post #1

I haven't updated this website in a long time. I had other things going on I suppose. But I am determined to do better. 

There is a lot of pressure to monetize anything you are remotely good at doing. I am an illustrator, a painter, a sculptor, and amateur baker, and a write a little bit here and there. And I will admit to you that every time I have a creative thought my mind wanders quickly ton "how can I sell this?" I just graduated from business school, and so I think my professors would be proud to hear that I am thinking strategically about the market value of my products. But it makes me deeply feel icky to have the constant need to sell, sell, sell. It is precisely because of this disinclination to sell that I attended business school. I wanted to be a professional artist, and all of the professional artists I knew wished they had even a little bit of business savvy. I learned plenty of useful things, and feel like I might have a shot at making "professional artist" work. But will I ever feel any better about sell, sell, sell? If I ever sell anything, I'll let you know. 

I'm just trying to get my thoughts out here. I know this blogpost is a little rough, but zero people will probably read it, so it doesn't really matter. I won't be making any money off of it, so the pressure is off. 

As I ruminate on what life will look like as a business school graduate, I ponder this question: Why do I make art? I can make art for a living, which is good and might be fun. Or I could simply make art for the joy of it, and whatever payout comes from it will be welcomed and appreciated but not crucial. If I want to write a graphic novel about a haunted hotel, or create an art piece for each of my favorite albums, or sculpt Hayao Miyazaki fan art, then I am going to do it. If you want to give me a little cash so that you can support what I'm doing, I will take it. But I don't want to be driven by money. I want to be driven by joy. 

Okay. I will be done for now. But I will be keeping in touch.
​ See you next time.