Did Your Art CareerJust Enter an Empty Room?

The Empty Room
oil on linen
@2007 Sue Favinger Smith   

When you look forward to 2009, does it feel as if you're looking into an empty room?

    I know - for artists, the past few months have been, well, challenging. 

    Everywhere I looked, or read, or listened, I heard messages about the economic outlook and how my art career was about to change.  That my planning, my hard work, those moments when the door seemed to open - had suddenly disappeared in a little poof of dust as the future collapsed. 

    Back in 2007, when I painted The Empty Room, I was actually thinking about a women involved in a relationship: she is standing on the threshold, but is she leaving an empty relationship, or staring into one?  I left that determination up to the viewer, and it is the same determination I use now as I stand on the threshold of the new year.

    Am I leaving an empty year, filled with closing galleries, slowing sales, enthusiasm for the work but with few sales?

    Am I staring into an empty year, filled with real economic sacrifice and uncertainty?

    Or do I see the empty room as one that is open to a wealth of possibility?  Filled with new choices, new work, and new opportunity?

    No one really knows the future.  What we know - what I know - is that I do have control over how I experience the future.  There might be some plans that are put on hold.  Others might be discarded while new opportunities appear.  It's all in how you see it. 

    We have a choice. 

    Live on Purpose.

Update on Ancient Wisdom: Emerging Artist, a Business Plan for the Mature Artist.

    I have almost finished this project, and I'm in the process of figuring out the best way to publish it.  But I thought I would give you a small excerpt from  the section titled The Power of Action:

    I read once that life doesn’t really get interesting until you know what you want.  I would have to amend that statement: life doesn’t really get interesting until you act on what you want.  Knowing is passive.  It’s a purely intellectual exercise.  I know that I like chocolate, but I can only appreciate how much I adore, desire, and would do nearly anything for chocolate by taking a piece of rich Belgium creaminess and letting it melt slowly on my tongue. 

    Of course, acting has its downside.  Since the effort to reinvent your life can be harder than doing things the way you’ve always done them, there’s probably no real reason to risk it. Except for when you look back twenty years from now and wonder why you didn’t.

Have a wonderful 2009


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If you would like to republish this article on your blog or e-zine, please do.  Just be sure to add this complete blurb:

Sue Favinger Smith is a professional artist who began her art career at the age of 50.  She writes Ancient Artist: Developing an Art Career After 50, a blog dedicated to empowering artists seeking to reinvent themselves at mid-life.  You can subscribe by visiting http://ancientartist.typepad.com.

As always, I appreciate your comments and interaction.  And if you know someone who might enjoy this blog, please forward it to them.

Comments

[leslie]

Hi Sue: I just found your blog via Nita's blog. It will take me a bit to get up-to-date with your posts, but I am enjoying all your thoughts so far. Thanks. I put a link to your blog on my blog. I hope that is okay with you.

[Diva Carla]

I have you bookmarked, but Tammy V. quoted you and made me look. 2009 is wide open, bright, energetic and ready for me. Last year I paved the way, this year I am traveling down the road and visiting all kinds of rooms. Thanks for dusting off the optimism!

[Diva Carla]

I have you bookmarked, but Tammy V. quoted you and made me look. 2009 is wide open, bright, energetic and ready for me. Last year I paved the way, this year I am traveling down the road and visiting all kinds of rooms. Thanks for dusting off the optimism!

[Terri]

The room looks unfamiliar-- I dont know what to do in this room first :)

[the deevine miss m]

Sue - I really appreciate your perspective on things. I've struggled with that same emptiness lately and have to stop every once in a while and tell myself today is all we have, so we need to appreciate it!

Thanks for sharing...
margie

[Margaret Almon]

Making art is a way for me to be present in the moment of creation, and experiencing others' art has also been a way to be in the present, which is where possibility lives. This gives me hope that there is something bigger than the economy, a sustaining spirit of creativity, that will enliven the present in spite of uncertainty, fear and paucity.

[Judy]

I will take that empty room and fill it with new friends, new works, new opportunities, and new income. Wishing you and all the best in 2009.

[Allison J Smith]

The economy goes up and down, up and down. Now is the time to plan and prepare; so when the economy does get better you can jump on board and not get left in the dust!

[Dawn Blair]

I have been going over the same thing in my mind. But here's what I've come to realize. The truely rich will always be rich. Everything seeks balance - it won't be going down forever. Now is the time to be marketing and getting your name as an artist out there. Art has a better investment holding value than stocks (assuming the artist is known, thus the importance of getting your name out there). I see a room of potential. I've set it in my mind that 2009 is going to be my best year yet. I choose not to listen to the bad news. If you want to be inspired too, quit listening to the newscasters and start listening to Dan Miller (life coach), Jack White (artist), Jack Canfield (inspirational writer), and those like them. Let's make 2009 great!

[vicki Ross]

Sue, in my past life I specialized in design and production of publications. My last project was done in conjunction with La Bonne Etoile, an artists retreat in France. We used a then new service named Lulu. Their quality was superb, service fantastic, and you can get an ISBN number and help with pricing and distribution through their channels. You can see and preview our project at http://stores.lulu.com/labonneetoile. If you need some further info don't hesitate to contact me.