You’re absolutely right, having an art career takes a lot of work and can be a struggle. Sounds like you have a good foundation already built and are facing the obstacle of discovery.
Some out of the box things that may help:
- Submit to juried art shows inside and outside of the scene here. Building up an exhibition history sends a strong signal and continued actions on that front brings recognition & more eyes to your work. If you’re finding collectors won’t take a chance on up and coming artists, showing in exhibitions will help you leap from up and coming ➡️ established. Some great resources to find opportunities like that are: slideroom, submittable, callforentry
- If you have the means, hire an art business consultant like the great
@AlanBamberger. I’ve hired him three times over the course of my career and each time seriously leveled up my approach. The first time I scraped and saved my pennies for a meeting and it’s one of the best decisions I made. If you go that route, come prepared with your goals and clear aims so he’ll better know how to help you.
- Partner with a mentor or someone unbiased who can give you an honest portfolio review of your current work. As artists it’s a very vulnerable thing to do, but I promise only the first time is scary! Having another set of eyes on a wip can help confirm or deny whether what you’re trying to convey in your art is working or not.
- I know this might sound fruitless but keep grinding because you never know when lightning will strike. Artists like
@m0dest___ @MaNiCArt_ @8thproject1 found loads of recent success after extended time in the scene, so it is possible. 🤝 Luck favors the prepared.
There’s lots more but hope this little bit helps ✨