Sharing Personal Experience

I've been working hard in the studio this week and I have been thinking about what an odd thing it is to paint. When I was younger, I never thought anyone would be interested in what I had to say. Now that I'm older, I understand that saying what you want to say is the only reason to paint.  Now that I am older, I also understand that if I sell or not is not a barometer as to whether I am getting to my own truth.  

No great revelation there, but an important thing to experience.  There is so much advice out there about how to be a successful artist. You can know the many different lists of what to do to be successful, but none of that knowledge matters until you actually experience it in action. I read an article today, alright I glanced through it, about the 5 e's of selling your art: empathy, ... and four other words that start with e. Really, it's all kinda bullshit. It's partly bullshit because many artists don't really want to do what it takes to sell a lot of work, because it is not in their personality to be that way. Other artists define success different than selling, and not just because they haven't been successful at selling.  They just define success different than selling.  All of this advice is kinda like religion and your horoscope, so much advice is out there that something is going to resonate with you. That doesn't mean it's any more correct or worthy than any other advice -- it's just timing and personal experience.

My guest this week, Justin Terlecki, and we talk alot about sharing personal experience as part of our creating art. Give it a listen and let me know how you share your personal experience through your art and let me know how you define success as an artist?