Art is a Business. I know that many people do not want to hear those two words in the same sentence but they exist and we should begin to recognize this. Art in itself has a tremendous amount of value including the ability to heal, to move people emotionally, to convince people to act, and to bring cultures together. Business techniques have the ability to help us analyze stats to find out what marketing technique works, how much income we need to make a  profit, what percent of the revenue will be reinvested, and if we should close or expand our services. 

Creative places are concern with having the best performances, the best art, and finding grants. We belief that the arts bring business to the community including restaurants, local stores, and other near by retail services, and there are some stats to support this belief.  Funding is diminishing due to the economy, reduce donations, and foundations having loss some income are awarding less grant funds. Several art organization that we assumed were stable have had to close or declare bankruptcy in the last year. I am wondering how we can shift this process, so future outcomes are better and art organization do not have to close their door. I wonder what the business people would say about the financial state of the arts. 

From a business perspective, a business must stand on its own in the end or it will not survive. It cannot rely on more then seed money, loans, or income,  and rarely do grants come into play.  A business must be able to prove its value through stats and generate enough independent income to keep its doors open. If you want to succeed in business then you must be able to speak the language of stats, business planning, marketing, account receivables, and recognizes that a business must bring in enough revenue to be independent of government grants after a few years of investments. 

I fear that as the arts funding becomes more scarce,  if we keep on this trend of cutting funds to the arts for the next couple of years with less grant money, less foundation money, and less options for donations that more art places will close.  I believe that more art places will have to fully support themselves with income generate by activities, performances, art sales, and art classes. Like any other business the arts will have to learn to succeed and thrive with less grant money and with more income generated out of its own efforts and not just what it brings to the community. Arts value is and will become what it brings to the patrons, what their experience is,  how the audiences values it, how it can heal a society from war or tragic events, what revenue it brings in, and if it can stand on its own with less grant money in the coming years. Like any other business we will have to learn to stand on our own, and with less government and foundation funding in the next few years. I hope the arts value can stand on its own independent revenue and not just what it brings to the community business surrounding the art places.

Affirmations are a declaration that something is true today and a positive statement you make to yourself. Affirmations can help you achieve your dreams, provide you with a focused reminder of what you want to achieve, and will help you believe in yourself.

When artists create affirmations they need to be stated in the present, something you want to achieve, and short and specific. They should be something you are passionate about and something you can say to yourself every day. 

Examples: 

I am a dynamic artists. 

I am a mystery writer who writes everyday. 

I am an exciting writer who holds peoples attention. 

I am a published author. 

I am a creative person and I am in several galleries. 

I take pride in my ability to create art. 

If you are not these things right now then you will be soon, so say it in the mirror in the morning and three times a day with meaning. It will happen, so have faith in something positive. Have fun and remember to say it to yourself at least three times a day. Write your affirmation on your bathroom mirror and place it in your pocket, so you can refer to it through out the day. 

terristerling@me.com 

Passive income is a way to generate an income from something that you have already created. You can sell white papers to generate passive income. The projects are created once and then sold multiply times. There are websites that will do it for us. 

Projects consist of White Papers or papers that you have written and that are usually between 5 to 25 pages. They can be up to 50 pages but most are smaller. Topics will vary depending upon what you are interested in and what your readers are interested in. It can be information you have researched on careers, photography, writing techniques, or art. It should be something you are an expert at or something you have been reading about over several months or years. You want to generate a passive income with credibility, so people will be anxious to purchase your next project and our expert advice. Be careful with your choice of words because you never know who will read it and you don’t want to give them bad information.

Once the project is completed, you just need to market it and sell it. There are a variety of ways to do this including creating a website or blog where people can pay through PayPal and then the white paper automatically is sent to them through email. There is very little left for you to do accept maintain the site by checking it once a week or adding more white papers. There are sites like Tribond, where you can upload your White Paper and then the site takes care of the rest. I haven’t used Tribond but there are several choices if you do some research. People usually charge between $5 and $10. Good luck and have fun creating your White Papers. 

