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Can Artists Make a Living?

Writer's picture: Marcos SmythMarcos Smyth

The phrase “starving artist” is a result of romantic depictions of “suffering artists" barely scraping by before miraculously being “discovered.” It is true that artists and making money don’t always go hand in hand.  Many of us got infected with this notion early on.  Endless idealistic conversations about being a purist and true to our art, led us to see many successful artists as “selling out.”  We convinced ourselves we would not let sales and demand dictate the direction of our work.

Business experience and training is often lacking in our education and many artists end up working jobs to pay expenses and support themselves.  In my case, I developed skills in a variety of jobs that were marketable.  Falling in love and starting a family required a better paying job. This led to goldsmithing.  Jewelry making was a natural fit for me as I was able to miniaturize many of my sculpting skills, use my drawing and design skills, and employ my passion for craftsmanship.  By necessity, I learned to estimate costs for making jewelry, setting gemstones, and repairing jewelry.  This taught me how to price work and products within the jewelry business context.


  At King's Jewelry in Alexandria, VA

Though this was not what I wanted to do full time, working as a goldsmith allowed me the freedom to create what interested me, in my studio.  Unfortunately, this did not leave much time for finding gallery representation, creating a large body of artwork, and figuring out how the art market works.  I was not unhappy working as a goldsmith, it paid decently and I was respected for the quality work I produced.  It also allowed me to experiment as an artist and find what truly inspired me.

Having retired from the jewelry business, I am focusing on my artwork.  My studio is starting to overflow and I need new homes for my work.  Earlier this year I participated in a two-month exhibition called Artomatic.  It was an artist run endeavor in a vacant eight floor building that showed roughly a thousand artists and performers.  The commitment was big and this served as an incentive for me to grow and produce.  I had to curate my work, build a space that would be inviting, and display my work properly.  Artists were expected to staff the exhibit as volunteers over and above meeting with the public.


Being interviewed in my space at Artomatic

Some artists have significant others, or agents with good business instincts and skills that are good at marketing.  Since that has not been my good fortune, it is up to me to find ways of selling my work.  I’ve found that many galleries prefer to show wall mounted artwork rather than freestanding sculpture.  The reasoning, I’ve heard, is it takes less space, ships easier, and is less intimidating to the public.  My Artomatic experience seemed to support this preference for two-dimensional art.  Of eighteen sculptures I showed, I sold one wall mounted and one free-standing piece.  However, I sold five of six two-dimensional framed works.  The sculptures were more expensive and this may have been a sales factor.  A true businessman would probably focus on producing two-dimensional art.  As an artist, I need to do what appeals to me and gets me involved.  It’s not about idealism at this point, I am more engaged and excited about three-dimensional work. 

There are many things I still need to learn about selling my work.  I believe things that grow organically tend to be stronger and more lasting.  I’ve built my own website twice and am finally adding a sales venue so that people can buy my work online.  With sales, I intend to expand my offerings.  For now, I’ve started with my Stained Tree series.  These are my winter tree photos, in grayscale with high contrast, printed on quality watercolor paper, which are then hand water colored.  The effect is that of stained glass.  Small sculptures are my next focus.  I want people to feel comfortable having these pieces on shelves, tables, nightstands, even windowsills.  Committing to a large space for display should not be an issue here.  This is an “entry level” approach I hope will help people become more comfortable with owning sculpture.  Viewers need to be familiarized with sculpture and see how easily they can incorporate them into their living spaces.  Sculpture can have a presence unlike wall hung artworks.  So, there is an educational element to this approach and I’m happy to learn from it and share.


Marketing is also about getting one’s work seen by people who will engage and who like to collect unusual pieces.  There are plenty of books and online sites that claim to know how to do this.  Many of these are in the business of making money from the artists they claim to help.  I would be more likely to engage with a site that made their profit from actual sales they helped produce.  The ones I have seen want their money up front.  Pragmatic by nature, I slog along trying different approaches to finding customers for my work.  My blog attempts to connect with readers, providing personal context for my work.  MarcosSmyth.com, my website, serves as a resource to display my work and experience.  I’ve also added an easy-to-use shop for online purchases of accessibly priced work I make.  These items are also linked to eBay and Amazon.  I’m sure I will need to tweak this as I go along for better results.



From my shop page on my website

Exhibitions continue to be an important way of exposing my work to new viewers.  I will continue to submit to calls for art where I believe my work will fit.  This is also an opportunity for networking with other artists and curators.

Some of my larger sculptures are still with me.  Having built a sculpture garden space in my back yard, I now have a place to show these pieces and de clutter my studio.  Recently, I uncrated a large piece I showed in 2013, at Honfleur Gallery.  It got plenty of attention at the time, shown in the gallery window. 



Stump in its crate and before stored

Since then it sat in its shipping crate for eleven years.  I can now enjoy seeing this and other pieces displayed in an appropriate space and they can be seen up close by interested parties.  At the risk of being presumptive, I would love to see some of this work in an appropriate museum.  I will consider donating if it can provide a venue for posterity.  Contacts that could help make this possible will be on my list to find.   This is a bit of a long shot, but worth pursuing. 


Feedback from my readers with ideas related to what I am trying to do, will be greatly appreciated.  I don’t believe any of us are truly self-made.  If we are open to possibilities and ideas from other people, our worlds are broadened and made richer and more accessible.


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