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So you want to know how to actually make a living as an artist? You're in the right place! For the last 25 years, I've made my living using my creative expression and I'm going to share with you the top things I've learned so you can begin actually making a living from your art.
You Can't Have Business Dreams with Hobby Habits A lot of artists "dream" of making a living from their art but few are actually willing to do what it takes. What does it take, you might ask? Things like:
Over the years as I've grown my own very successful art business (I'm a woven sculpture artist) and mentored literally thousands of Christian artists, I've found for an artist to really thrive, they have to cultivate 5 specific areas of their life: heart & mind, art, brand, business and life. Unless you are working on all these areas simultaneously, it's unlikely you'll be able to make a living as an artist. See, making work that is masterfully created and unique is simply the starting point. That's a given. It's ground zero. Once you're making work that's uniquely beautiful you've got to go about cultivating an authentic connection with your potential audience. For more on this subject, check out The Thriving Christian Artist Podcast. It's free and filled with hundreds of free episodes that will empower you on your creative journey toward actually making a living as an artist. Need some more help starting to cultivate those 5 hey areas? Take my "Start Thriving Now" ecourse. It's free and will be a big encouragement to you.
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Artists who are Christians need encouragement, inspiration and equipping as they pursue God's creative calling on their lives. Here are some of the best books for Christian artists on the market today:
Book artwork and descriptions are from Amazon.com descriptions and are the sole property of the copyright holder.
Artists who are Christians are often looking for inspiration and encouragement not only creatively, but also in their spiritual life and businesses as well. For most Christian artists, their faith is not something that's just ancillary to their journey, it's at the core of who they are and how they operate in the world. Rightly so! Over the years, I've been asked what podcasts are the best podcasts for Christian artists to be listening to and so I thought I'd create this quick post to share some of my favorites:
I was recently reflecting on my own journey, especially as it relates to fear. For many years, fear was a significant motivating factor in my life. Fear of...
You get the picture. My life was being ruled by all of this misplaced fear-based anxiety. I was living my life based on the lies of the enemy and not the Truth of God. We have all dealt with this at some point, some of us more than others. You know those times when fear takes hold, and you start feeling absolutely overwhelmed, even to the point of a panic attack, just not knowing what to do. One of the things I learned many years ago is THE KEY that God gave us in His Word that unlocks transformation in our lives. Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” I learned that if I want to experience life differently, I have to learn to think differently. I’m a firm believer in this concept of renewing my mind. I’ve been practicing it for years, intentionally cultivating God’s Truth in my heart for years. And despite all that, there are still sometimes things just come out of the blue. When I’m tired, mad, sad, hungry, upset, or frustrated, that’s when the enemy will come in like a flood to try to shut me down and overwhelm me. It happened to me just the other day. I was having a pity party. I was really starting to get anxious about situations that are really unlikely ever to happen, the “What Ifs” of life. And as this went on for a bit, the enemy began to blow these stories up to IMAX size in my head. I was just getting bombarded with those fears of What If…
And as the fear continued to grow, it began to morph. If it did happen, does that mean that…
As these things raced through my mind, I leaned into the truths I’d been cultivating in my heart for years. Pulling from my daily practice of renewing my mind, I realized I needed to turn to the Lord and not even try to be strong. I just needed to fall into His lap and say, “JESUS, I NEED YOUR HELP!” Now while this may seem an over simplistic solution, this simple act of trust broke something free in my life. Suddenly, instead of being in agreement with the fear, I began to agree with God’s truth…
As I did that, a beautiful thing happened. The Lord immediately went WHOOSH. It was like all of the fear, anxiety, and worry that was swirling around in my head just went, POOF, gone! It was like clouds starting to drift apart, and that’s when the Lord dropped this Scripture into my heart. “When you sit enthroned under the shadow of Shaddai. You are hidden in the strength of God most high. He is the hope that holds me in the stronghold to shelter me. The only God for me and my great confidence. He will rescue you from every hidden trap of the enemy. He will protect you from false accusations in any deadly curse. His massive arms are wrapped around you protecting you.” Psalm 91 – The Passion Translation And as I sat there, I realized that God had done it again. In my time of need, as I reached out to Him, He came in to dispel the enemy’s lies with the exact truth that I needed at that moment. My fear was getting caught in a “hidden trap,” something I didn’t see coming that would destroy the things I hold dear. That was my fear, the source of the anxiety that was creeping up that day, and Psalm 91 was the exact passage the Lord gave me. I believe that the only time God is limited in our lives is when we are unwilling to invite Him into the situation. If you and I sit there and struggle in our life by ourselves, the Lord is standing there waiting to bring a solution, waiting to bring breakthrough, but He is waiting for you to extend the invitation. He is waiting for you to fling open the door. He is waiting on you to run into His arms So my friend, listen! If fear is one thing that tries to come on you regularly, follow my example. When you find yourself in the middle of the fear, just fling yourself on Jesus! Turn up the worship music, lean into His arms, and say, “Father, I need You right now to come and break the power of the enemy.” I promise you. He will be faithful to show up and bring deliverance on your behalf and give you the tools you need to begin to renew your mind and walk in strength that is already yours in the Kingdom of God. I hope this helps as you continue to create with Him. If so, take a moment to share it with a friend, share it on social media, and comment below! Thanks for reading!
One of the questions that I get all the time is, “Matt, how do I find my artistic uniqueness and express that in the marketplace?” It’s a great question and a real sign that the artist asking it is ready to take their art to the next level. Why, you ask? Because differentiation and uniqueness are what set you apart from other artists in the marketplace.
