tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36001820.post7080199485885812618..comments2023-10-20T08:52:24.875-07:00Comments on this artist's life:: quit your day job? maybe not.Whitney Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00491079459627713472noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36001820.post-30219763995198472982014-09-19T07:14:37.025-07:002014-09-19T07:14:37.025-07:00That's the dark side for sure Tracey! A job ma...That's the dark side for sure Tracey! A job may free up that broken spirit a bit.Whitney Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00491079459627713472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36001820.post-12042635927323526982014-09-19T07:13:10.885-07:002014-09-19T07:13:10.885-07:00Hi Carter, thanks for the link and your thoughts. ...Hi Carter, thanks for the link and your thoughts. I am familiar with the survivorship bias, and I enjoyed the article you sent. And you are right that what it really comes down to trying to figure out for ourselves. I always tell people, "Listen to everyone, and listen to no one." To me that means that you listen to what people have to say with an open mind, and glean what you can, but don't wait for instruction or permission.Whitney Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00491079459627713472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36001820.post-20627142664195652832014-09-19T07:07:16.905-07:002014-09-19T07:07:16.905-07:00Thank you for that link Sophie, that looks like an...Thank you for that link Sophie, that looks like an interesting read.Whitney Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00491079459627713472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36001820.post-57098738941475070692014-09-15T08:30:57.035-07:002014-09-15T08:30:57.035-07:00Great post Whitney! I especially love how you wind...Great post Whitney! I especially love how you wind it up with this sentiment:<br /><br />"But there is nothing wrong with being an artist, and having a day job. In fact, thinking you are not an artist because you have a day job is a cop-out and buying into someone else's definition of an artist. Maybe the culture says that you are not a real artist unless you are killing yourself pursuing it full-time, but the culture is full of shit and doesn't know what it's talking about when it comes to your life."<br /><br />That's probably the only real advice we can give: Not to just take others' word for it but to figure out how to make it work on our own. <br /><br />Are you familiar with the 'survivorship bias'? Basically what happens is that people look at successful thises or thats expecting to find out what they personally need to do. That's why so many advice books from successful entrepreneurs sell so well. The trouble is that what worked in their case may be irrelevant to your own situation. But even worse, looking only at success ignores what things are important to avoid, and avoiding some of these things may have been even more influential than what we actively did. But these things are hard to spot, even if we were interested in them. We look for the right recipe of things to do but neglect the lessons from the many folks who were not as fortunate, who came up against obstacles and were thwarted. And the crazy thing is that luck and accident of circumstance often plays a huge role. Hard to focus on those things too.....<br /><br />In McRaney's words. "If you are thinking about opening a restaurant because there are so many successful restaurants in your hometown, you are ignoring the fact that only successful restaurants survive to become examples. Maybe on average 90 percent of restaurants in your city fail in the first year. You can’t see all those failures because when they fail they also disappear from view. As Nassim Taleb writes in his book The Black Swan, “The cemetery of failed restaurants is very silent.” Of course the few that don’t fail in that deadly of an environment are wildly successful because only the very best and the very lucky can survive. All you are left with are super successes, and looking at them day after day you might think it’s a great business to get into when you are actually seeing evidence that you should avoid it."<br /><br />Here's a link to that great essay on survivorship bias. like your essay, well worth a read, I think :)<br /><br />http://youarenotsosmart.com/2013/05/23/survivorship-bias/ carter gillieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12744265678233135968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36001820.post-86494384612734341712014-09-12T05:43:05.734-07:002014-09-12T05:43:05.734-07:00I am an artist but not a potter...I highly recomme...I am an artist but not a potter...I highly recommend this recent book of essays that came out:<br /><br />http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/L/bo16814556.html<br /><br />Most in there are not able to support themselves with their work alone, and every single person works very, very hard and are extremely good at managing their time (a common misconception about artists, I think)Sophia B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00221338333661673423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36001820.post-39503974618356675052014-09-11T22:20:37.715-07:002014-09-11T22:20:37.715-07:00Thank you! This post is so refreshing. Thank you! This post is so refreshing. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04250615141952203750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36001820.post-78404892133039787182014-09-11T10:57:18.935-07:002014-09-11T10:57:18.935-07:00Trying to be a full time potter, mother, wife, fri...Trying to be a full time potter, mother, wife, friend, house cleaner, grocery shopper, marketing manager, accountant, social media expert, shipping clerk, etc. broke my spirit and I haven't been in my studio in a year. Some days I dream of a job where I show up, do what is asked, hold out my hand and someone gives me a check and I go home. Pottery done well is not for the faint of heart. It took me ten years to figure that out.....<br />Great post!Tracey Broomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14560971496423789576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36001820.post-40539587499295466552014-09-11T08:18:35.462-07:002014-09-11T08:18:35.462-07:00Your post tells it like it is. I know many potters...Your post tells it like it is. I know many potters in my area who are full time, good & bad, but they do have the support of a spouse/partner that can support them when things get tight. I am a potter, I do not have my own studio, I work/teach out of a privately owned studio and I have a day job (2 in fact) in order to keep me fed, clothed and under a roof. Many of my students ask me if I would ever do this full time and give up my day job. My answer is absolutely not. I would have to win the lottery first. I know without a doubt that my passion would soon become drudgery and then I would hate it. The worry about money and selling would soon constipate any artistic flow. So ya, if you don't have any fears of not making the mortgage/rent payment, or if you will be eating mac and cheese instead of actual food for a while, I would say sure, why not, but I just can't do that.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02130528329350030612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36001820.post-22524453113312708232014-09-11T06:11:50.805-07:002014-09-11T06:11:50.805-07:00Perfect post on the subject! I have never had a r...Perfect post on the subject! I have never had a real day job either so I didn't sacrifice job security for my art. But I have a super supportive husband and a passion for what I do. Sometimes it might be easier to have a "real" job, because the time and energy it takes to commit to being a full time artist is really not for everyone!!Lisa J. Ammermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12344731080027796612noreply@blogger.com