Annual Budget for my “Hobby”?
an email conversation
From Jim Wimberg - https://jameswimberg.com/
I have a question I’ve been wrestling with lately and would like your opinion.
I have been making collages now for about 3+ years and enjoying it very much. I’ve been entering them in group shows and magazine contests with what seems to be a good acceptance rate. Unfortunately, I have yet to sell a single piece. I have a bunch of work on Saatchi Art Online, but I’m one of thousands of collage artists there and haven’t had a nibble. I’m thinking I should add work to Fine Art America too because it seems to be a different type of online art platform. But again, I would be one of thousands…
Which brings me to my question for you. What do you think is an appropriate annual budget for my “hobby”? I say hobby because I haven’t sold anything yet, and the money has been going in only one direction. As you can guess, I have expenses for art supplies, software subscriptions, gallery submission fees, contest fees, sometimes printing or shipping costs for shows, etc. I know you don’t know my financial situation, but do you think it should be a percentage of monthly income or some other formula?
I do want to make clear that I’m making my art for myself and not trying to make it for an audience. I just need to get some money back in to keep things going.
From Cecil Touchon
That's a good question. My answer has been to get in art galleries not in shows or competitions or online platforms. You are a photographer you should sell the use of the images commercially if you have any ins. Or publish a book and sell it. There have definitely been times in the past that it was a big deal to afford a box of pushpins! So I get it. I had kids to feed too so I had to always been doing other little businesses to keep food on table and roof over head. I have been selling in galleries since the early 1980's but it took me till the 2010s before I could live completely from art sales. The problem with making a living at it, you have to make big pieces that sell for 10K or more to make a living and keep about 1 million worth of inventory on the market all of the time. It ain't easy and it takes a long time to get there. If you make stuff that can sell for 100K then you only have to keep 10 a year on the market to maintain the 1 million of inventory. But of course not with collages and not without a strong market and reputation and some awesome galleries. I am trying to help my 44 year old son to get in the market right now and it's not a piece of cake. One potential idea to get people to do a subscription for 100.00 a month and send them a piece of art every now and then. That could work under the right circumstances.
So I hope that is encouraging!
Otherwise, pick a budget you can afford to spend for your own enjoyment and just keep going. Try to get represented by a gallery now and then. I like to think about how much money a sports superfan spends on their hobby. I am sure it is many hours a week and thousands of dollars a year. They are just consumers. Why can't an artist use the same amount of time and attention and money on their art? Like anything, it's not always about turning it into a profession all the time. Most of the time it is just about feeding the soul. Better than watching TV or jacking around on social media.
But, Keep going!
James
Thank you, Cecil, for your encouragement and support. I don’t expect to make a living on art sales alone. I know I must keep shooting commercial jobs as long as they will hire me. You’re right, I make my art to feed my soul. I just need to make a little side money to keep buying art supplies. I’ll figure out some kind of budget to keep going, otherwise I’ll lose my mind.
I am slowly compiling a list of galleries to solicit and potentially build relationships with. I have gotten into some group shows recently with my photography and collage. I’m building my CV. It’s a long slow process. Is there some kind of national gallery list database available? I know I have to keep pushing and get my work out there.
Thanks again for your encouragement. You have a tremendous depth of experience and a great perspective on this art business.
Cecil
The big thing in the art world is personal direct relationships. The market of the art world is unique to itself operating by completely different metrics because everything is unique, hand made and experimental. Nobody knows who will like what and the artists have to follow their own vision or why would they bother?
Artists always have to be growing and experimenting so every few years the work is morphing into new ideas. So collectors often break different artists' works up into 'periods'. They might be exploring color relationships, new imagery and forms. Usually it becomes more sophisticated but at the same time artists have the need to experiment, look for new fields to plow.
So it is not like bubble gum where you are trying to sell the same product over and over again to millions of people. Each artist's market is small and tribal and it is so expensive to work and exhibit and sell that the prices have to be higher than what makes most artists comfortable but that just has to be accepted and collectors get it.
Eventually cultural, artistic products will be the main things in the speculative market. Once machines produce everything for daily life, humans will want to concentrate of the imaginative world. The hand made and unique will become highly valued. That's what I think anyway. Cultural vision and expression are the future.
Great advice Cecil! Especially 'Otherwise, pick a budget you can afford to spend for your own enjoyment and just keep going.' And that art is for 'feeding your soul'. When I was 30 years old an older woman standing next to me as we were looking at a painting I'd hung on my wall, said: 'Don't let anyone take that away from you!' You just do what you have to do to keep it all going.