“You are a Prima Donna not a business person” shouted my boss in that tiny falafel place in Philadelphia, in 1985. I don’t even remember what I did for that response. However, I do remember how I responded to the accusation. I was going to prove him wrong. I would spend the rest of my life in conversation with the business person and the artist, in my decision making processes.
“Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.” Andy Warhol
Now, whether you appreciate Andy Warhol or not, he sure moved around many artists supplies and rolls of money. Warhol treated the spreadsheet, press release and launch party as creative endeavors. Who gets to determine what art is and it’s value? The customer and the consumer potentially. As hard as it is charging for, marketing and making something duplicatable from your artistic investigations and body of work, it is important. Read more here. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/arts/design/andy-warhol-inc-how-he-made-business-his-art.html
Alternatively, exchanging dollars for hours at a regular job to support your art is a clean way to grow. You are not dependent on an audience to cater to. You are free to do a deep dive into your endeavors. Unfortunately, most well meaning people get pulled into the work world and family. Soon, Sunday artist turns to holiday artist. Eventually, the basements and closets are filled with long forgotten ideas, piles of pieces and no eyes to see them. Sometimes you get paid to do creative work, but then your own investigations are left by the wayside.
It is the soul yearning to express and communicate through art that when suppressed by more “responsible” activities becomes unbalanced and ill. Yet it can go too much focused on interior and lost in its madness. I have been down both roads. This book provides a eight step process as a way to blend both the sensible and the irrational into your own personal revelations as you find the audience you need to support your work as you continues to bring through the Universal through the most personal expression of the life that you are currently living and will exit sooner then later.
It is a sojourn, into your own story. Chapter by chapter, week by week you are given a chance to become the dreamer in the story and embark on the quest of bringing together all that you have found valuable and finds the channels to let the work flow out into the world as a valuable, collectible offering. Each chapter explores an arts principle and helps you build out a marketing plan and customer base. Eight steps to design your own business experience that is functional, living and adaptable to change.
Scale, Movement, Rhythm, Variety, Balance, Emphasis, Unity and Harmony all refer to the patterns and relationships that are set up through the system that you have established or not established. These design principles are a visual language and can become the very core of the communication that you build within your company,
Why the arts principles? After earning my BFA at the university of the arts, in 1988, I was on a bus riding north to Canada, my home town of Waterloo region in Ontario. I heard that deep silent thought. It’s stated that the arts principles that I had learned were going to help in the process of creating heaven on earth. It wasn’t until 20 years later that I really began to understand how that could be.
Thus, the purpose of writing this book while in quarantine in an air B and B in Oregon. It is really writing to my younger self who made so many mistakes as she began her business believing that she needed help with business and could never master it. If she had known what I know now, the life story would have been very different.
- So the first week is from November 20–26 Focus on scale and proportion.
Really taking time to untangle and be free from limiting beliefs and identifying obstacles.
- November 27-December 3- Movement
This week is to streamline into doable joys with a growing trust in the process. What is wanting to bubble up into action and how can I encourage companions. What can I see from top level perspective.
- December 4–10 Rhythm
What would be the ideal rhythm between production and sales. Shows and networking, how often for people signing up. How is the rhythm for them. Do they know where to find you and how. How often do you reach out. How can you pace yourself if too busy? How can you speed up a your pace if too slow?
- December 11–17 Variety
List out all your channels and recourses, merge them into a space to hold and distribute,
See all the levels that people can become involved and. Impacted with your offerings. find your oar and write your statement and list your offerings.
- December 18–24 Balance
Look at energy input and output, financial in and out, create your own inner gps and leadership gauge,
- December 25- 31 EMPHASIS
A big week even tho holiday, this is your FOCUS, what is the pain your efforts are soothing? What is the need? Why do you do what you do? Communicate it, tell. Your story so people can tell it for you,
- January 1–7 Unity
Now attend to your mission statement an do research and surveys, call people and ask them. Look for unifying threads in the correspondence and keep track, develop more online media, video and social media with. Unifying statements, It takes. Many layers of education and trust building,
- January 8 -14 Harmony
Hurray! Your quest has come to a close, you have found some customers and more harmony within yourself and team, you can feel great about what you are offering the world.
I’ll be blogging here, on my Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram and will be holding weekly drop in zoom meetings on Mondays 12–3 as I work for any questions you might have.
