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10 Ways To Remain a Starving Artist

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1 Don’t set goals.
2 Never ever think about money.
3 Keep your artwork to yourself—don’t show it, don’t talk about it.
4 Don’t tell anybody you’re an artist.
5 Spend all of your time in your studio. Don’t bother marketing—let your art stack up.
6 If people are buggin you to buy your artwork say it’s not for sale—it’s not priced—that will deter them.
7 Go at it alone—don’t get any help.
8 Stay away from artists earning money.
9 Expect instant success.
10 Wait to be discovered.

This list was compiled by Martha Zlatar, Art Business Consultant at the Small Business Development Center of San Francisco. Google certainly has a number of references to Ms. Zlatar, however Ms. Zlatar is Vice President of Marketing and Special Events with 12 years experience in Event Management, Market Research, International Business, and Art Business Consulting at Paragon Strategies in San Francisco.
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Originally published on Photo Business News & Forum on May 1, 2007. Comments are closed; this post is part of the archive.

5 thoughts on “10 Ways To Remain a Starving Artist”

  1. Photographers do this for a living, every single day — they point their lenses toward every single corner of our world and somehow make the mundane mesmerizing through their artistic eye. It’s all a matter of being aware of your surroundings and realizing that there are some really amazing and interesting things to look at, even if it may just be something so simple as a wall being covered up by paint.

    Ward Jenkins, Ward-O-Matic, 03-14-2005



    There are only two kinds of freedom in the world; the freedom of the rich and powerful, and the freedom of the artist and the monk who renounces possessions.

    Anais Nin (1903 – 1977)



    Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything.

    Eugene Delacroix (1798 – 1863)
  2. Thanks for the swift kick in the ass. I’m guilty of 2, 3 (in the “real” world), 7 and 8. Being in Marketing, I actually know better but my “work” identity is not as an artist. I’ve had plenty of people say they are interested in purchasing my work but my response is “I’m not there yet… wait”
    Time to do something about this…
  3. Action without study is fatal.
    Study without action is futile.

    Mary Beard (1876-1958)
    American Historical Writer
  4. Reading this article reminded me that I need to get to work! As a freelance photographer – I know that I need to get my name out there. One thing I’ve been doing is posting my art on imagekind.com. This site lets me upload photos from my flickr site and sell them (how cool, huh?!)

    If you want to check out my gallery, here’s my site: http://meredith-roma.imagekind/roma

    If you have time leave me a comment and remind me to upload more!!
  5. These step make no since step ten contidics everything before it you cant wait to be discovered if you arent willing to network and meet people being discovered only works if someone know you are there this list only works is you are dead you art work will only be know after your dead the fact is network yourself be known for what you do make you voice heard do something to get out there this women had no idea what see is talking about

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