MikeGould

Last year I exhibited at a Science Fiction Convention for the first time in many years. There was quite a lot of interest so this year I exhibited and priced some of the paintings. Since the Brexit vote things have gone a bit flat so overall sales at the event were down. However, I did sell 1 painting and this has given me some confidence that there is a market out there for what i do. My next target is Eastercon which is larger and I'll progress from there. I don't expect to earn a living from this - takes time and luck, but it is a great thing when someone wants to own something you have produced. Art is like children - you don't want to let go of it, but you know you have to. Art needs to be displayed and enjoyed, otherwise it serves no purpose.       

We all face the question. What do you do? People tend to define themselves by the job they do - yet for a lot of us the job is a source of revenue, not what we are. By the end of last year I was pretty much facing a crisis. Having gone through the redundancy/no redundancy fiasco in the summer, prepared myself for unemployment, getting back into the mindset of having a job,  I left with an overall sense of dissatisfaction with life. I was also left feeling guilty because a lot of people face not having a job ever day - what right have I to complain. A lot of the things I foresaw at work came to pass which confirmed my decision to ask for redundancy was then right one. One incident in particular annoyed me and I decided the time was right to rebrand myself as an artist and designer.

An artist is what I am - whatever I do for money. It has taken a long time to get to this place - too long, but although I can't afford to give up the day job it has given me a sense of purpose and i feel I'm being true to myself. I'm under no illusions that I will be able to make a living as an artist - how many artists in any medium ever do, but I feel positive about myself and my purpose which is important. I have targets to aim for - my latest work is becoming a project and I intend to use the skills from my day job to present it as a project and eventually exhibit.

My message is that if you feel you are an artist, don't be afraid to tell people. There are a lot of artists on DA who have days jobs. Whether you like the day job or not, whether you expect to make a living from art or not, you are all artists and should be proud to be so. Art is taken for granted, but without it how boring the world would be, and who would remind the human race that it is not perfect but should embrace imperfection. The artists is there to see beauty where others fail so wear your art with pride.            

 

When I was growing up you were either a Bowie fan or a Bolan fan. I was a Bolan fan. Not that I didn't like some of what Bowie did, I just didn't connect the same as many others did. As I've got older I've been better able to appreciate the enormity of what he achieved. While he was a shy man who hid behind his characters, he was at the same time fearless in his attempts to do something new. I lost interest in his music when he went more dancy - i was never much into disco or nightclubbing. Yet I have managed to reconcile with that period - the use of sound, the experimentalism, the arrangements and the production are exceptional. Even up to the end - when you look at his recent come-back albums. he was obviously aware of his own mortality - the revisiting of his back catalogue on Nothing has Changed, returning to earlier styles on The Next Day and the awareness of his impending death on Blackstar. With Blackstar and his new single Lazarus he has even provided his own eulogy. His death should be mourned by all artists as his life should be equally celebrated. He is proof that you can be successful without selling out your art.

People so often define themselves by their job. and often that will typecast them. The positive reaction to my art last weekend made me think about how to progress my life as an artist. This week I was the brunt of an unwarranted attack at work, by someone not doing their job properly because i had done mine correctly and as a result shown them up. This was someone who held a position of authority and should have known better. The one thing you learn from life is that if you overstep the line, you should apologise. It may be embarrassing, but you should do it. However, it is past and I have taken a positive from it. I have rebranded myself as an artist and designer rather than a business analyst. My paid job is business analysis. However, I am an artist and that is where I see my future - even if I can't afford to give up the day job. I feel positive about it. I can now move forward.         

My wife and I spent the weekend at Novacon, the annual convention of the Birmingham Science Fiction group. For my wife it was partly an opportunity to promote her book, Floodtide. For me it was my first exhibition of my artwork in over 20 years. Commercially it wasn't successful as my wife didn't sell many books. However, it was good from a networking point of view as it is a chance to get your name known and to heighten your profile. Science Fiction fans are very open to the new and to diversity. I didn't go there to sell anything this year. However, the reaction was generally good and I think I could have made some sales which gives me hope for the future. Equally I could have made some purchases had I had the money. It also opened up the possibility of book cover work. Small press and self publishers are always on the lookout for artists as well as writers. All in all it was a positive experience. A lot of you on DA would go down well in SF & fantasy circles so my advice is to dip your toes in the water. Not everyone will like your work but there is an audience out there and it is about maintaining diversity and not letting corporate money guys control what we have access to.