Thank you for inviting me to talk today. If you are driven by creativity it is a part of you and it feeds your soul so the first thing I would say is don’t deny that part of you. Being creative can be applied to so many careers but if it is visual art that is your career choice then It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Adelaide uni offer a bachelor of art or you could look into the Adelaide Central school of art. I did neither and pursued veterinary nursing and then on to sales. Definitely the sales experience has helped me as well as the practice management side It can take years to develop your style, there will be many many hours spent alone questioning your ability and getting knock backs so you will need a thick skin your art won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but that’s ok because it will be someone’s.Being an artist means being a business owner learn as much as you can about running a small business. Don’t rely on income from selling your art to survive. Think of ways to create on many different levels. For me that meant teaching, I currently teach school incursions from years 2 to 12. I also hold group workshops for adults, corporate workshops for businesses and private workshops. This supplements my income. It also allows me to share my passion and helps nurture up and coming artists. You are fortunate in a lot of ways that you will already know about marketing through social media. This opens you and your art to the world but it also makes the competition huge. For me that meant being the best at what I do. When starting off I think its important to experience different styles and mediums, mimic, be inspired by other artists but only do so to find your own style and strengths, once you have found that then stick to it and make it great. I highly recommend finding a mentor who can show you the road ahead, learn from their mistakes and listen to their guidance. Most artist love to share their knowledge. I belong to a group of female artists and we meet up once a month we talk about being creative, how to get better and we share our triumphs and our knock backs. What I wish I had known as an artist just starting out is that rejection is simply part of the profession. Don’t let this sway you or discourage you, gallery’s do not accept a lot of art styles and you do not need galleries to survive or be recognised as a good artist. Through websites and social media you can sell direct to the collector. Knock on doors, send emails, make noise, enter competitions, don’t be afraid and believe in what you do.
