When I use the word “art”, I am referring to art in the broader sense – something that is made by human hands. My art has changed over the years from painting murals on walls to painting furniture to painting on panels with all sorts of other artistic endeavors and experiments mixed in. So, when I’m writing about the non-art part of making and selling art, I’m referring to both my art and yours, whatever your art may be.
Even if you make things for your own enjoyment, as gifts for others, there are non-art parts to making art. Buying materials, tidying up your work area, maintaining your tools… If you do it as a business, as I do, there are even more non-art parts to both making and selling. I spent most of last week on tasks related to making and selling art away from the easel.
Since I had a lot of orders after my original art sale, Jeff helped me with packing paintings, and Jeff and the boys made runs to the post office and UPS to get packages out and on their way to customers. Even with help, that took up almost all day on Monday.
I am also just starting to order fine art prints of my work for wholesale and retail sale. The first wholesale order arrived, and I needed to get those packed up and shipped out. Each print is paired with a cardboard backing and then inserted into a clear plastic sleeve. I printed up “about the artist” cards to slip into the back, and then sealed the sleeve with a logo sticker. It showed me that I need to figure out a system and rhythm to packing prints, but I’ll get there. It’s a start, and the prints looked really sharp. I’ll share more about those and where you can purchase them soon.
In addition to packing physical pieces, I tackled tax season stuff (ugh), selected past paintings to offer as prints, had a few meetings about upcoming projects, emailed with commission clients, prepped panels, varnished finished works, and then worked on writing and painting. It’s amazing how, in some seasons, as a working artist, making art gets done in the margins. It sometimes gets the least amount of time.
But that’s how it was with murals, furniture, antiques, writing, and everything else I’ve done as a part of my creative business. Yes, I get to do the creative, artistic things I love, but I also have to do all of the non-art parts that make it a viable livelihood.
With shipping and taxes done (for now), I have been able to spend more time at the easel and on the fun, creative stuff…