should I quit my job to do art full time?

Question

I am at a crossroads totally when it comes to my life. I was a full time artist before I started working full time, which left very little time for art. But, on the other hand, I have money to do whatever I want, with full benefits and health care. The problem is, I don't really like the job, but I like the money, and with the money I make I support my family, we don't want for anything, and I can buy all the supplies and everything I need, I just don't have a lot of time to create. I was sick last week and painted a couple of paintings and it was truly liberating. I am dreading work. LOL!!! I don't have to work, I could get along ok without it, but the extra money is always nice. It just seems I am being left behind or something. Everyone has a different opinion on what I should do. Do any of you work and do art? If so, how do you manage your time? Any suggestions? What I can do now is just come home (all tired LOL!!!) and work for a lillte while,not too inspiring. Help! SD

Answer 1

I have never been a full time artist, I have thought about quitting my job to focus on what I want to do which is just that, be a full time artist. I don't have any money saved or else I would. I think that if you have the means to be able to support your family that there is no reason for you to not be doing what you want to do and what makes you happy. We only have one life, one shot, we had might as well be as happy as we can.

By the way, don't listen to that person that said that mid-life crisis thing. Because I am only 23 and feeling the exact same way.

always remember : "IT'S NOT BRAVE... IF YOU'RE NOT SCARED"

Answer 2

I have the same problem and I go back and forth, I work for couple of years and than I can't do it anymore and go back to doing art full time. Now I am starting a new job full time with benefits but it is only going to be 40 hrs a week and 5 minutes from my house, I hope it will work out and leave me enough time to paint. But I would never leave my art and even though I am working I will still paint and do what I want. Isn't art about being individual and growing in life through experiences, if I am wrong I wont worry about it.
Good Luck

Answer 3

I was a full time hair dresser for 12 years and it was great having benefits and 401K and all that. But I am also a musician. Our group started becoming so popular around the state that I had to decide whether or not to stay at my job. I decided to become a full time musician with my husband who is also in the band. So, we are living out our dream and making great money...but have no health insurance and this scares the crap out of me to the point where I have recently started looking for a job in medical esthetics just to get some good benefits back for the family. 4 kids..
Obviously, I will have to cut down on performances if and when I get this job. Which is fine because my hubby is a pianist and can continue working without me...
But let me take you back a couple of years...My daughter had to have a tumor removed from her spine. She totally healthy and athletic now, but the operation would have cost us $25,000 if we didn't have insurance.
When I did work full time and performed I was always exhausted and my performances at both jobs suffered.
Obviously, I am not telling you what decision to make, I just wanted you to know what our life experience has been and hope that is helps you work through this quandry.
Good luck fellow artist.

Answer 4

When you are at a crosroads like this, trying to find a solution online is not advisable. There will be many opinions, most of which will be based on the respondents needs, not yours. What does your family say? Would your wife support a lifestyle change that being an artist demands? Six to ten hours a day doing art? And where would that happen? At home? At a studio away from home? Art is personal and doing it takes you and only you to places that create your absence, Can they handle that, every day of the week? Then there are the shows...preparing for them, doing them, and paying for them. More time commitment. The family needs to help you decide, not artists like us who need to stop answering online questions and better use our time.

Answer 5

The universal art question. How many more Americans would fulfill their artistic destinies if we didn't have to worry about health care? Never mind salary, what scares me as an artist is having something happen that would wipe me out financially and leave me with a huge debt because my spleen decided to explode or something. As Americans we need to demand a national health care system.

To answer your actual question, try easing into it. I found this site, www.absolutearts.com. You can post 4 images and a statement for free, or upgrade to the portfolio option where you pay $36 for the year to post 4 images. It gives you a nice marketing tool. You could then do a postcard with one of your images and put your website on it and drive people to the website. Send it to galleries that might like your kind of work. Test the waters then take that leap. Good luck!

Answer 6

Normally I would say follow your passion, but your family is relying on you for a stable source of income. If you don't have enough confidence in yourself or your skill, then don't do it. If you are being truthful with yourself and you know that you can paint and make a good living for your family, then do it. All I can say is do your research. As I'm writing to you right now I'm watching wealthtrack on PBS and they say the art market is doing very well. For the past 5 years it's been doing considerably better than the stock market because people have money, but they don't have confidence in the stockmarket. Just do what's best for your family.

Answer 7

I'm an artist and I work. I structure my day so that I can do both. I paint whether I feel like it not. That's my discipline. Work is work and it's tiring at times, but when I sit down before my easel, I go to a different place. When I feel that shift and enter into that optimal concentration called "flow", I'm on my way. I lose all notion of time and place and I paint without asking myself if I can pull it off. The paint just flows off my brush and then when I almost fall off my chair, I know my body is tired and I go out for some fresh air and go to sleep. Without my art, I'd go nuts.

Answer 8

I know how it feels when you think you're missing out on something you think you should be doing, like you've got this talent in you, you've got the ability, but it's being bottled up. It's so frustrating! I'm in a similar "crossroads" situation right now, where I feel like I need to pursue what I was put on this earth to do (on ongoing process). I read a book recently that helped me out so much, called "The Renaissance Soul" by Margaret Lobenstine. Check and see if your library has it, but I think it's worth owning, too. It deals with exactly what you're talking about: definining what it is you need to be doing, how to support yourself while you're at it, daily schedules for how to do these things, seeing the gray areas of possibility rather than looking at things in an "either/or" kinda way (which is so easy to do). Check it out and see if it's helpful for you, and good luck.

Answer 9

The short answer to your question is NO. Most artists barely scrape together a living... you need to eat. Once you're established and you can have an idea of what your yearly earnings are going to be, then sure... quit the job. Consider that you might need to take some Marketing classes... you can be the best artist around, but if you don't know how to market your art, it will remain unsold.

Answer 10

If I am hearing you say that you don't need to work and if I can assume that you will have insurance for your children and yourself if you don't work...I will say this from my own life experience...Don't let life pass you and your artwork by. You too will wake up many years from now and not doing the art may become the habit. Not doing it will become the norm but your spirit will suffer. You may be able to rekindle the art in you but why wait...get out there and feed your soul while you can! Life is too -----ing short!