I sent you an email response, but essentially, I’m asking—do you feel that prioritizing the business side of things over art for the past two years was a necessary step to set yourself up financially? Did that foundation allow you to now devote sacred time to your art and shift to being artist-forward rather than entrepreneur-forward? Or do you think there’s a way to dedicate time to art first while still maintaining financial stability? It seems like you had to take the path you did to get to this point, but I’d love to know—looking back, do you think you could have approached things differently?
Thank you for your thoughtful question! Honestly, there’s no single right way to build an art business. It really depends on your personality, your goals, and the resources you have.
I come from an entrepreneurial background, where the instinct is always to focus on generating income quickly—especially when passive income opportunities exist. I chose that path for a simple reason: now that my income is stable and I have systems in place, I’m free to focus entirely on my art. I don’t have any artistic constraints, and that’s a rare kind of freedom for most artists.
But if there’s one thing that applies to everyone, it’s that the foundation of a successful art business is mastering your craft. Business strategies can only take you so far if the work isn’t strong. So my advice would always be to focus on becoming really good at what you do first, then build the business around that.
Could I have done it differently? Maybe. I could have tried balancing things more evenly, but since I already had the entrepreneurial skills, it felt more efficient to lean into them first. And honestly, it worked for me. But maybe your skillset is different and your path will look different too. If your strength is creating, then it might make sense to prioritize that and let the business side grow more slowly around it. What matters most is recognizing what you’re good at and building from there—there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.
My biggest challenge is starting, I've yet to get a commission, a job and at Instagram I"m still at 200+ followers
whats your instagram?
I sent you an email response, but essentially, I’m asking—do you feel that prioritizing the business side of things over art for the past two years was a necessary step to set yourself up financially? Did that foundation allow you to now devote sacred time to your art and shift to being artist-forward rather than entrepreneur-forward? Or do you think there’s a way to dedicate time to art first while still maintaining financial stability? It seems like you had to take the path you did to get to this point, but I’d love to know—looking back, do you think you could have approached things differently?
Thank you for your thoughtful question! Honestly, there’s no single right way to build an art business. It really depends on your personality, your goals, and the resources you have.
I come from an entrepreneurial background, where the instinct is always to focus on generating income quickly—especially when passive income opportunities exist. I chose that path for a simple reason: now that my income is stable and I have systems in place, I’m free to focus entirely on my art. I don’t have any artistic constraints, and that’s a rare kind of freedom for most artists.
But if there’s one thing that applies to everyone, it’s that the foundation of a successful art business is mastering your craft. Business strategies can only take you so far if the work isn’t strong. So my advice would always be to focus on becoming really good at what you do first, then build the business around that.
Could I have done it differently? Maybe. I could have tried balancing things more evenly, but since I already had the entrepreneurial skills, it felt more efficient to lean into them first. And honestly, it worked for me. But maybe your skillset is different and your path will look different too. If your strength is creating, then it might make sense to prioritize that and let the business side grow more slowly around it. What matters most is recognizing what you’re good at and building from there—there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.