Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Graduation and Life Onwards

Well,

It's been a very long year. I've made friends, found the love of my life, and burned plenty of bridges since I last wrote you. I'm tired, worn out, and ready to take on the real world. I finally have my BFA, and a tentative business plan to go forward and make a little bit on money at this art thing. Not a lot, but enough that I'll be okay working less than 40 hours a week serving lattes. Hopefully, I'll eventually be able to only work part time, or none at all, and focus all my time and energy on my art. That's the dream anyway, and I'm ready to fight for it!

I'm currently scanning and photographing my last few paintings of college. They will be up soon, and trust me, there's a LOT of them. I did 20+ small paintings in the last week, and I did about 40 "burn drawings" in the last week of sculpture. Plus the large ones I've been working on. These pieces were part of my resolve to go out of college with a bang, and a strong body of work that will help propel my further in my career. 

My plan is to set up shop selling small trading card, bookmark, and greeting card sized acrylic paintings on etsy, alongside prints of my larger, finished pieces. I'll advertise and market on my normal social media sites, and keep a link to special places in my signatures on all the forums I frequent. I'll be submitting to juried and group shows at the same time, building up my resume and my artist portfolio for grad school. I want to get my MFA eventually, and I want to be in a strong place to get a fellowship or assistantship when I do go for it.



I have plenty of books on the art of art business that I've been religiously reading, and I'm ready to put some of the things I've learned into reality. I have a problem with following through on these plans. Not this time. This time, I will succeed, even if it means a few months of horrible struggle while I get my feet on the ground; even if it means butting heads with my parents, and ignoring the harsh words of doubters. Doubters are out there, but I also have supporters who believe I can do this. The ones that question me only worry about my future, and think I should be going a practical, safer route in life. I turned down what someone might think of as a great opportunity, I almost had a job at a marketing firm before I even graduated, which is amazingly rare these days. But I talked to current employees, and I talked to a lot of my professors and close friends. It hit me that this job would only take me further from my dream. I'd get sucked into corporate American, and my office would become the focus of my time, energy, and socialization. I don't want that. That's the "nightmare" end of my dream.


So I turned it down. Many of my friends thought I was a moron, and reminded me that students with BFA's rarely get those kind of opportunities. I shrug it off. I know what I want. I have a plan. Living expenses in Oxford are amazingly low, so I can scrape by while saving money and putting money towards my loans. I'll be able to spend time on my studio and artwork. I'll be okay. I can do this. If I don't at least try, it'll be a lifetime of regret and turning my back on the one thing I've wanted since I was 11. I can't give up yet. Not when I've lost this much sleep, tears, and yes, blood. 


To those who doubt me, I ask, when have I ever done things the easy way, and when have I ever opted for safe and practical? I'm young, it's the prime time to take risks and have fun. 

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