Being an artist: why it’s not about money

What is an artist, the plastic artist, the craftsman and a craftsman?

Artist: is a person who creates products for commercial companies. Two examples are graphic designers and book illustrators.

Fine Artist: An inherited talent for creating original, visual, and beautiful art objects for aesthetic values. Examples include oil paintings and sculptures of hands.

Independent artisan craftsmen who create projects of both beauty and utility. Two examples are glass blowers or a carpet maker.

Craftsman-Replicate utilitarian objects as a trader or craftsman. Examples: carpenters build houses and tradesmen build furniture.

People often use these words as they choose and not by definition. Misuse of these words causes confusion.

The most important thing for any artist or craftsman is paid employment. Fine artists are gainfully employed during prosperous economies. Your creations are original or unique and the price will be high. People with disposable income buy non-essential works of art.

Craftsman replicates art and utilitarian work year-round, regardless of the economy. People need houses, clothes, shoes, tools, vehicles, furniture, and more compared to owning original jewelry, a statue, or an oil painting.

Artists and artisans must be entrepreneurs and operate as individual business owners or by employment contract. Artisans or merchants work for wages in larger companies.

Why do artists and craftsmen struggle to make money?

1. They don’t talk about money because it’s rude, or because it’s not important.
2. There is a lack of money sense, interest, status, or money management.
3. Money is believed to be the root of all evil.
4. The creation of works of art or crafts is more important.
5. Money is not important because love, saving the planet and world peace are more important.
6. Families and communities make them uncomfortable as artists. They appear to be playing and are not lacking in work value.
7. Money is not important, and they never seem to have money to understand its value.
8. Lack of money or financial knowledge and understanding of how money works. Feeling of worthlessness or shame for not earning money.
9. Fear of having money.
10. People consider artists to be poor and struggling; those who believe this are.
11. Feelings of discomfort asking for money.
12. No knowledge of how to price an item or how to sell it.
13. Lack of self-confidence and not knowing our worth.
14. Overly critical of our work as we see flaws in our workmanship. We cannot see or understand that buyers see the beauty or personal use of the product; not its flaws.
15. We don’t feel comfortable selling a piece of our creativity, which makes us feel like we’ve put a price on ourselves and sold our souls to the devil.
16. Low by charging the price of an item so as not to appear greedy.
17. Little ability to negotiate with potential customers.
18. I don’t like or hate preparing the paperwork associated with recording our earnings and expenses, income tax forms, and other financial business matters.

These attitudes, misgivings, or lack of knowledge will prevent artists and craftspeople from making comfortable profits from their talents and skills.