Is Being an Artist Competitive?

"Warming Tones"
Abstract, 24" x 24"
​Available here.

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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