Danger and Toil

January 28, 2026

"Why do you want to be an artist?" Do you want the long, drawn-out reason or the manufactured reason I am currently trying to... manufacture? Why after 8 years teaching in the gen. ed. classroom am I deciding shift gears? Why, when I had began my college education as an Art Ed major, am I choosing to return to this my career choice? The real answer is personal. The easier answer is I am ready to choose me and my family. For many personal reasons that I will not share with the masses, I feel turning my world upside down is 100% worth it. I hate change. Horrifying, but needed.

So, what have I accomplished thus far in this crazy adventure? I have 9/30 artworks with a cohesive story completed. Seven of said pieces reside in a gallery and two rest in my make-shift art room at home. It takes me about 2 weeks during the school years to complete an artwork usually taking about 30 hours per artwork for 18" x 24" watercolors. Pencils are considerably faster. I have a Facebook page, an Instagram page, a brand new Tiktok page, an Etsy page, and now this website. I have designed and printed out certificates of authenticity. I am waiting for funds to make quality prints with all of the trappings to take to the art gallery so I can begin selling. I have plotted with my children a variety of ways to make some kind of income from all of the hours painting and cost of supplies. I learned how to frame and add a hanging wire. I am excited to buy a matting cutter so I can get a nice clean edge and the appropriate bevel. Again, funds are needed...

According to my children, I am ancient and Facebook is for old people. That is where I like to post and meet with my art people. Apparently, I need to do better. To make needed changes, I used Capcut for the first time. Yes. I, a 37 year old female, made my first time-lapsed video. Was it glorious? Were my children impressed? ... I did a good job. They are mean people. We'll move on.

I am about 5 months in. I have made no money, YET. I keep thinking if I do A, B and C, then I will find my audience. Logically, it should work... But not, not yet. The sad truth is I need to sell art to continue making art. I must continue making art, because it brings me joy, peace, and a sense of accomplishment that nothing else does. The world needs art even if it doesn't realize it. I have been given a gift. I did not work hard to learn how to draw. I fell into it. As a student in Junior High, I simply liked drawing to deal with emotions and tried drawing Leonardo DiCaprio. It happened to come out looking like a photo. My brain just does it. So, I will dredge on knowing this is what I was built to do. God gave me a creative soul for a reason, so I better not waste it. Would I love being a Type A person who can get things done and not daydream about dumb things all day? Yes, but that's not me.

What if...

As I get on Facebook looking for likes, I question, "What if my art is not good enough?"

As I start painting a new artwork, I ask, "Is the time I spent painting really worth losing time with my family or my loss of sleep?"

As I look at buying prints, I ask, "Do I truly believe these will sell?"

As I look at other artists online in my art Facebook groups, I ask, "Why do they have 5.4k likes and 300 comments? What did it cost them to get to that point? How many pieces are they ACTUALLY able to sell even with that amount of engagement?" People probably don't realize the reality that online engagement does not equal sales. Views on Etsy do not always translate into sales. Selling takes SO MUCH trial and error.

Art is a life of high high's and low low's. You think you have sold an original. Nope. Scammer. You think you have found a group online that can be a path forward. Oops. 2 likes in 10 days. The algorithm plays games. Why does 1 post get 200 comments and a similar post 2 days later gets 1 comment? I'm afraid I have more questions than answers at this point.

So, where do I stand on this whole art business? I am almost done organizing my information and creating a sort of cohesive branding for my current collection through various social media sites. I will continue adding to said collection. I have learned so much already, so I think it is fair that I haven't had a break-through, yet. I am not experienced. I have skills. I enjoy art, but I have not been through the trenches like established artists. It takes time, and I pay my dues hoping the dues will eventually pay me back.

I feel for working artists who do not have a side-gig. It feels like success is a world away. I know all of this sounds negative. I don't want this blog to sugar-coat reality. I hope in the future I get to share my milestones, like my first original artwork selling or my first Etsy item selling... maybe if I design fun stickers, bags, magnets, coloring books, journals, etc. Who knows? But all of that takes money. So, I will float this boat knowing I will take on some water as I build something worthy of people's attention. No one ever said a dream came easy. I will leave you with this encouraging quote.

"A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor."

-Franklin Roosevelt