’s making your art or building your career, you get to stumble, fall, and land flat on your face. Acknowledging that I have a fear of doing things wrong, can do things wrong, and will probably most definitely do things wrong has been a huge relief. Anytime I put out a blog post, work on my art, or do any new project that pushes me out of my comfort zone I remind myself that I am allowed to be messy and fall short of my desired goal.

So breath… it's gonna be ok. In fact, I can almost guarantee that it's gonna be great if you stick with it.

We may not have to know it ALL but 6 Must Haves have assisted beautifully in building my art career:

1 Ask for help

Ask questions and ask more questions. Stand on the shoulders of those who have been there, and gotten experience before you.

2 Be an innovative unoriginal

Take what they know, make your version of it, weave your personality and story into it, and build on it. 

3 Pave a clear path

Decide what you want, ask others how they got there, and make your absolutely best attempt at getting there. It’s easy to get caught up and take endless detours, so simplify your goal, stick to it, and go for it.

4 Try, try, and try again

Make a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th attempt, etc,. Honestly, once you get over the disappointment of falling short of your desired outcome it becomes fun to re-evaluate, get creative, and approach it differently.

5 Get out of your comfort zone

Get WAY out of your comfort zone. Take heed of your limits then push past them. Challenge how clear your ideas and intentions are being communicated, find ways to make your work available to a broader audience, and risk looking foolish, unintelligent, and clumsy.

6 Love passion and ALL the good feels

Create and pursue things when you feel excited about them. The energy you put in always reflects in the results you get, so be cognizant of the ones you feed into your work and your art.

Get the tools many have used to overcome fear, limiting beliefs, and blockages and create the life they desire by scheduling a sample coaching session with me at www.shantiacrowley.com/life-coaching, or continue to get a stream of inspiring creative entrepreneurial content from these blogs. As always, remember you are the creator of your reality. Transform your life from the inside out.