Art, after all, is a language. It is visual, auditory, and it speaks to the soul of all people. Like the spoken language you use every day, your artistic vocabulary doesn’t just appear overnight. Here are three essential things you need to know about developing and refining your creative voice. You’ll Know It When You See It One of the things that I really believe about finding your unique, artistic voice is that you don’t find it; you recognize it. You uncover it. You allow it to emerge over time. However, one of the things artists often neglect is being in the studio enough to ever see that emergence happen. As you pursue this process, just start by doing the things that come naturally to you. Then, get in the studio and create tons and tons of work. Develop that masterful competency that only time and practice brings forth. And as you do, you’ll start to see themes and styles come out as your unique creative voice emerges. Consistently Cultivate Inspiration Creating lots of work over time forces you to cultivate continued inspiration in your life. As a creative, you must keep your artistic eyes and ears open all the time. As you receive that inspiration, you respond through your work. And then the inspiration/creation cycle starts all over again. As you cultivate inspiration, you start to recognize what you are interested in and drawn to as an artist. You begin to gravitate towards a preferred medium and limited palette of materials and supplies you’re using. You begin to recognize the things in life that inspire you the most, and you start to purposefully pursue that source of inspiration. One final thought on cultivating inspiration; be consistent, be intentional and be faithful. Get serious about cultivating inspiration in your life regularly. Then, faithfully steward those ideas by journaling them. (Need more tips on this, check out this podcast episode that is all about cultivating creative inspiration.) Don’t Rush the Process Creating tons of work and developing masterful competency while consistently cultivating inspiration takes time. One of the biggest roadblocks to artists developing their style happens when they pressure themselves to sell their work too quickly. Investing time in your art is the key. There is no shortcut to gaining experience and building skills, both of which contribute to developing your creative voice. Allow your voice to emerge, over time, then refine it. As you do this authentically, people will recognize your uniqueness and respond to it, giving you an excellent opportunity to connect with those people when you make your move to the marketplace. A Resource That Can Help I’ve taught on this subject many times over the years. Recently I put together a 6-part mini-course, Developing Your Unique Creative Voice. This course helps artists define and refine who they are and what they do as artists. If you are ready to start showing the real you through your art, then click here to learn more. I hope this helps as you continue to pursue the development of your own unique artistic voice. If this article has helped, take a moment to share it with a friend, share it on social media, and comment below! Thanks for reading.
You know, if you love making art as much as I do, it’s really easy to wonder, “Hey! Is my love of art and creating art crowding out my passion for Jesus and my desire to worship Him? Is it becoming an idol in my life? I don’t know if you have ever thought about that, but recently Tina, one of our Podcast listeners, asked me that very question.
Fear By Any Other Name Is Just Fear Sometimes the enemy will disguise himself as wisdom when it’s just plain old fear. When I hear a question like this, I find that it’s often rooted in a place of fear: Fear of messing up, fear of not doing it right, fear of disappointing God, and others. It’s born out of a wrong mindset that is all too prevalent in the church and the Christian art community. This false idea that “Unless you do it exactly like this, or get exact permission to do this much but not that much, then you are somehow going to do it wrong.” Bottom line, God isn’t like that. I really believe that God cares so much more THAT we create than WHAT we create, or even how much we create. I believe that it brings God joy when we do the thing that He has called us to do. It is like the quote that I included in “Unlocking The Heart of the Artist” from Saint Irenaeus that says, “The Glory of God is man Fully alive.” That is, as you do the thing that God has called and created you, nothing else could bring greater glory or greater joy to the Father. So instead of a fear-based approach that is borne out of a faulty mindset, I want you to embrace this confident heartfelt belief in your art that says, “Yeah! When I do this thing, it is what God designed me for,” and that brings Him glory. Art Is A Vehicle for Grace If you are struggling with this question, then I want you to embrace the fact that art is a means of grace. It’s one way we can experience the grace, love, and manifest presence of God in our life. This grace is not only for ourselves but also for others as God uses our art to reveal and release His nature in and through us. Always keep in mind that it’s God who created and called you to be an artist. It’s His artistic expression that He desires to bring to life through the talent and skill He gave you. The Father desires to bring you into this Spirit-led creative process, one that impacts and changes not only you but others as well. Again, nothing brings Him greater glory than for you to be able to do the thing that He has called you to do. That, my friend, sounds like the exact opposite of idolatry. Keep Your Eyes on The Creator, Not the Creations For all of us who are believers, art should never be the entire focus of our lives. Art for art’s sake isn’t why you were endowed with your unique set of creative gifts and talents. Rather, art is a vehicle through which we experience the love of God, hear His voice, and allow His beauty, life, and life to flow through us to others. When anything in life becomes an idol, three things come to mind:
If the thing you create and the artistic passions you pursue begin taking on a life of its own and separating you from God, then yes, that could be a problem. Anything that supplants your relationship with Jesus and His Lordship in your life absolutely can become an idol. The secret to staying on the right path is to want to make sure that you see these beautiful things, these gifts that God gives us not as an end in themselves. Art, as I shared earlier, is a vehicle God uses to draw us close to Him. He uses it to transform our lives while He moves through us and the works of our hands to transform others. Art that accomplishes this is not an idol. I hope this helps as you continue to create with Him. If so, take a moment to share it with a friend, share it on social media, and comment below! Thanks for reading |
AuthorMatt Tommey is an artist, author and mentor who is passionate about empowering artists to thrive spiritually, artistically and in business. Archives
January 2021
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