Thinking "Outside the Gallery" to Earn A Living With Your Art

Not surprisingly, one of the most common questions I hear is from artists, and other creative folks, who are wondering how they can make a living from what what they love to do. While the process of doing so is not cut and dry, I believe the answer of right livelihood is actually quite simple: it takes ideas and leverage. If you have enough ideas (enough creativity to keep thinking and tweaking) and enough leverage (enough passion and drive to want it bad enough) it's gonna happen. I have story after story to illustrate this, but that's for another time. Today, it's all about the practical pieces of combining ideas and leverage in, perhaps, a new way.

Please note that while the specific examples here will be talking about art, this material is relevant for earning a living with ANY "off the beaten path" endeavor: writing, music, cooking, coaching, or any unique business.

When we announced the WildChild Wisdom Weekend, we also posted a Brainstorming Spinner Game that was designed to help people brainstorm how to help pay for their trip. You can take a look at the "Where There's a Will, There's a WildChild" Game here, as the exercise in this article mirrors the process of that game. The purpose of the game was to be a catalyst for hopping on trains of thought that folks had never taken before. And that's the purpose of this exercise below, if you feel drawn to give it a try.

Below are four lists of things that artists might do to earn money. For this exercise, you look at one idea in the list at a time and answer 4 questions before moving on to the next item in the list. It's a good idea to do this in several sittings so that you don't get frustrated or burnt out, or find yourself repeating the same things over and over. Perhaps you can work in 5-10 minute sessions, each one covering 3-5 items on the lists below.

For each item, answer these questions:

• In what ways is this idea POSSIBLE for me, as a way to earn money? Don't say NO – just push yourself to ask "what if?" (Remember, it's just brainstorming--)

• How could I adapt this idea to make it MORE possible for me to do?

• If you had a 100% guarantee that this idea would make you a substantial income, what would you be willing to do to make it happen? Now raise the stakes even higher: what if you were guaranteed that you could make $90,000 from this idea. NOW what would you be willing to do to make it happen?

• What other ideas come to mind, after answering these questions? Really allow yourself to SOAR as you brainstorm, finding unexpected places the money can come from!

THIS WEEK'S ART-SPLASH!

I wrote this haiku during the Haiku Café Chat in the Artella Chat Room, which was hosted by Mary Gray, whose Doing Haiku e-course is a venture that I highly recommend. We were discussing writer's block, and this haiku came out. I added the art to create this Art-Splash, called "Writer's Walk". You can view it at:http://www.ArtellaWordsAndArt.com/artic99.html

The next ARTICULATION art splash with be our 100th Art-Splash...and a big celebration surprise for everyone!

ART TIP OF THE WEEK!

Next time you are decluttering your art space, use the opportunity to give yourself a creative challenge: enjoy your cast-off art supplies one last time, seeing them in a brand new way. Gather the supplies that you want to get rid of, and give yourself a creative challenge to actually make something with them. You can play around with different "rules" for your challenge: give yourself a time limit; make yourself use EVERYTHING in the pile; don't let yourself use anything EXCEPT what is in the pile; etc. It's a great way to recycle your art supplies in an innovative way, and even if you don't end up doing anything with your creation, this exercise is guaranteed to get you thinking about art techniques and supplies in a new way. Perhaps invite an art buddy to do the same with you, or even set up a virtual party! For example, perhaps invite artists and crafters in the

ArtellaVision group to meet in the Artella Chat Room for an art party on a certain date and time, and let the recycling begin!

WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK!

We've heard it so many times, some of us have begun to block it out: we have to write regularly in order to really discovery our writing voice. Nothing gets you writing regularly like knowing people are expecting it. Starting a blog, or just a simple email list of a few friends who are game to receive your writings on a regular basis, is a great way to build a simple writing practice.

How to start? Go to a blog service (we usetypepad.com for the Artella News blog because it's so easy), pick a template, and start writing. You may want to pick a general topic to write about, or just start by writing your general thoughts about daily life. You may find that a topic or sub-topics emerge as you begin writing. Start to invite your friends to come and read your writings regularly. You'll be surprised at how quickly your audience will grow (most blog services have stats services, so you can see how many people are visiting you), but more importantly, you'll be accountable for your writing, because you will know that people are reading it!

Poetry Contest News! What was formerly known as the Free Bi-Weekly Poetry Contest is now the Free PassionPoetry Contest. Winners will be judged monthly, and announced in the monthlyPassionPoetry newsletter. We're updating the prizes, too; you can get all the latest news in our new PassionPoetry Portal.

Our judges are judging the wonderful entries for the Poetic Idol Competition; awards will be announced soon.