That is the question.......

Proper Pink Poesies © 2011 Amy Hillenbrand
5 x 7 oil on canvas
poesy: plural - sies,  "the work or the art of poetic composition"


I have a new question running around in my mind these days. Maybe you have had the same one running around in your mind.
 
Why are some artist successful and some artists are just not successful? What makes them different? Are they just fabulously talented?  Is it that they are smarter than the next person? Are they more gifted with time management? Were they born with a marketing gene? Do they actually have 34 hours a day vs the 24 hours that everyone else has? Are they luckier than the average Joe?

Since right now my focus is in oil painting, I pose the question regarding artists, but it can apply to any profession or endeavor.  Are there things you intuitively know you should do and you don't to make yourself successful?  I'm so intrigued by the why and why not of this question. Yep, so as you can see, this question is just flying around in my ole' noggin. I have some of my own ideas,  but I would love to hear your thoughts.


Comments

  1. Amy, I have wondered about this question in regard to many areas of life, such as marriage, family, career, friends, finances, success, and on and on. I think there is no one answer. Instead, there are many reasons, faith, belief, luck, genes, serendipity, timing, karma, just to name a few! I believe the final answer is that life is a mystery, there is no magic formula, which makes life all the more exciting, and beautiful! I would love to hear your thoughts.

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  2. I agree with Nancy for almost everything. But for art - I think good self promotion is #1, followed ( I KNOW) by skill and creativity. And who the heck knows what makes someone 'successful' beyond our lifetimes? Certainly Van Gogh (who is one of my all-time favorites) would have languished and been unheard of if not for the smart organizational skills of Theo's WIFE. She took pretty much the whole of his lifetime work and documented it, and organized it, and presented it to the right people. So... a bit of luck, I guess, too! And drive, certainly!

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  3. These froo froo shoes crack me up. I can just see some lady wearing them.. Uh oh, not you.
    Love what Nancy said in response to your question. I doubt anyone is good at their profession without really putting their all into it. Hmmm.

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  4. Beautiful, darling painting! a 5x7" i see! Good for you. I agree with Nancy. I also think, and I found this out in advertising, if you focus on what you love about your project/endeavor and all your energy goes toward loving the creative expression, (along with some talent), success finds its way to you. If you focus is somewhat diverted to other aspects, like sales or in my case the politics, the attention is split and the zeal or love that brings the success is diminished in quantity, not quality. Just en esoteric idea. YOu are doing beautifully. Feel yourself successful now, as you certainly are, or that it doesn't matter and it will find you! Relax and let it flow. Enjoy. These shoes are fabulous!!

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  5. High Amy. I have contemplated this question so many times.I sometimes see artists who sell a painting and for as much as I get for three or four of mine. I have stopped thinking about that. What I really want to do with my art is to brighten the lives of others and to allow people to own art they like.This means making it affordable for them to buy and me to produce. I also hang my work only in places where I can go and meet the people who want to buy. I have some wonderful discussions because I know my art is so often off the wall. I have only being doing this for about three years or so and I now have almost 200 paintings hanging in the homes of other people. You know what I do not even try I follow the Taoist path. I just go with the flow.

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  6. Hi Amy. Good question and great comments. I'm with Kelley tho. There are so many talented and skillful artists out there earning pittance and many that are less so doing really well. So like it or not we have to take marketing and the business side of our careers seriously.That unless you don't need the money!! :-) BTW I absolutely love your black and white cat and with it's great perspective. Róisín

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