• All images and articles are copyrighted. 
• Artist Counseling services are provided over the phone in the USA and in person in NJ. 

Self-esteem has been define as confidence in one’s own worth or abilities. How much you believe in yourself will determine the level of your self-esteem, confidence, ability to approach galleries, enter art shows, and live as a full time artist. 

I have a strong belief in myself; however, there are times when I wish the world would support me a little more. Now is it the world’s job to support me or my job to be proactive and belief in myself? There are no easy answers but the best answer is that the more I belief in myself the more people will come to my aid and support me in any endeavor I choose to do. I don’t give up if people don’t respond to what I am saying because I know that I can succeed at listening to my own voice and having other people listen to me. 

Some people belief that if you take an appropriate risk and have a positive outcome then your self-esteem grows. The problem with this idea is that when you succeed you will feel great and when you think you failed you will feel bad and your self-esteem will decrease. So do you really want to base self-esteem on the outcome of a project when there are so many factors that go into success or a lesser out come then you want? This idea will cause you to have mood swings, can lead to less appropriate risk taking, and will prevent you from the success that you want. 

How much you believe in yourself will determine your success in life. With more self-esteem you are more likely to take appropriate risk and to work through any anxiety you have in the process. Self-esteem or self-belief is healthy when it  is based on your own thoughts about yourself; not on what other people belief and not on what the outcome of a project is but on an inner knowing that you have done your best, have learned from the experience, and can manage whatever happens in your life to the best of your ability. It is based on your beliefs about you and not an outside influence. 

Now would you rather base your self-esteem on your own positive beliefs about you or on what other people think? Would you rather base it on your beliefs about you or your belief about the outcome of your project? 

—— Terri Sterling, MA

* More on the topic of how to build your self-esteem in up coming articles. 

** Future articles will also feature grant writing, article writing, creative projects to help you grow, approaching galleries, and gallery contracts. 

*** Everything on this site is copyrighted and can not be used without the permission of the author.

People who feel powerful in deciding their faith in life are people who have positive beliefs about their life, the people around them, and themselves. They have learn that life is a series of successes, appropriate risks, and proactive choices. They may feel anxious when trying something new but they do it anyway. Proactive people realize that they have control over their own beliefs, reactions, and actions in life. Powerless people have difficulty reaching out to others because they belief no one cares, no one will listen to them, and that no matter what they do life will not change. They often feel like victims. We are all victims, at times, in life but how we react and how proactive we become will determine our successes and happiness in life. 

Proactive people belief that no matter how challenging their present situation is, they can succeed even if it takes more work now then in the past. Their willing to do what it takes, usually have Type A personality, and have built close relationships in their community. They have learned that the journey to achieving their goals in life might not be easy but that it is worth it. If someone tells them NO they kick the door down or find a way around it to reach their goals. Proactive people become proprietors, so when sales are down in traditional galleries, they find unique places to rent and show case their art. They use non-traditional but honest means to reach their goals. Proactive people might find coffee shops, bookstores, empty store fronts, or yoga studios to show their work. 

Powerless people tend to blame other people for their current circumstances, expect someone to come to them with solutions, and expect someone to take care of their needs without verbalizing what they are. Sadly, many of them become depressed and many of them do not succeed in the art world. If you are unwilling to promote yourself and learn from your mistakes, then you will be in the same place next year that you are today. Life events change when your willing to change. 

Powerful or powerless? It is your choice? 

terristerling@me.com 

There are many methods that help reduce anxiety; these include meditation, medication, listening to music, exercise, and printmaking or writing. Each of us will need to try out several different methods before we find the right one for us.

Meditation can become a healthy routine that we engage in every morning. Methods for engaging in this activity include: sitting on the floor, legs crossed, and sitting in silence until your mind is empty. Some people find this difficulty to do when their mind is wondering in different directions but with practice it is possible to achieve silence or near silence.  Some people prefer to turn on classical music or soothing music low enough to mask outside noise. For ADD people turning on music may help or make things worse.  Walking in a near by park can help reduce anxiety but be careful to walk either earlier in the morning or late in the day due to the hot weather.

