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You Can Love Your Art and Still Need Another Job

Here is something artists are not always comfortable saying out loud:

You can be serious about your art.

You can be trained.

You can be good at it.

You can even be getting professional opportunities.

And your art still might not pay your bills.

That is a very different problem from not believing in yourself.

It is a maths problem.

Rent. Food. Medical care. Retirement. An emergency fund. Children. A car that breaks down. A month where no work comes in.

Artists are often handed two bad options.

Either:

If you really believe in yourself, you should be able to make your living entirely from your art.

Or:

Stop expecting your art to make money. Just be grateful you get to create.

Neither one reflects the reality many artists actually live.

Artists should be paid.

And artists also need to be able to look at their bank accounts without pretending.

The Hardest Part Is Often the Work Outside the Art

For much of my artistic life, the hardest financial part has not been making money from my art.

You need the income because you need to live.

But the job can take the time, mental space, and physical energy you wanted to give to your art.

For performers, this can be especially obvious.

You can train for years, audition professionally and book jobs while still having long stretches without a pay cheque from your art.

And before you even earn anything, you may already have spent money on:

• training
• classes
• headshots
• travel
• equipment
• self-tapes
• voice lessons
• dance classes
• studio space
• instruments
• materials
• software
• websites

You can spend real money preparing for the opportunity to possibly make money.

That is part of the financial reality of many creative careers.

Different Artists Have Different Economies

A visual artist may have a physical piece to sell.

A writer may have a book.

A musician may earn from performances, recordings or royalties.

A performer is often paid for their skill within a particular production.

Those are very different business models.

But there is a question many artists share:

How do I keep making art when the art itself cannot reliably fund my life?

There is no single answer.

And pretending there is one only makes artists feel as though they are failing when their particular art form does not fit the model.

Marketing Has Become Another Job

There is another part of making money from art that has changed enormously.

Promotion.

Artists now have incredible access to audiences.

We can publish directly.

Sell directly.

Build communities.

Create opportunities without always waiting for traditional gatekeepers.

That can be powerful.

But it also comes with a real cost.

Marketing has become a job of its own.

Content. Email. Social media. Websites. Pitching. Newsletters. Video. Podcasts. Networking. Following up.

For many artists, every hour spent selling the art is an hour not spent making it.

That does not make marketing bad.

It simply means we need to acknowledge how much labour it requires.

Publishing Audacious Artistry taught me this very clearly.

Writing the book was only one part of bringing it into the world.

There has also been travel, speaking, events, podcast pitching, interviews, content creation and follow-up.

I am grateful for those opportunities.

But I also understand why artists so often think:

Could somebody else please do this part so I can go make things?

Creation and promotion are different jobs.

And very often, the artist is doing both.

Money Is Not the Enemy

I do not think artists should pretend money does not matter.

It matters.

We should care about fair pay.

We should understand rates, contracts, royalties, fees and commissions.

We should care about savings.

Retirement.

Medical costs.

Housing.

Emergency funds.

There is nothing artistically noble about financial panic.

But there is another distinction that matters:

Wanting your art to pay you is not the same as requiring your art to carry your entire financial life.

Your art can earn money.

You can build that income.

You can charge appropriately.

You can pursue better opportunities.

You can push for better pay.

And you can still decide that, right now, your household cannot depend entirely on whether the next creative opportunity arrives.

That is not failure.

Sometimes that decision is what allows you to keep creating.

Getting Paid Can Still Mean Something

I remember receiving my first royalty payment for Audacious Artistry.

It was not a huge cheque.

But it mattered.

For years, the book had required time, thought, writing, editing, revision and energy.

Then something came back.

Actual money.

Someone had paid for something I created.

Later, when I would speak at events and people went to the book table afterward and bought the book, that felt deeply affirming too.

Not because money proved the book was good.

But because there was an exchange.

I had shared something.

It connected.

Someone wanted to take it home.

I also learned something practical:

When I speak, I sell books.

That is useful information.

Not about my worth.

About my business.

Artists are allowed to notice those things.

Where does income actually come from?

What leads to sales?

What takes huge amounts of energy and produces very little return?

What are people responding to?

Those are not dirty questions.

They are useful ones.

The Better Question

The question is not simply:

Should my art pay me?

I want artists paid.

The more useful question may be:

Can my art safely be responsible for all of my financial needs right now?

And sometimes the answer is no.

That can hurt.

Especially when you have spent years training.

Especially when you see other artists appearing to make a full-time living.

Especially when you think being professional should mean the career pays for your life.

But earning money from art and earning a reliable annual living from art are not the same thing.

Selling paintings and living entirely from painting are not the same thing.

Publishing a book and living from book royalties are not the same thing.

Booking acting jobs and having predictable yearly income from acting are not the same thing.

Those gaps are real.

Maybe the Day Job Is Part of the Creative Infrastructure

Sometimes the day job is not the enemy.

Sometimes it is what pays for the dance class, studio, childcare, equipment, health insurance, travel or the months between jobs.

That does not mean every outside job is helpful.

Some take too much.

If earning money leaves you with no time, energy or desire to create, that becomes another problem.

So the goal is not simply:

Get another job and stop worrying about it.

The better question is:

What kind of financial structure allows both your actual life and your creative life to continue?

Maybe you need several income streams.

Maybe you teach.

Maybe you freelance.

Maybe you work outside the arts.

Maybe one part of your creative career supports another.

Maybe your art eventually becomes your main income.

Maybe it never does.

There is no single respectable version.

What Does Your Creative Life Actually Need?

Instead of asking:

Why am I not making my entire living from my art yet?

Try asking:

What does my creative life actually need financially in order to continue?

Maybe it needs a better-paying day job with fewer hours.

Maybe it needs higher prices.

Maybe it needs another income stream.

Maybe it needs better marketing.

Maybe it needs fewer unpaid opportunities.

Maybe it needs more time.

Maybe it needs an emergency fund so every quiet month does not feel like a crisis.

Maybe it needs several of those things.

None of this is glamorous.

But it is real.

And artists deserve financial conversations that are honest enough to hold both truths:

Your art has value.

And:

Your art may not currently be able to pay for everything your life requires.

Those things can both be true.

Go Deeper with Audacious Artistry

If this spoke to something in you, my book Audacious Artistry: Reclaim Your Creative Identity and Thrive in a Saturated World goes deeper.

You can also download the free 10-week group study guide and walk through the book on your own, with a friend or with a group of artists.

Find the book and free guide at: https://larabiancapilcher.com/book

This article is adapted from the Healthy Wealthy Wise Artist Podcast episode:

Listen to This Episode

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Or visit the podcast page:
https://larabiancapilcher.com/podcast

With you as you keep creating,
— Lara Bianca Pilcher

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Connect with Lara

Website:
https://larabiancapilcher.com

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