I'd prefer to be earning my living from painting, but there's no money in the arts (unless you're kissing the arse of some rich gallery owner), so I've settled for being a Sunday painter, and a dreary ol' public servant during the week. That way I get to retain my dignity - and eat and keep a roof over my head too!
Hi, Kerry - You don't know me but I'm around; I just don't say much. But I saw this in a magazine just after I had been reading some of the posts here and I immediately thought of you.
"Go to Paintsquared.com, a blog by Portlander (Portland, Maine, FWIW) Elizabeth Fraser that chronicles her life through art. Each morning since January, the self-taught artist has posted a new 5"x5" oil painting on the site (one day a week she posts two) along with notes about the place that inspired it...Once the work is online, it's ready for auction on eBay, starting at $60.00 each. Some have sold for more than $200.00. 'I find that [the internet] is a great tool for people to see your work," Fraser says. Finding a way to fit artwork and computers together I think [is] something all artists should be doing'."
Maybe your Sunday painting could turn into something more than it is without jeopardizing the food in your refrigerator or the roof over your head!
(For the record, I've worked in the office of an educational non-profit for the last seven years. Most of the time I like it. I get to move around a lot most days, meaning that I'm not sitting at my desk all day, and the perks are good. We have a lot of freedom as far as what hours we work most days and don't have to worry about it if we need to make an appointment for a dentist or doctor or hair cut or whatever. We just put it on our bosses calendar and remind the other people in the office that we'll be late, or leaving early, and go. Sure there are days that we would all like to just leave and not go back but you get that just about everywhere, I think. And most of the time I feel that the work we're doing has some value, so that helps.)