I shared this on my Instagram the other day. ( You can find me here). I’m not entirely sure where I found this particular quote image. Could be Google, could be Pinterest. It doesn’t really matter where I found it. What does matter is that I liked what it said enough to save it.
This kind of hit home for me. I have shared about just getting back into art somewhat recently, and working on an Etsy shop as well. ( You can check that out here).
I’ve tried having my work in a craft mall. That didn’t really work out how I thought it would, although, if I never tried it I would wonder what would’ve, should’ve, could’ve happened. And now I know. I did sell stuff there. It was a bit weird though. Basically, all the things that I thought would sell really well didn’t even move, and the things I thought wouldn’t move are what I sold. It just really goes to show you just how subjective art and the consumer is. I’m glad I tried the craft mall, but ultimately it was not the right place for me.
I’ve done a couple commissions. One I have posted here already, with my process and step by step photos. It was a rooster drawing with certain specific requested elements in it. You can check out the post here. The other commission I’ve done but not posted about yet was a big mural in a friends laundry room. I’ll post pictures of that one soon. That painting spanned one wall and two partial walls. It is a clothesline hanging from a tree with various items of clothing hanging from it. I personalized the clothing to the person it was for. That took me a good month of weekends, hauling all my stuff to her house, but it was so much fun.
I have sold two of my prints online through my Etsy shop…to people I don’t know! That is super flattering, and makes me KNOW that I can do this. I have sold another print to an acquaintance. Sold two mesh wreaths when those were my current obsession.
These few examples make me not want to quit! I know there are people out there selling their art way more frequently than me. I know there are people selling less frequently than me. I know it’s not impossible to sell more.
I’m have no plans to stop making art of any kind. Whatever I am into at the moment is what I will be creating. Currently, I am hooked on colored pencil art. The layers of different colors to create one color with depth is fascinating to me. I feel like I have a good eye for seeing all the colors within a color.
Why would I quit when this is one of my passions? I had someone ask me the other day, “If you could be anywhere, doing anything, right now, what would it be?” My answer? I said, “Not having to worry about working for a living, and selling my drawings.” That that is what I would choose when faced with that question speaks volumes, don’t you think? I have had set backs in my life. We all have. I sometimes struggle with finding time to do the things that I want in between all the things that I need to do. Or even picking which thing I want to do when I have found the time. I have so many varied interests. Right now, I have invested a lot of time in my drawings, and setting up this Etsy shop. I know that I’m off to a slow start, but I’m really ok with that. I feel like that’s how most things go in my life, slow and steady. There is nothing wrong with that. My dream is for the steady part to be consistently increasing, with regards to selling my art.
I am only just starting my day dream. Why would I quit now?
Freckles N Flowers Art 