The Artist's Way

I've had to sacrifice a lot to be an artist. Money. Relationships. My social life. My emotional health. It's been fucking hard! I've resisted admitting that for a while because I know I'm in a privileged position to be making a living solely from my artwork and I don't want to sound ungrateful. Also, regardless of what anyone does sacrifice is just part and parcel of life. But I feel the need to open up about this. There's a growing number of people wanting to break down the facade of social media and I think that's much needed. Especially in relation to the art world as it's seen as a somewhat glamorous profession to be involved in and that is most definitely not always the case!
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This drawing represents more than just a character in a narrative I wrote for 'The Inscending Spiral' series. It's an aspect of who I am, as all characters created from an authors psyche are. This character is a manifestation of my fear of failure. I drew it at a time when I had little money. I very nearly became the cliche 'starving artist' had it not been for my family and some very kind benefactors 💖
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Someone asked me the other day "Does it bring you joy to paint?". Unfortunately the honest answer is no. I do enjoy my job, but it isn't a hobby, it's hard goddam work. Plus there's the constant stress of not knowing if any given piece of work will sell or not. Looking back I now realise the chronic depression I had was partly because of that (something I'm now glad to say I've overcome 👉 #ayahuasca).
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But, because of my often precarious financial position it has made me extremely grateful for every single artwork that has sold and every print ordered. So if you've ever bought a piece of my work I'd like to say a huge THANK YOU 🙏💖
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I also don't think I could have lasted so long without the continued support on social media over the years. From my original Myspace page all the way up to Instagram and beyond (I was briefly on TikTok 😬💩) Every kind comment people leave, every like, thumbs up, repost and share is always greatly appreciated. Thank you! 💜💙💚💛🧡❤

The Artist's Way

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