If you dont work at a place that breeds monkeys the only way to correct that would be to say you breed Moneys! that would be cool!
I am trapped in a hum-hole.
- Thread starter pelleeklund
- Start date
Thanks for the replies everybody, lot of good stuff in there. I'll try to address everything you guys said that stuck with me. First I do want to say that I am not looking to find meaning in my life and or define myself by my work. I am an artist after all, a rebel, I will always think i'm in a sense whoring my time or skill out for money, so I don't expect to define myself with this. That is why I was concerned whether this was so frivolous that it may be considered selfish. I am Pat, and I am a family man. My dream was to have exactly what I have now, a wife who I love and kids I adore. To do a job where I could showcase my talents would be icing on a cake with icing already on it. As a matter of fact this whole thought process began with completely running out of money and getting to the peanut butter sandwich stage of living. I am content to waste eight hours a day to pay for the time I spend at home, but when I can't afford my bills and I feel like I have a skill I can exploit that could actually make those eight hours seem meaningful, that seems like a win win.
When it comes to the guy that cant believe I went to college with no real plan, how could you be surprised at that? My parents were so proud to send me to school how could I not go? It was the thing to do, they were force fed statistics about how much a college educated person makes versus a high school educated person and they decided they wanted better for me. So I went to art school because I am good at art, and because I owed respect to my folks. I wanted to learn more about something I loved though, not plan out how I can accumulate as much money as possible. It may have been shortsighted but at the time I was a kid, not to mention a drunk kid who had all the freedom of an adult and no responsibility. It's a big world out there and there are way more people in it that have no idea what they are doing than people who do. I would even argue the people who know what they are doing are full of it, or fooling themselves. So as for me my spontaneous style of living has brought me many good things but has also got me in the financial state that i'm in. I wouldn't change anything and I do think that i'm handling it admirably so far.
I would like to spitball ideas though. I have decided for sure that I am in the process of finding a new job that would suit my skills better. And as I was saying I don't have much experience with the professional world and would love to get some ideas about careers that could be a nice fit. I think I have made peace with finding something new that would be more outside the box, but I do worry that there may not be a job that utilizes my strengths and pays as stable, as say my current position. So i'm very curious to learn more about any position any of you may have where your afforded the luxury of being creative, how good a living you can make etc...I'm still generally stressed because this kind of job search exists outside of my realm of comfort and knowledge. And once again I do appreciate all of the comments, this thread has got me on track a bit more today and I'm grateful for all of your thoughtful responses. It is good to talk about this with a bunch of unbiased people who can shoot from the hip. Thanks again. By the way I'm rebuilding my bathroom tonight so I may not be back until tomorrow.
When it comes to the guy that cant believe I went to college with no real plan, how could you be surprised at that? My parents were so proud to send me to school how could I not go? It was the thing to do, they were force fed statistics about how much a college educated person makes versus a high school educated person and they decided they wanted better for me. So I went to art school because I am good at art, and because I owed respect to my folks. I wanted to learn more about something I loved though, not plan out how I can accumulate as much money as possible. It may have been shortsighted but at the time I was a kid, not to mention a drunk kid who had all the freedom of an adult and no responsibility. It's a big world out there and there are way more people in it that have no idea what they are doing than people who do. I would even argue the people who know what they are doing are full of it, or fooling themselves. So as for me my spontaneous style of living has brought me many good things but has also got me in the financial state that i'm in. I wouldn't change anything and I do think that i'm handling it admirably so far.
I would like to spitball ideas though. I have decided for sure that I am in the process of finding a new job that would suit my skills better. And as I was saying I don't have much experience with the professional world and would love to get some ideas about careers that could be a nice fit. I think I have made peace with finding something new that would be more outside the box, but I do worry that there may not be a job that utilizes my strengths and pays as stable, as say my current position. So i'm very curious to learn more about any position any of you may have where your afforded the luxury of being creative, how good a living you can make etc...I'm still generally stressed because this kind of job search exists outside of my realm of comfort and knowledge. And once again I do appreciate all of the comments, this thread has got me on track a bit more today and I'm grateful for all of your thoughtful responses. It is good to talk about this with a bunch of unbiased people who can shoot from the hip. Thanks again. By the way I'm rebuilding my bathroom tonight so I may not be back until tomorrow.
Ah, another artist. My advise is to join a gallery and put your best possible work in it. There are plenty in your area. If your work is original enough someone is bound to hire you for a big piece. If you're good enough this will snowball into more large commissions. Keep in mind, this process can take years. I'm speaking from experience as a fellow artist.
I was an unpaid intern this summer at a place that propogates, sells, and conserves rare and carnivorous plants. I wasn't paid anything, but I absolutely loved it.
I was an unpaid intern this summer at a place that propogates, sells, and conserves rare and carnivorous plants. I wasn't paid anything, but I absolutely loved it.
Thank you Death Pony. I have actually seen your stuff and it's awesome. I will drop by a few of my local galleries and see what the score is. I actually finished all of my half done work from school recently so I'm going to get some new slides together and put them in a quicktime video I can leave with the people. I hate doing slides though, do you have any tips you can share with me on lighting? All of my work is very large paintings most being around 6ft by 3ft roughly, I always come up with a flash on the slide and can't quite get the hang of reflecting it off other stuff. Another thing I have been thinking about while tiling my floor is getting a job refinishing old works already in galleries. Like Dana Barrett from Ghostbusters. It would keep me involved with art and would seem to be consistent enough. Do you know anything about that? Thanks, good luck with your work as well.
By the way this is going to sound crazy but the idea of doing my paintings for a living makes me more anxious than anything else I can think of. Do you find that it's almost too personal to do for money?
I use natural lighting. Filter light through a window seems to work the best for me. It can get a bit person, but I find it enjoyable. You could also look into doing restoration at a museum if your meet their requirements. One of my friends got a job restoring works at the Smithsonian right after completing her undergrad career.
There's an artist you need to see! I can't remember his name, but he paints giant robots and other nonsense onto awful paintings you can find at thrift shops and such. They're hilarious!
