Art vs Business
Structures #72 detail
Time in Studio vs Art Career
Last week I wrote about looking for balance between making art and the business side of an art career. I’m still pondering the issues for myself and thought taking an informal poll of other artists would be interesting.
So I asked: "question for artists: On average - per week: 1) how many hours do spend creating new artwork? 2) how many hours spent on your art business?"
on both twitter and facebook. Below is the summary of the answers (art/business).
- 20/20
- Some weeks 40/0, others 0/40
- 25/30
- 10/30
- 10-25 / 20-30+
- 25-30 / too much time promoting and organizing.
- ideally..20/20..lately 5/15
- 5-15 / 15
- 6 / 10-12
- 7-12 / 2
- 30/20
- 2/3
- 0/0
- 1/2
I pulled out just the numbers and deleted the comments, which were quite interesting, but didn’t feel it was appropriate to repost them here. If you go to search.twitter.com and search on @lisacall you can read the full replies to my query on twitter.
The info I glean from this is that the business side of art is a major commitment. Now that I’ve made that commitment it is no wonder I’m feeling the need to readjust.
Thanks to all the twitters and facebookers that answered the question as it was most helpful.
How about you, blog reader? How much time do you spend in the studio vs. the office?
More PFD Fabric for Sale
I sold 220 yards of fabric but have a bit more Prepared for Dye Fabric (PFD) Pimatex Fabric I’d like to sell. I wrote a post about this fabric here: Kaufman PFD Pimatex Fabric . I’m selling this fabric to keep my account at Kaufman open (they have a minimum purchase amount per year to order from them directly - I’m very close to meeting that minimum).
I’m selling the fabric to those with US shipping addresses only for $4.50 a yard + shipping. Total cost for different amounts including shipping:
5 yards - $30
10 yards - $55
20 yards - $100
25 yards - $125
If you’d be interested in purchasing some fabric please send me email the amount you’d like to purchase. I accept checks and paypal.
Structures #73
In addition to a couple hours of art business work, I’ve managed to get in 3 hours in the studio today. The first time in months and months I’ve been so focused on art making on a workday. Woohoo. Course it’s an hour later than I would like to be going to bed but I’m making good progress with the surface stitching on Structures #73. It takes me about an hour per square foot so I have maybe 6 or 7 hours left.
The above photo is another detail show of the textile painting.
Posted by Lisa in: art business
Tagged: art business, art career, balance, facebook, making art, pfd fabric, studio, twitter
Cheryl Collins said,
October 16, 2008 @ 10:26 pm
Hi Lisa,
I appreciate you want to focus on selling the fabric in the U.S because it’s so much simpler, but if you still have some left I know one can get a box to ship over here to England that goes at a certain rate because Hanna LIma sends mine like that, so if you still have fabric and run out of U.S buyers I’d be up for some. I think I got 40 yds in the last box.
PaMdora said,
October 17, 2008 @ 5:22 am
I’m curious about the 0/0. Who would bother to put that down?
Don’t have a good estimate because my schedule varies weekly. I did hear an interesting comment from Patrick Dougherty, who said he works 3 weeks, then a week off , year round. That’s because he travels to installations, but he’s set this up as very specific schedule for each project and sticks to it. I think he spends the week at home catching up on house chores and probably the marketing.
Lisa Call said,
October 17, 2008 @ 5:32 am
Cheryl - sent you an email. We can maybe work something out.
Pam - the 0/0 had a bunch of comments about why. I think sometimes our desires and our reality don’t line up. I think they were hoping to soon get back into things.
I find that I eventually need a break after a few weeks or months of working hard. Sustainable pace is the goal but I still need a change of pace to clear out the cobwebs occasionally.
Amy Crawley said,
October 17, 2008 @ 6:45 am
Hi Lisa,
The split between art and business varies for me. TBH, I haven’t broken it down specifically in a while (e.g. tracking art hours versus business hours). Part of the reason for that is I was getting depressed looking at the greater amount of time spent on business than on art. You know that conflict, I’m sure; “I’m an artist, I should spend my time making art.” Yet, we can’t have much of a business if we don’t spend time on the marketing, etc. So now I just roll it all into “time in the studio” and list on my calendar each day what tasks I want to accomplish; both business and art related. Don’t know if that is the best approach but it works for me.
-Amy
Stacey Peterson said,
October 17, 2008 @ 8:02 am
It’s tough to balance making art and doing business, but in my case, doing the business side allows me to sell art which allows me to continue making art. If I wasn’t making money at this right now, I probably couldn’t justify spending the time I do making art, so I’m thankful for the business stuff in a way!! In an average week, I spend about 20 hours making art, and 10 on business. If I’m preparing for a show or delivering paintings to a gallery, framing time adds more to the business end and it probably ends up more like 20/20. All my business work is done after my daughter is in bed, so I have some late nights during the busier weeks, and often find myself running on empty. Right now all ym galleries are stocked and I’m pretty much just painting - it’s GREAT!
paula said,
October 17, 2008 @ 8:32 am
Obviously I’m still not balanced when it comes to the marketing side of my work. Still get bamboozled when I enter the ‘professional’ side of being an artist, glad I’m in a few galleries but need to strike out more online and out of state.
It’s cool you took a poll, gonna check that out.
As far as art making, I usually am in my studio everyday from am - pm. After a few weeks of that or finishing work for a show I usually need a few days to a week to chill out and get reorganized. But I always go in the studio to visit and mess around, I can’t imagine a day not going in there.
Susie Monday said,
October 19, 2008 @ 6:41 pm
Hard to answer and that’s an answer in itself. I tend to block time for tasks so some weeks it’s 24/15 and some it’s 10/30. PLUS, time on the internet, over and above. and I am never sure where to put the teaching time … Is that business or studio? The way I teach, I am always forwarding my own grasp of techniques, always making samples that usually find their way into my art work, but, it’s not like working alone in the studio. Also, to prepare for classses and workshops, I research and hone techniques and materials and approaches and problems that make their way into my work, as well. How do others count teaching time and prep for teaching? Cause that’s also a lot of my income still (and part of my passion about what I love to do). I don’t plan on leaving teaching, though I would like to make more money selling art.
Martha Marshall said,
October 20, 2008 @ 5:56 am
Lisa, every time I take time to catch up on your blog I get so much food for thought. This is an excellent post.
My split would probably be more like 10/20, but of course those are just averages. In time, I find that the inventory builds and I am forced to somehow get it out the door. It seems that with a backlog, less studio time is required nowadays, thus freeing up more time to market.
That works for me only because I do have a need to sell my art. If I didn’t, nothing would give me more joy than to stay in the studio full time, playing and experimenting.
Good stuff, Lisa!
Martha