Hello!

This is the last (and fullest) post in this little collection (read the previous two posts here & here).

I love asking other artists for advice and the perspective they offer.  It’s like they’re seeing into my head and know exactly what I need to hear!  I hope you’ll feel the same:

One of my favorite question of all time:

“Do you have any advice for artists just starting their art career?”

---

Understand that only you get to define success for yourself. No one else can do this. You get to decide how big or small a goal for your art/career.

If your aspiration is to be a full time artist though, and you aren’t independently wealthy, I would say first to understand how difficult it is.

Also, I would mention the fact that as a professional artist, you are signing up to be a business owner. I certainly wish I had been more prepared starting out to deal with this side of things. Administrative work, dealing with taxes, marketing, shipping art, providing customer service, documenting your work, etc.- all very different from creating art! Having a support system in place is a huge asset.

In the end, art has to be your passion and you have to be in it for the long haul. If this is you, then all of the hard work is completely worth it, when you are creating the life you want to live.

– Lauren Adams

---

I don’t think young artists need advice, especially if they are good artists – rather emerging and established ones do.

In my case, during college and right after you are driven by such an enthusiasm which is an amazing energy, nothing can stand in your way. A few years into it and you might loose some steam, that’s when you need a strategy.

And the strategy is: find things that will inspire and keep the enthusiasm at high levels!

– Ingrid Blixt

---

Just create whatever you find interesting, and create a lot of it.

I think whatever you are interested in and have passion for will be the most authentic thing you can make, and it doesn’t matter if it follows current trends or is like what ‘does well’ out there already.

The more you create, the more your craft will improve and your style will be refined.

– Rachel Nanfelt

---

This has been so great.  Thank you for reading through these bits of advice along with me!

I’m going to leave you with something that rolls around my head when I am down, burdened, when creating feels like work, or when you long to reserve the time to create but life gets in the way:

Have a full and inspired week!