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the everyday life of a working artist

Is Being an Artist Competitive?

8/8/2016

5 Comments

 
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"Warming Tones"
Abstract, 24" x 24"
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Now that the Olympics are here (and I am totally obsessed) I thought it might be interesting to talk about the competitive side of being an artist. It's scary to me how competitive our industry is. Of course, it's competitive only if you want it to be.

I love sports and all of my boys (including my husband) are very athletic. I am a huge sports fan and I love cheering on my boys and my favorite teams. But when it comes to competition in my art business? No thank you.

I don't really enter art or painting competitions. I have in the past but it's been years. I think art competitions are great for other artists but they just aren't a priority for me. Instead my biggest competitor is myself! I have an internal desire to succeed and I pretty much motivate myself. In fact I have a tendency to pull away from other artists who are really competitive. Art is such a personal journey that I am uncomfortable when I sense it's becoming a competition. Usually I just step out of the "race".

My internal competition is mostly based on my personal art goals and how I hope to accomplish them. I spend a lot of time thinking about getting better and I like it that way. I also don't mind sharing my journey with other artists which includes my success and my failures. I figure we all make mistakes along the way, right? So why not share them with others if they can learn from my failures? Plus sharing them outloud really makes me what to do better next time. Ha.

Do you fell that your life as an artist is competitive?

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5 Comments
Mary C. Nasser link
8/8/2016 06:07:30 am

Wonderful post, Leslie!!

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Janet Ledouc link
8/8/2016 06:17:56 am

Good post! Competition is built into every part of the art world that connects to the sale of art. And of course it is very arbitrary so that is different perhaps from sports competition. But that being said, to me it seems best to essentially ignore it, make the art, sell it however it seems best, and be supportive of the other artists in your world. So thats a goal not always achievable but great to keep in mind. For me, anyway!

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Annetta Gregory link
8/8/2016 06:42:54 am

Oh my gosh, YES! The competitive part affects my art in a negative way. I think comparing my art to others is so overwhelming and causes a loss of focus.

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Lisa Daria link
8/8/2016 11:26:05 am

Hi Leslie! This post is thought provoking - I view this described feeling as more of a debate instead of a competition. I think we should build a lineage of artists we admire that came before us and contemporaries - - I want to engage with what's going on around me, past, present and future and be informed, not so much competing, per se.

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Monica link
8/8/2016 10:35:44 pm

I used to be more concerned about others and about the competition. When I realized it was stifling my creativity I had to make a conscious decision to stop paying attention. Now I have mentors I look up to, and creating art is so much more enjoyable.

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