So, my journey of being an artist and owning a small business in these economic times comes to no surprise that it can push me over the edge with stress and anxiety.  The biggest fear I’ve had since September 2008 (when the economy collapse was heard all over the world) is, “How am I going to pay my rent?  My bills?  My student loans?”  I went from making $2000-$7000 a month from 2006-2008, to making only $9000 in 2009.  Yup!  $9000 in ONE WHOLE YEAR…  and with that comes the nagging fear of the future.

I’m writing this, not to complain, but to share with you what I do when anxiety creeps up on me.  I watch two specific videos (below) from Byron Katie to calm me down, and then I keep working.  When I start feeling anxiety again, I watch the videos again… and again and again.  It would be too easy to ease the anxiety with things like food or alcohol, but I’ve decided that these videos work for me and hopefully you can find some peace by watching them too.  It’s worth a try.

This interview is part of Laura’s Artist Series.  Listen to the interview to hear about my journey of how and why I became an artist.  I also talk about money (including how much money I used to make before and after the economic collapse) and how the economic crisis negatively and positively affected my art career… and my life.

Listen to the Artist Series interview!

Here’s a video about The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money; by one of the authors, Chris Guillebeau.

“If you have a friend that dreams of one day becoming a full-time artist, think about buying them this guide. It would be such a great gift! I mean really… what better gift than to give your loved ones inspiration and knowledge in how to pursue their dream job? Seriously, name me one gift better than that.” – Soniei, Full-Time Contemporary Artist

Buy The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money!

I care about my customers.  However, at times, I think I care TOO much.

Sometimes the customer’s disappointment is my fault, but I’ll do everything in my power to fix the situation.  Most times those customers will leave happy or return again for more business.  It makes me feel good to know that I’m trustworthy and I’m doing my best to satisfy my customers.

Other times, I get a customer whose problem I cannot fix.  The disappointment usually has to do with the post office delivery time.  I ship paintings within two days of receiving payment for the painting, and then the delivery is totally out of my control.  If a parcel is late, open communication is essential.  After I call the Post Office or US Customs, explain to the customer why the parcel is late, the customer is usually very patient.  However, every once in awhile the buyer will reply with a nasty email, usually with reasons as to why they will never buy paintings from me again.  Even though I know I can’t fix the problem and I had nothing to do with the slow delivery, I still feel horrible.

Again, I care TOO much.

There are those types of customers that you just cannot please, no matter what you say or do.  I have to learn how to deal with such customers, without getting knots in my stomach and losing my mind.  The illogical stress can’t be good for me.  So when I have to deal with these bad eBay buyers who are blaming me for things that are obviously out of my control, I’m going to start repeating to myself:

“Their anger has nothing to do with me.”

There’s a problem with the customer that’s much deeper than getting a late parcel in the mail.  My job is to make and sell art, not to fix people.

(You may also want to read How to be at Peace Around Negative People.)

Here’s a video about The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself; by the author, Chris Guillebeau.

This guide will help you learn how to start a small business and create personal freedom through self-employment!

Buy The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself!

The Orchid and Patience

At the end of its blooming cycle, the orchid is less appealing without its stunning flowers.  However, with continuous nurturing of the orchid, one day it will unexpectedly bloom again.  Your patience is rewarded.

My Impatience

Although I’m a Canadian artist, 90% of my customers used to be Americans buying art to furnish new homes and buildings.  By early 2008, I could feel the economic crisis begin to sneak up on my business.  However, in September 2008, it hit me right in the wallet.  I lost about 80% of those customers within a few months, and my struggle as a self-representing artist began.

Now, in this dump of an economy, I’m in survival mode to pay bills.  I’m always in a rush.  Nothing in my work can be done fast enough, except for when I paint.  If I even try to rush through a painting, I just create a catastrophe.

These days, I’m impatient more often.  I think it stems from feeling like there’s never enough time in a day to do everything that needs to be done.  Thankfully, I work alone so I rarely get the chance to annoy anyone.

