Is self-sufficiency through art possible?

[Michele Rushworth]

Mary, you wrote:

Michelle's comment about making a good product being more important than worrying about marketing it is very true. Portraiture has a way of selling itself.

Actually I said:

at least as important: let people know about it.

Marketing your work is as important as, if not more important than, making top quality paintings. There are some big name artists out there (whom I shall not name!) whose work is so-so but they have become well paid and famous anyway. And we all know many artists whose work is excellent but who languish in obscurity.

It's a double edged sword: paint well, and market well.

[Mary Sparrow]

Ah, my bust. Sorry about that! However, it has been true for me. But only on a part time basis. With the exception of having a website, I have never advertised, it has taken care of itself and I have always had something commissioned on my table. I know that when I am ready to go back to work full time I will have to step it up, and that extrovert in me will need to cross over and figure out how to market myself.