15 Jun 2017, 00:02

@Christine-Garner - I'm responding to several of your posts in one reply:

Raymond Briggs was one of the artists I read up on in the beginning of this semester. His work is too rough for my liking but it is interesting how he plays on the relationship of words and art in his pieces. I don't quite understand what he's doing yet so it's still turning over in my mind.

The video you shared by Shoo Rayner is GREAT -- the autocaptions were tough reading but I got the gist of his message. Love how he said that going forward in a program that might not be an exact fit could still push you ahead in where you want to be. That was a big encouragement!

"All of this art stuff is very uncertain, I feel lately it may be a waste of time, or may never get me anywhere..." Roughly around 10 years ago I completely quit art. Life was intense at that time and I decided to walk away because I needed to be more 'practical.' Then my knee tore apart in an accident. Goodbye, 'practical' plans! I kept drawing from time to time, increasing over the years -- and realized that art brings me so much joy. I couldn't walk away from myself. 🙂

If art brings sunshine to your life, then it is not a waste. If art is something that consistently wells up from within you over a long, sustained period of time, then most likely it is meant for you. I'm not anxious about whether or not art is for me -- but as @tombarrettillo and @TessW astutely observed it's the pressure of my current situation that's obscuring my vision. Storms of anxiety happens from time to time but over the last 20+ years art has been a consistent current in my life. If it is a current in yours, then maybe keep following it to see where it goes.

Re: jobs -- even as a freelancer it was hard to get work. What I did learn and see others say is to make what one wants to be working on, and be consistent about it. Someone will pay you for it eventually -- a slow snowball effect. It helps if you find your niche. The nice thing about freelance work is the ability to do it anywhere -- I raised my boys working from home for years. (Didn't make a living but it gave us a little extra.) YMMV.