There are several medication choices but if we have artist anxiety and not a physical or biological anxiety disorder then medication is not likely to be the answer for us; however, we should talk to our doctor if the anxiety is starting to produce physical reactions or is interfering too much with our life. I cannot give you individual advice, so I am deferring to your doctor. Please be careful if you decided to go in the direction of medication due to the side effects.

Listening to music can help change a person’s mood. If we are having recurring thoughts then try Pachelbel’s Cannon D, which has its own recurring theme that can replace the thoughts you are having. This song works for anger and frustration. Other songs may help you feel energized.

Exercise reduces anxiety, depression, and improves memory.  You can chose to walk every day, join a gym, or lift weights in your own home. It is important to come up with an exercise routine for it to be most effective. If you haven’t been exercising then start out slowly. Gym’s can be expensive if when we’re on a tight budget but we  can often find free or cheap gym equipment at yard sales or flee markets.

Printmaking is a wonderful creative experience, which will fill a creative need for self-expression and is physical enough to help reduce anxiety. I find it to be very effective and the physical aspect can reduce and tension we have in our bodies.

Writing three pages a day in the morning will give us a place to express our feeling, so that the garbage of the day is left on the page and we can concentrate on what is important.  Don’t worry about spelling, grammar, or the actual writing.

Anxiety is the result of our thinking and situation in life. You can chose to meditate, medicated, use music, exercise, or printmaking and writing to reduce anxiety. Remember that how you think about any situation is the most important factor. I hope this article helpes you to increase your coping skills.

terristerling@me.com

Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness or unease, and fearfulness. Although anxiety is usually seen as a negative emotion, the reality is far more complicated. Anxiety is a way of telling us that we are changing and fearful, afraid of mistakes, fearful of an uncertain outcome, and that there is something in our lives telling us that it needs us to pay attention. There is bad anxiety and good anxiety. Most people are aware of bad anxiety but not good anxiety.  

Bad anxiety is what we feel when we are overwhelmed with life events, stressed from financial problems, feeling overly guilty about something that has taken place, and projecting the past on to the presence. The fear we experience is from projecting the past on to the future; however, none of us really know what will happen in a week, a month, or six months from now. The past does not dictated what will happen next but sometimes unconscience  or conscience thoughts and beliefs are projected on to our future. Our own thoughts, experience, and beliefs support this type of anxiety. 

Good anxiety helps us to notice what we want in life, motivates us to do our best, and connivence us that it is time to change our own situation. It tells us to move ahead, be proactive, and to take charge of our lives. Opening our hearts to something new and different will create a sense of fear and anxiousness because as excited as we are, we also don’t know what the outcome will be. Our dreams are precious to us, but taking the leap of faith is not easy for many people. Our anxiety lets us know how important this leap is. 

There is of course the third kind of anxiety that is biological in nature. This type of anxiety has been associated with certain types of medical problems, or the chemicals our bodies make. This is not the type of anxiety that I will be speaking of today. For today, I am interested in the type of anxiety that creative people experience from taking the leap and from creating. 

Artist and creative people experience anxiety due to perfectionism, fear of rejection, facing the bank page, and taking the next leap in our career. This type of anxiety can prevent us from moving ahead or can motivate us to move ahead. Artist have a fear that their deep inner well of images and ideas will dry up and disappear; however, it is more likely that you will be so filled up that you will get stuck because you haven’t been spending enough time getting the ideas out on paper or in a painting. Filling our well up can sometimes be a matter of taking time out to socialize, visit new places, and experience live music or real painting in a different media than we normally use. 

The reduction of anxiety can be achieved by meditation, being proactive toward your goals, taking charge of your life, creating a DVD of calming music, a regular exercise program, and taking charge of your own thoughts and beliefs. No one is perfect, we all feel the pain of rejection, and sometimes we are afraid to believe that our dreams will work out. For next few days think about what is causing you anxiety and share your thoughts with me at terristerling@me.com. 

This is part one of a series of articles on creative anxiety.