The day I created the Nintai (Patience) painting was a day I particularly had to remind myself to be patient with the circumstances of my business and this economy.  Like the orchid, with patience and constant nurturing, I believe that someday my art career will bloom once again.

Painting to the Left

Despite aesthetics, I didn’t want the flowers of the orchid at the center of the painting.  I simply didn’t want the reward, the flowers of the orchid, to be the focal point.  I wanted the patience required to wait for the reward to be the focus of the artwork as well.

Here’s a video of me, Soniei, trying to explain the evolution and inspiration behind my contemporary Japanese art, canvas art, and art prints.

This video includes a brief explanation of how I left the 9-5 work world to live my dream as a full-time artist.

My review of this guide is:

“WOW! BRAVO on writing such a GREAT guide! I wish that I had read this when I first started out as an artist!”

Even though I’m featured as one of the artists in this guide, I have to say that I’ve learned valuable tips and tricks that will help me in my business. This guide is definitely perfect for all stages of an artist’s career, especially for visual artists (painter, photographer, sculptor, illustrator, and other crafts).

One last note before I stop writing and go paint: If you have a friend that dreams of one day becoming a full-time artist, think about buying them this guide. It would be such a great gift! I mean really… what better gift than to give your loved ones inspiration and knowledge in how to pursue their dream job? Seriously, name me one gift better than that.

Here’s a video of one of the authors, Chris Guillebeau, describing The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money.

Here’s a video of the other author, Zoë Westhof, talking about The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money.

I hardly have enough time to breathe as is. I work 80-120 hours a week just to make ends meet as a contemporary Japanese artist.* I spend so much time in my art studio that I frequently get emails from my family and friends to see if I’m still alive. Every second of my life is pretty much booked solid and I just decided to start learning Japanese again. Wait… what!?!

I must be crazy!! What I really need is to catch up on sleep!

I used to know some Japanese while living in Japan. However, a decade has passed without me hearing or speaking the language, so I pretty much lost the language. The only thing I kept up was my practice of Japanese calligraphy (Zen Brushworks) **.

Since my memories of Japan are still vivid in my mind and this country is one of the greatest influences in my Japanese art, it only makes sense that I study its culture and language once again. Although I’m currently way too broke to visit Japan, I hope my studies will help me bring more depth into my art. After all, I’m always looking for ways to make my artwork undergo an evolution.

As I’m learning Japanese, from absolute beginner to hopefully an advanced level, I will be posting my written and audio notes in my blog. I was going to take notes anyway, so I might as well post them online. Even though I’m far from an expert in this language, I believe that you don’t have to be an expert to pass on the knowledge that you DO have.

Another great thing about posting my written and audio notes is that, if you so happen to speak the Japanese language, you can always correct me if I make a mistake because this is how I will learn. All comments on my blog will be appreciated.

* Please don’t feel sorry for me. I love my work and I gladly sacrifice my time / life for art.

** My Zen Brushworks are not available to the public.  Why?  Go to my blog post “Japanese Zen Brushwork and Its Influence on my Zen Sho Collection” to find out more.

Here’s a video of me, Soniei, trying to explain the evolution and inspiration behind my Japanese art.

This video includes a brief explanation of how I left the 9-5 work world to live my dream as a full-time artist.

I’m so excited to announce that I’ve been picked for the Fine Art Registry’s (FAR) featured artist of the month and got another article written about me!

The article, Serene Inspiration by Georgianna Lane, is about how I became a full-time artist, where I get the inspiration for my paintings, how I use the FAR system and different websites to market myself, and much more!

Artists should definitely consider looking at www.fineartregistry.com to see how it can help market and protect their artwork.

To Georgianna: Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a beautiful article! You are so kind, patient and understanding. I’ll never forget when you wrote to me in an email and said, “… hang in there. This planet is not rigged to nurture artists, when artists are the very thing it needs”. I felt such a sense of validation for all the sacrifices I’ve made, and those that I’m still making, just to be an artist. Thank you for those words.

