THE BOTTOM LINE
by F. Michael Wells
Mike Wells is a visual artist working in the San Francisco, California,
area. He has a web site called ~Mysterion~ http://www.sirius.com/~painter/
A lot has been said and written recently about artists needing to be
more businesslike. This idea has a lot of appeal. Many of us work day jobs
to support our art wishing our art would at least pay for itself, if not
support us as well.
Influenced by this, I began reading books and renting videos on small business
management, familiarizing myself with the language and strategies business
people use. These sources indicated that if I adhered to the rules of sound
business practice while marketing creatively, I could make a
profit. The bottom line for any business is profit.
I sell a few paintings each year. But after calculating my production, marketing
and distribution costs, it became clear that, from a strictly business point
of view, I should have stopped painting years ago. I would have to sell
at much higher prices or sell a hell of a lot more work to profit from my
paintings.
At first, I felt dispirited by this. But then I reconnected with a conviction
I've always felt but had forgotten in these difficult economic times. I'm
not a businessman, I'm an artist. That is to say, although I am in business
to sell my work, that is not why I paint. I paint to make art. For me painting,
not profit, is the bottom line.
Coming to this renewed conviction helped me feel stronger about myself and
my work. I'd begun to feel anxious, guilty and defensive about not making
a profit as an artist. Of course I want to sell my work and to do that I
need to be a competent business person. But I must not forget that implementing
good business practice is only a means toward supporting aims and values
which cannot be quantified.
Ultimately, the value my work has for me is not determined by its costs
any more than it is determined by its price. That value cannot be calculated
in quantitative, economic terms. It is determined by the deeply felt relationship
that has developed between myself and my creative work through years of
persistent reflection and practice.
Ironically, the confidence that comes from this recognition is a strong
marketing tool. People buy what they value. The more clearly I embody and
express the value my work has for me, the more others will recognize and
value it as well.
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Recommended reading and viewing:
A Life in the Arts, E. Maisel, Ph.D.,Tarcher/Putnam, 1994
Art Marketing Handbook, C. Franklin-Smith, ArtNetwork Press, 1992
Business and Legal Forms for Fine Artists, T. Crawford, Allworth Press,
1990
The Business of Being an Artist, D. Grant, Allworth Press, 1991
Guerrilla Marketing, J. C. Levinson, Houghton Mifflin, 1993
Guerrilla Selling, J. C. Levinson, Houghton Mifflin, 1992
How to Really Start Your Own Small Business, Frank Carney, INC. Magazine,
VHS
Running a One-Person Business, C. Whitmyer, et al., Ten Speed Press, 1989
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~Mysterion~
http://www.sirius.com/~painter/
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