if you figure it out let me know,

i have to work at a local hospital to make my money.
i do sell the odd piece, but it is never enough to sustain for long. people dont want to shell out their hard earned money on an unknown artist's work.

like you i dont really like the business side of the art world, but i love painting. i keep wishing for that lottery win so i can just paint without worrying about money.
until that happens i will continue to work and continue to paint, hoping it come together at some point

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If you want to buy any of my paintings, or posters, please note me or visit my Artist Rising Gallery here
Thanks

that´s what bothers me: you HAVE to work in...
i think we should do what we want and like to do and never submit ourselves. i´m trying to figure this out, but there are some things i already know: the first thing is trying not to spend money on things you don´t really need. that´s how the system gets us, it makes us think we want so many things we don´t need, and we spend all our money and so we have to work to buy them. that´s when you have to realize what are your real necessities and luxuries. i want to try to cut down my spendings, if you don´t spend much you don´t need to earn much.
second thing: try to plant edible plants, so i don´t depend so much on money or the marketplace to eat. also trying to recognize edible plants from the surroundings, which i´m starting to do and it´s really rewarding. finding a source of natural clear water is also important, and i´m making progress in that area, my neighbors already do that so i only need to connect a hose to theirs and bring it here. then i won´t have to pay for water and it will be even cleaner without all the chemicals the water department uses to "purify" the water. a way to heat up the shower water without the use of electricity is also important.
those are just some steps in a sustainable direction, but any step you take even small ones makes a difference for the natural world and for your freedom

Hold on to your dreams and live them Lucio. Here's an excerpt from my biography which I'm still writing (real names were changed):

"The dreams which Guy and Beth had shared were so far in the past. He became the classic breadwinner who was gone from five in the morning until seven at night, and she the homemaker, taking on the roles of both mother and father. They seemed to be locked in. Cast and fired in the oven. The supple clay which they were once formed of, took a permanent form, a fragility. Beth could not seem to find the time to pursue her passion. At least that was what she told herself and everyone else. Secretly she was full of fear. Having a home and family to care for allowed the excuses she employed.
Dreams they shared long ago of becoming self sufficient in a rural community, became buried under Guy's hour commute to Boston and small children in need of nurturing. They abandoned dreams for financial security. Goals set to raise the children holistically were downtrodden by fast foods and quick fixes."

Hope that wasn't too long but we once shared a dream to become self sufficient and live off the grid. A times I think it would have been easier to be a painter that way.
But to answer your question. . .I do make money painting but not a living. Gary (my husband) makes most of the money. When I seriously started selling my work I thought I could make enough money to allow him to find a passion although he IS an engineer and enjoys it. Well that didn't happen yet but I'm not giving up.
The competition is fierce out there but it doesn't necessarily mean that the "best" painters are the ones making the money. I recently bought a book called "I'd Rather Be in the Studio" and it has a lot of practical advice on you guessed it - self-promotion. I'm trying to follow the suggestions and I hate to but I do want to make money selling my work to free my husband a bit. Or maybe I DO want recognition. hmmm
I know one thing. . . I can paint and I don't have the drive to do anything else. When I paint I'm transported to a place of calm and stillness - even when I have a challenge that's difficult to resolve.

Keep following your passion in your lifestyle and work. It will all fall into place. . .it will just take time.

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a hard issue to talk about. I for one dont have a clue. I normally have advice but i cant think of much at this moment. Just do what you feel best.

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I got a jar of dirt, I got a jar of dirt, I got a jar of dirt and guess whats inside it!

Have a good sniff around my sisters and cousins page and artworks they are really good.
[link]
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i agree, we shouldn't have to do things we dont like just to be able to live.
your on the right track with the self sustaining lifestyle,

i love watching Ray Mears on tv. he goes off into various countries and lives with the native people and tribes and finds out how they live and survive in the wilderness.
its really interesting to see people who live in the jungle and are happy and content with the lifestyle

we, as a society, are too soft.
we are used to other people providing for us,
our heat, light, water, food, entertainment,etc
its these people that hold us in their tallons, control us, and get rich of us.
there is not one politician who is short of money, and they are supposed to work for us (so they say), so as their bosses, why are we bearing the brunt of their mistakes while they sit in luxury.

i'll stop before i get on a rant.

i am trying to cut down on my luxuries,
seeing as i am moving soon i want to reduce as much as possible.
for me the main luxury is technology,
i love computers, games, gadgets, etc
i have a cd collection to rival the major stores.
but when i look around at what i have, i dont feel content, i dont feel happy,
i dont crave more stuff, i just dont feel happy.

i keep having these day dreams, where i am a nomad, traveling from place to place, country to country, living of whatever i can get my hands on, being free
i like those day dreams.

--
If you want to buy any of my paintings, or posters, please note me or visit my Artist Rising Gallery here
Thanks

I do know some professional full-time artists who live in our (rural) area.

A lot of it is clearly about self-promotion, about advertising, about getting pieces out there and seen, and about calling galleries and agencies.

These days a lot of it is about having high rankings in web searches (but don't be fooled by "black-hat" SEO companies who will take money from you, you can get good ranking without paying anyone).

For my own part I work in Web standardisation, at W3C, and if it doesn't entirely pay the bills, it comes close. We try and make up the rest by having ads on my Web pages.

My husband is an artist, but not yet earning a significant income; he might, one day, or he might not, it's impossible to say.

We went around the unbelievably huge One of a Kind show in Toronto (I think it's 8Km of booths), and saw artists whose paintings are already all sold by the end of the first day. At prices in the tens of thousands of dollars each.

So it's possible. In Canada the collectors go for strong colours and like big oil paintings best. Here in Britain they also value detailed work and engravings, so it varies.

See if there is an art appraiser near you and ask if you can chat over lunch about what sort of piece can sell; they seem to be the best people to ask. The down side is doing commercial art, and the up side is that after you're established, you can do more of what you want to do rather than what people buy.

Hope this helps.

Liam

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Ruin'd Castles & Old Engravings in the Public Domain
*dapride stock at ~barefootliam-stock

I practice architecture, which I love and do photography on the side...which I thoroughly enjoy...though I don't really make much money from it, enough to sustain the habit.

I won't pretend to have the answer for you Lucio...but it's a scenario many artists face. I think whatever you choose to do and to practically support yourself...most important, make sure you're happy with your life.

thanks man. what you said is the important thing to keep in mind indeed. in the end of the day you just have to stop and think: am i happy living like this?
most people don´t really stop and ask themselves that.

yeah, that´s what i think sometimes, that there´s no harm doing what people want at first and then following your own path when you´re more established. the problem is that many people turn out to do the former for the rest of their career and i know people who did.

people love cityscapes around here, my major commissions were cityscapes.

i feel bad for complaining because my life is in fact pretty easy and that´s exactly why i´m complaining, because i never really had to submit myself too much to the system. so yeah, i´ll just do what i have to do.

thanks for the interest