FAR Article:  http://www.fineartregistry.com/featured_artist/soniei.php

Here’s a video about The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money; by one of the authors, Chris Guillebeau.

“If you have a friend that dreams of one day becoming a full-time artist, think about buying them this guide. It would be such a great gift! I mean really… what better gift than to give your loved ones inspiration and knowledge in how to pursue their dream job? Seriously, name me one gift better than that.” – Soniei, Full-Time Contemporary Artist

Buy The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money!

Lloyd Lemons, a microBusiness advisor, writer, copywriter, marketing consultant (and much more!), posted an article on his blog called Soniei, an artist and a MicroBusiness?. The article touches on my experience and challenges of merging my passion for art with business and marketing.

Don’t know what a microBusiness is? Lloyd defines this term in his blog post Will the Real microBusiness Owner Please Stand Up? I definitely recommend that you take a look and browse through his blog, especially if you’re thinking of starting a small business of your own. There are great business and marketing articles you don’t want to miss!

To Lloyd Lemons: I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to write about my experience as an artist and microBusiness owner!

Here’s a video about The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money; by one of the authors, Chris Guillebeau.

“If you have a friend that dreams of one day becoming a full-time artist, think about buying them this guide. It would be such a great gift! I mean really… what better gift than to give your loved ones inspiration and knowledge in how to pursue their dream job? Seriously, name me one gift better than that.” – Soniei, Full-Time Contemporary Artist

Buy The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money!

I want to thank Michael McCrea, from sohohelpdesk.net, for writing such a lovely blog post about me and my roommate, Peter. It’s so sweet!

If you want to get an idea of what I was doing before all this Soniei’s Contemporary Art business, and where I met my boyfriend Peter over 5 years ago (CDI), you must read this blog post called “Soniei’s Contemporary Art and Information Technology“.

Michael, you’re the best! I do miss the days when we used to hang out at CDI* College!

PS. For those who have bought my art for the past few years, you might be surprised that I used to be an Oracle Developer (relational database management system… say what?).

PPS. For all of you out there… if you can’t pronounce ‘Soniei’, you can always call me Melissa. Or Jimmy, or sexy nerd girl, or whatever you prefer.

*CDI College of Business & Technology, where the IT peeps chillax yo.

Here’s a video of me, Soniei, trying to explain the evolution of my art and the inspiration behind my contemporary paintings.

This video includes a brief explanation of how I left the 9-5 work world to live my dream as a full-time artist.

Mr. Cyr, I still can’t believe how generous you are! Thank you so much for believing in me and my dream!!

Oh, and thank you for helping me out every way that you can. Seriously… MERCI!!!! My goal in life is to someday become your sugar-mamma.

Also, a big thank you to my parents. How many times did I call to say, “Moooooom, Daaaaaad” and they said, “How much do you need?” My financials haven’t been the greatest in the past year (do I really have to mention the economy?) and they never once told me to quit being an artist when my business went from bad to badder to badderer to badderest. I’ll pay you back every penny, and more, someday. I’ll be your sugar-daughter.

And Delia Comeau, she’s the reason I’m not naked. Seriously, everyone should thank her for this!! I’m on a super strict budget and she gives me awesome hand-me-down clothes. Also, thank you for understanding that I never have the time or money to go out but you keep being my friend. Hopefully, someday I get to be your sugar-friend.

You guys are the best and I love you all very much!!!

Also, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to all of those who have bid on my paintings on ebay in the past!! You keep my dream alive and strong!

*2 full weekends included… plus working a full time job!

Here’s a video about The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money; by one of the authors, Chris Guillebeau.

“If you have a friend that dreams of one day becoming a full-time artist, think about buying them this guide. It would be such a great gift! I mean really… what better gift than to give your loved ones inspiration and knowledge in how to pursue their dream job? Seriously, name me one gift better than that.” – Soniei, Full-Time Contemporary Artist

Buy The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money!