Affordable Art - Part II - Multiple Streams of Income

Multiple Income Streams
If you do any reading about small businesses one of the top pieces of advice out there is about multiple streams of income. Not putting ones eggs all into 1 basket. I’m very serious about supporting myself through my artwork and quitting my day time job. I feel this is advice worth listening to. The smaller affordable art is just one of many ways for me to make a living.
I love making the larger pieces and while I am not yet selling a substantial number of them each year, they also provide part of my income. I do believe they will always make up the largest percent of my income but I don’t want to rely on this income exclusively.
I don’t make nearly the profit on these smaller textile paintings as I do on my larger work. They are quite labor and time intensive for the size and price. I figure I make about $5-$15 an hour on the pieces under $100. Not horrible but certainly not in line with what I make as a software engineer.
While I could probably scrape by selling only work under $500, if I really focused on this segment of the market, that is not my intention. I view this as one of many ways of sharing my art and passion with the world. When combined with my other streams of income I believe I can make this work.
Fine Art Department
Tracy Helgeson, one of my favorite oil painters, wrote a blog post about her art selling experiences and talked about why fine art makes for a really great gift this year.
To that end she started a new blog showcasing artist that are selling their art directly to the public called Fine Art Department. It’s a really wonderful looking group of artist so again, if you are thinking about buying art this is another possible avenue to find just the right gift this year.
I find it interesting, and maybe a sign of the times that 2 artists have started this type of online collection recently (yesterday’s mention of small art showcase is the other example). Seems like many of us are feeling that selling our work directly to the public is a good option right now.
Construction Update
As you can see in the photo above the excitement today is about the walls for my new studio. Woohoo - I’m absolutely thrilled with how the studio is looking. Ten foot high walls - a high ceiling. I’ve wanted this in a studio for years and now I’m just a few months away from having it.
Construction photos - Nov 21. Studio walls and a few new windows.
I got my house cleaned up and put back together after all of this work and am ready to head to the studio this morning. I might have a few interruptions while they move electrical lines but I’m excited to get to work on some new pieces. I’ve already selected the fabrics and and going to work on a new piece in the Home series this morning.
Posted by Lisa in: Art Marketing
Tagged: affordable art, buying art, remodel










