Over the years, I have had some memorable highlights and some shocking fails as an artist. I’ve already addressed that my art business is technically a financial failure. The ‘biz’ in ‘art biz’ is not buzzin’. However, I love making art and that will never change. No matter my life circumstances, I will always have what I’m passionate about regardless of outward success. I’ll list my top five biggest mistakes while starting and running an art biz back in 2018, in no particular order.
Not incorporating video early on was a huge mistake. I justified it by telling myself my focus was real world opportunities and connections, which were steady going until COVID quarantine in 2020. Video content is now as normal as text and images, so I am correcting that mistake and making fun lil vids documenting my time in the studio.
Not pushing hard on social media is a mistake that I can’t see myself overcorrecting, though I’m using it more now. I have seen artists build a brand and connect directly with customers on social media. This model has completely disrupted the antiquated status quo of art dealers and slick galleries picking and choosing who’s in and who’s out. However, it can go a little too far with social media popularity becoming the new reality TV and it’s not my jam! But, I’ve gotten better at using these tools in the recent year.
Prioritizing big institutions for opportunities instead of cultivating my own is a mistake I’m now correcting. In the beginning, I was securing exciting contracts with major institutions, but then I was stuck dealing with fraudulent contracts, sour staff, and legal battles. I worked hard to educate myself about being a competent business woman, even writing my own contracts sometimes. Unfortunately, several people and places I partnered with were lazy, incompetent, unprofessional, or outright scammers. This directly impacted my financial growth.
Being honest in a room full of liars, or intelligent in a room full of dummies, means nothing if everyone cannot rise to your level. I was stuck working alongside people whose skillset did not match their job title and their actions did not match the contract. I have had to counsel high ranking staff at posh institutions about their business practices, or sue them to to get justice after the fact. Moving forward, I want to make my own opportunities.
Using a USB stick as my main source of storage has cost me dearly and this was done because of poverty. I simply could not afford an external hard drive or a more robust computer. I have talked about corrupt jpegs in a previous post, and I just found out that the entire USB is corrupted and unusable. Years worth of work and content has to be professionally recovered. Luckily, I have cloud storage and better quality storage options overall is a must moving forward.
The last huge mistake I made was moving back home when I started making art fulltime. I have praised the benefits of mutually leaving my apartment to live with family while my life transitioned to this new path. But, there have been downsides too. My family is big and dysfunctional, so that means more people, more drama…and more noise! It’s been hard to work on projects that require peace and quiet or receive the encouragement and support I need. The ONLY thing I gained was a roof. My neighbors at my old apartment were very inappropriate, so staying there was not an option, but moving home has been a unique challenge in itself.
I cannot change the past and regret is a waste of time, but charting my mistakes means I am taking accountability and collecting data for the future. All I can do is move forward as quickly as possible by rapidly applying new lessons and solutions. I know the present, and the future, holds amazing new adventures and opportunities. COVID quarantine reset my life and I’m ready to push on, wiser and reborn.
Have a Pleasant Day!
-Rae
