Hustle Harder

One week ago I decided to become more prolific than Picasso. I've created 23 pieces of art, just a hair over my goal of producing 20 pieces per week. If I create 20 works of art per week for 50 weeks, I will create 1,000 pieces per year. That means it will take me 50 years to create 50,000 original works of art. I'm 36 now, so at age 86 I'll hit 50k.

I didn't do the math right (no surprise) when I first calculated I'd hit 50k at age 70. If I make 5 works of art, 5 days a week, for 50 weeks out of the year, I'll make 1250 pieces of art and hit 50k in 40 years. That puts me at 76. Hmm...

5 pieces, 6 days per week for 50 weeks will take 33.33 years. That's 70. Much better.

So, that's what I'm gonna do.

Sorry you had to read me doing math. I'm not sure what's worse, doing math, or reading someone doing math. Ugg. This is a terrible post.

The point I'm trying to make is that the processes of making mucho art works has so far been a self-fulfilling prophecy. A couple posts ago I wrote about making your own luck. Well. I got lucky this week. Really lucky.

I sold 11 pieces, and received requests for 5 commission projects. All in one week.

I feel like I'm pretty close to tapping out my personal network in terms of sales, so I need to figure out how to create broader exposure of my work. It's very weird thinking about creating art as a business. I know it's absolutely necessary for me as I'm a full-time artist and it's my only source of income.

Applying marketing techniques makes me feel a little weird, but I need to learn how to do it in order to survive. I'm rapidly testing what the market responds well to from original paintings, to prints, hand painted objects, and commissions. It's challenging because I've created a wide array of things this week, and it seems my aesthetic works well in multiple formats.

I should probably find a niche, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what that could be. I know I'm not the kind of person who will get joy out of making one type of thing. I need variety. Lots of it. But from what I've read, that's terrible for building a business.

I guess we'll see what happens this week as I plan to paint a series of blueprints which I'll use to create my first solo show. I'm going to exhibit the show in my studio, which is weird, but I think makes sense for this. Those pieces will be priced how I value the work, whereas all the products and commissions this week were a "pay what you want/cant" model as a way to gather information from my clients.

See you soon.