I'm not 'just a painter'

This week, I have had a lot of conversations about money. On Tuesday, I attended a networking event for creative women. I don't normally enjoy things that take place on an evening (something in my brain seems to just want to switch off past 5pm) but I am trying to be better at this as lots of things in the art world happen at this time. Now, networking has always been an interesting thing for me as an artist: I tend to usually be the only artist in the room, for one, so stand out when it comes to talking to people. This can be a double-edged sword though as I end up having lots of conversations with people in finance who don't really 'get it' when I tell them what I do. I assumed, going to an all-creatives event that this wouldn't be the case. Alas, I was wrong. The first person I spoke to was a film and TV producer who asked me the same three questions I normally get asked: 'What do you do?' - I'm an artist, mainly a painter. - 'Oh lovely! What sort of art do you paint?' - Mostly portraits at the moment and I am branching out into mixed media works with free motion embroidery. - 'If you don't mind me asking, how do you make a living from being just a painter?' - (screaming internally while outwardly maintaining a smile).

Actually, I don't mind you asking but I do mind being labelled 'just a painter'. Because no artist is 'just' an anything. We all have multiple facets of our creative lives and use our incredible artist brains for all sorts of things. Currently, other than making art, I am organising a festival, planning a children's art project for over the summer holidays, managing other freelancers' work at various workshops, preparing for my residency and subsequent exhibition, consulting on a gallery to be curated in my town, leading my own workshops, teaching private painting lessons and working for the teacher's union one day a week. All of these things I do to generate income for one aim: to make more art. I have the best job in the world, not because I am an artist (although that is a big part of it), but because I am fortunate to get to use my brain to its fullest capacity and, yes, people pay me to do that!

But this is the really important part: people pay me because I tell them they should. I make a living from being an artist and many other things because I have boundaries and one of those is that I always get paid for my work. It might not always be cash but I am definitely getting paid somehow. As Jeff Goins tells us in his book Real Artists Don't Starve: 'Starving artists work for free. Thriving artists always work for something.'

Here's what I've been working on this week:

I finished my oil painting course this week and feel like I've made some really huge leaps with my confidence in this medium. I finished the portrait above over two sittings, about a week apart. This allowed me to let the paint dry and then add the final layers, accentuating the light and dark and the textures. I pushed myself to create a seascape as well and I'm especially proud of how that one turned out. I used different whites to create layers of depth in the sky, waves and sea spray. Really fun to do!

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I finally got to start a project with Mavis, my new dressmakers dummy, this week too. The woman I bought her off said that Mavis had been with her for a long time and I was to treat her well. She is currently showing off a mock-up dress I made from a sewing pattern. I made loads of mistakes through the process and there were lots of exclamations of 'Ah feck!' as I pinned myself yet again, but we got there in the end. I am now inspired to run with an idea that's been brewing for a while: to paint and embroider the fabric pieces and make elaborate hand painted garments. I started painting layers of acrylic onto the top piece this morning and will be embellishing it with pink and gold flowers.

I was also honoured this week to connect with the wonderfully inspiring team of women who run TART magazine, a publication that is aimed at championing creative and working class women. I'll be submitting some writing for their next edition so watch that space!