Is art becoming like a job? Why Am I Making This? Issue #15
Hello there!
It’s Julien. Artist, photographer, etc, etc. This is my monthly newsletter. I’m here to tell you that September has been tiring.
I had multiple weekend plans involving taking photos for money, or selling items I’ve made at a market. Both these activities are fairly new to me and fairly enjoyable, and help me feel like I am making progress towards becoming more of a professional artist. I haven’t done all that much organized selling of art before this year, and I’m glad to finally be doing it. But it is odd to feel as though the weekend comes around and I go from doing my day job to a second job that I've chosen to do for fun.
As I become more involved in markets, professional photoshoots, etc, I find myself noticing opportunities to do more of them from the people I meet through them. After quite a few years wishing I could find these sorts of opportunities, I’ve had to intentionally pull myself back from committing to more of them, or I’ll just be too tired. I’m not sure where I want to go from here, since I do want to do more to grow as an artist, but I also don’t want to be tired. This isn’t a particularly deep observation, but maybe it’ll be interesting to me, looking back in the future. I’m not sure exactly what I want to try to do next, and for now I’m just going to try to give my mind a little rest.
Here’s what I’ve been up to -
Wedding photography
Two weddings! One on film, one on digital.
After getting some experience with it this past summer, I’ve found that I do actually enjoy wedding photography quite a bit, but it is very, very tiring. Still, something I’d think of doing more if the time seemed right.
I’ve also been doing a bit of other creative photography. Here’s one sneak peek of that.
Art market
My first one! I sold a handful of little dishes and other miscellany after being stressed about going to the market all week. A lovely time, but also quite mentally tiring!
Pottery
I’ve been taking my first ever wheel throwing class for the past month and a half, and will keep doing it through the end of the year. There’s quite a learning curve, but I’m having fun. Here are some test pieces and some works in progress!
I also have a bunch of little hand built plates I got back this month, a few of which I sold at the market.
And that’s about it! Hopefully October sees me continuing to do pottery, photography for fun, maybe some drawing, and doing very little to sell things or promote myself.
See you later!
Julien