Moving through life we face forks in the road. It might be which path to take or it might be how to take the path you’ve set your heart on. Sometimes it’s something pretty small e.g how do I edit my photos better? And sometimes the question is bigger e.g make and sell small prints or develop larger paintings? Buy the flight ticket or save the money (an eternal struggle!)
As a self confessed over-thinker, I always have questions. Over the years, I have found reading a lot and watching stuff on personal development very useful in helping to figure things out. There is much to be learnt from the journeys and advice of others.
And while that is all good and helpful, more often than not, when it comes to crunch time, we need to answer our personal big questions, ourselves. Using the inner wisdom, experiences and knowledge we have accumulated, the best we can do when facing a question where there is not a clear cut answer, is to just decide. Making decisions generally trumps indecision.
With all that in mind, here are ten art questions, that for now, I have made some sort of, kind of, let’s-just-decide type decisions on.
Exactly how important is a well designed and regularly updated website for an artist, in the age of Instagram? Particularly when you are not selling via your website. Essentially, could time spent updating a website, when an Instagram page is already updated, be better spent elsewhere?
Answer: Quite important - because just in case a buyer clicks on the link and is left feeling disappointed because it’s not been updated since Jan 2018. So I will be updating my website (and trying to learn Squarespace again) but I am not going to spend weeks on it and get bogged down in minutiae.
Should Instagram captions be long or short? Are we getting caption fatigue when seeing paragraph upon paragraph with 57 emojis dispersed within them?
Answer: Generally short. I’m not holding myself to this though.
To post or not to post?
Answer: god, I am on an eternal quest to reduce my social media consumption. I think regular, but not spammy, sharing of interesting and amusing (or I hope so at least), generally art related things is the way forward. Everything else can pretty much remain shared in reality.
To add to that, do people even read blog posts or are lengthy captions the way forward?
Answer: Even if only a few people read my blog, I thoroughly enjoy the process of articulating thoughts and sharing things I am learning using a keyboard and a Google doc to draft a blog post in. It feels better and engages my mind more than just thinking about my varying predicaments or typing on my phone.
If you don’t have - i.e cannot afford - an art studio, are you considered unprofessional?
Answer: If I have spent years consistently making art despite the lack of money to spend on a studio, then I consider myself professional and dedicated.
Should I do a Facebook and Instagram ad campaign? (This would be funny as I have done this as an actual job for so many other clients....yet for some reason have not done it for my own work)
Answer: I’m gonna try it. Watch out for that sponsored post peeps and like, click, share!
Is it better to have a smaller but more engaged audience or a larger but less engaged audience?
Answer: a smaller, engaged audience that grows consistently over time is what I strive for.
Should I sell more for less or less for more? Both take time!
Answer: I will prioritise the majority of my art time making large new pieces and working on commissions but I am planning on making some A5, more affordable prints soon.
How do you go about finding mentors/networking when you could really do with some guidance?
Answer: go to places with art types/art events. Speak to people?! I just don’t do this enough or know enough people who do this kinda stuff. I think it’s the introvert in me.
What kind of artist do I want to be over the next two years?
Answer: Better than the one I am right now. The longer answer to that is something I will write down in my journal, for myself, to read back on, by myself, in two years and see if it manifested.