Gonna need us all to use our imaginations and suspension of disbelief to vision us gathering here at this stage for todays newsletter ( and all of the from now on actually!)
Welcome to the Creators Dispatch. A weekly essay about the creative journey! Here I write about being an artist, human and angry woman on the internet. Word of mouth is the most special and radical way of sharing. If what I say here inspires you (or pisses you off 🥰) share my work with the group chat, or your best friends neighbour. It REALLY helps 💖
Last week I wrote about making money from my art. I’ve been charging money for stuff I create really since I started creating. I set up road side stands with jewellery, I created online stores, I sent book proposals at age 12, I’ve sang, sewn, read radio ads, ran kickstarters, taught classes, hung my art in galleries, preformed, cartwheeled and danced for a dollar.
There is so much that gets tied up into the decision to make money from art. Some people think getting paid for it will ruin the magic, some people think you’re only an artist if you get paid for it (i think a binary is a great way to never make art again 😉)
But I also think its insanely generous of artists to share their work and get paid for it. I deeply believe in paying artists for their time and work. And it would feel really antitheical to love and cherish and highly value the work I consume and pay for and cheerlead and be insoired by and have my soul lite on fire. And not give people the same opportunity to experience and support me the same way. And at the very least, taking the seed of an idea and growing it into something to share with other – is what I really think we’re here to do
We assign art a dollar value because – we have to – we still live in the dumpster fire of capitalism, my landlord doesn’t take likes and clicks as payment and I do infact have a silly little beverage obsession that costs money. But cost of something does not equate value.
I may pay $5 a month to support an author I love on this platform. Or $100 for a painting in my home. $35 to pre order a book from my favourite author and thousands of dollars to refine my craft and educate myself to be a better artist. But that doesn’t articulate the intense value and inspiration it brings to my life.
If someone told me “hey you’re about to have a life changing experience, its gonna impact not just your emotions, but how you think about something for the rest of your life. Your going to talk about it for years to come and its going to inform all the other art you make and talk about for the foreseeable future”. I would assume the bids start in the millions.
But thats not how we price art.
I monetetize my art and I don’t fucking hate it (or myself) because I take all parts of my creative practise into business. Including slapping a price tag on it. Its been the most rewarding job I have ever had. It comes with a alot of risk but it also comes with a alot of reward. It pushes me to make in ways I never thought I would ever (want to) create. Its been hard as shit and its been time line change earth altering MAGICAL.
Because art isn’t just art.
Business isn’t just business
and a price tag isn’t just a pirce.
They are feeling. They are the thing that get us up in the morning. Its meaning making and soul on fire inspiring fuel.
I feel the exact same way the first time someone bought my jewellery from my road side stand as I do when someone contributes a few bucks to substack each month, a thousand dollar client signs or acceptance letter from a publisher arrives in my inbox. The magical feeling of getting paid to make your art.
HOW TO MAKE ART/BUSINESS nurture your seed of an idea into an old growth forrest and get paid for it💸
TLDR; I fucking love this course. I love the way it has helped so many creative bring their work into the world and I love that I keep getting to do this work. Class work is pre recorded in bite size bits so you can learn the stuff and then go CREATE! + opportunities to meet and create online together 💕 best of both worlds 🌍
🧵Week 1. How to make art: Crafting an offering and crafting our containers!
🌱Week 2. How to make business: Talking (and writing) about ourselves + our creations!
⛺️Week 3. How to share: Marketing On the apps and Off! Sales!
🌳Week 4. How to make art business: Sustaining our practise, Operations and Somatic Spiritual Productivity
OCTOBER LIVE COHORT BONUSES!
co-creative seesions Tuesday @10 am est
Open Studio Q+A session with Phoebe
BONUS BOOK KEEPING 101 WORKSHOP WITH NEW MOON BOOK KEEPING
I am off to make, create and consume art because it makes being alive SO DELISH!
See you in class
xx
Phoebe
Thirsty for more? I deeply believe in paying artists for their work and the work art/content we consume (think modern day patron!). To be cohesive with my values I allow readers to pay for the work I create here. If you love my writing, get value and resource from it consider becoming a paid subscriber! Paid subscribers get access to more of my writing and *new* monthly community events!