Show me the money!

Recently one of the artists I consulted asked about patrons...  

In art, a sponsor could also be called a patron, correct?  Mapplethorpe had one, and god knows how many others.  Any more thoughts about that?

My response...

A patron… yes, there is the rare occasion that a brilliant, talented, probably young, artist is plucked out of the pack by a generous, philanthropic, art lover with loads of dough and no ulterior motives.  I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for one to come along though.  

Then there’s the artist whose spouse makes all the money, leaving the artist free to make art.  I’ve observed that that comes with an unspoken contract, expectations (to drop everything and attend the company party, go on a business trip or cook dinner for a client), leaving the artist dependent and anything but free, self-determined and independent.  This can also lead to resentment and the feeling of being beholden.

Ah yes, then there’s the trust fund artist, and they are many out there.  This is a great situation to be in if you’re lucky enough to have been born into wealth, if you also have a ton of self discipline, motivation, focus and talent of course.  I’ve see that TFA’s usually aren’t willing to work hard, make the necessary sacrifices, don’t have enough grit and aren’t hungry enough.  

But for the rest of us, the other 99.9%, we just have to work our butts off, work a part-time job teaching (or whatever) to pay the bills, budget our money and time carefully (because time is money you know), push ourselves into the studio even when we’re not inspired, promote ourselves, network, be in the right place at the right time, and of course do all the other work that needs to get done after the work is made (document, photograph, website, social media, frame, pack ship, keep an inventory, etc., etc.).  This option is where most artists find themselves and it’s a good place to be since if you’re living frugally, you’re probably living simply, which frees up headspace for creating.  It also separates the art from money making.  Having sales drive your work is a slippery slope and can lead to Thomas Kinkade-like crap.  So then it comes down to doing the work, getting into the studio and all of the hard work that both the spouse supported artist and the trust fund artist also have to do, though they can hire assistants to their fridge work.  Bottom line... making art is hard work and we’re miserable if we’re not creating!  The payoff is that it’s like a drug, Ecstasy probably, when it all goes well and that’s what keeps us going.