a fresh focus
The time has come to level up if I want to reach my goals:
Three years ago, in that 2020 pandemic summer, I stopped looking for replacement work (my company shut down in April 2020) in the biotech world and decided to take my art career seriously. Since then, I’ve been building a brand, testing out online sales and products, and painting commissions. It seems a little crazy to do this while having and rearing a small family, but some timing, like that of pandemics and biological clocks, cannot be helped.
The logistics and resource management have been tricky recently. So I’ve taken some time to plan a change.
I want to continue my long and dabble-y affair with business:
You’ve seen me online, and you’re here reading this now, so you know that I’m crazy about what I do. I am wildly motivated to make art. But I should tell you, that I am almost equally jazzed by retail and small business strategy. I’ve been working in business operations for over a decade.
After I graduated from college, I planned to go into medical research or become a physician’s assistant. I worked in clinical research for more than three years before I realized it was not a fit. I felt awash and dove into business. I tried all kinds of work: marketing account management, retail management (Trader Joe’s!), and biotech start-up operations management. Instead of vying for grants and navigating some dense (politically, bureaucratically dense) systems, interfacing with customers and paying attention to market demands was wildly refreshing to me. I loved openly engaging with the public. I loved the quick feedback and data from sales and merchandising. Selling things requires that you lift your head and get curious about strangers. Sure, engaging with the public is sometimes like the wild west, but it is also an opportunity to meet people and build community.
And I just can’t quit the art:
Throughout my professional jobs, I made a lot of art at home. I was stubborn about it and wanted it to stick, so I made a website and played with reproducing and showing art. I even sold a few large pieces and was invited to do a solo show. Everything took about 18 attempts and paid about a quarter of what I’d hoped when broken down into an hourly wage. Illogically, every challenge motivated me more. Art was a hobby in the way that running marathons is a hobby.
I found some early artifacts of art in my life as I tried out other careers.
This is a little, patient retention postcard I illustrated for the mouse allergen research study I was working on in 2011.
Here is my collapsable painting set-up.
I was working on a 6-foot-long painting in my, tiny, one-bedroom, Boston apartment. (So sorry, dear husband.)
And now, making things has become part of my personhood. It took me a long time to consider myself an artist, but these days it is a title like “mother” that I can’t step out of.
Change ahead:
The challenges you’d expect from a freelance art career are indeed challenging. I’m in need of a marketing and sales routine that produces more steady income and some sales numbers that give me flexibility to take a day off, say when my kids have a fever. I also want to step into the studio everyday a little more confident that my energy will sustain my creative future.
When I got honest with myself about my need for change, I instantly thought I’d failed.
But then I remembered two things:
I always get itchy need a stretch in any job after 2-3 years.
When I worked at a start-up I witnessed lots of experiments and some failures. When products and procedures fell short, it was our job to devise a new approach.
This is normal. This is how careers work. This is how businesses work.
I’ve learned a lot in these past three years. I’ve also tried so many things that I’ve been wildly distracted. It is time to focus. Now, I want to paint every day and improve my craft. I want to communicate and deliver more predictably to honor the attention of this small and wonderful tribe of thoughtful, funny, creative people who follow my work. So here’s what’s coming:
I’m cleaning up shop.
I’m cutting my inventory back in an effort to focus on current projects and highlight new work.
I’m upping my painting practice.
I’m pushing myself to make small originals with heavy frequency. And I’m putting blinders on. I’ll have to turn down opportunities to make room for the painting practice I’m hungry to achieve.
I’m building a predictable calendar for you and for me:
I am launching a new shop at the end of August called “The Friday Drop” to share small originals routinely.
Larger originals will be available only once or twice year when I generate + release a series.
There will be a holiday shop with things like totes and calendars.
You’ll hear from me with a more reliable rhythm. I want you know what is coming and when.
I am giving this structured and focused pivot a solid go. And if needed, I’ll also add on a part-time job in biotech or operations management so that my creativity doesn’t get toooo squeezed by the need to make a buck. Perhaps this won’t look like a big change on the outside, and you definitely didn’t ask for a big confession monologue. But maybe it will make it more interesting to know what’s going on as some updates and a new rhythm unfurl.
And please, oh please send along any feedback that bubbles up (especially the critical kind!). I beg you to let me know what you think. Message me any which way with your opinions and curious to hear your thoughts on new work, pricing, products, and communication.
I can’t thank you enough for the attention. Your viewing, commenting, and purchasing fans my flame and provides a stage for experimentation and accountability. I wouldn’t be an artist without you on the other end.
Off we go into the future.
