Painting New Orleans Blog

I think that I may have two stomachs, but both of them need to be filled.  My first stomach is my need to sell paintings and prints to make money in order to feed myself and my family. If when I look down at my waist, my belly hangs a bit over my belt buckle it means sales are good. If I find myself looking a bit trim it means that I probably haven't sold a painting in a while. Thankfully when I look down at my belly these days it’s just a little bigger than it should be. 

My second stomach is the validation I long for and sometimes get from people saying “Wow” when they look at my paintings. I think that deep down I need praise and appreciation to keep me motivated and to know I am on the right track with my work.  I recently had an art show and I found that I desired both sales and the sense from other people that I was doing something worthwhile. I have always been someone who can appreciate a kind word, so I never quite understood other artists when they would complain at shows when all they received was compliments. I understand the saying that you can't pay bills with compliments, but deep down those compliments may not fill my pockets but they fill something else. In person I might try to be humble but the truth is that the appreciation of my artwork is important to me. I take a lot of pride in my artwork and when people take notice it fills my other stomach.