STORIES FROM WONDERLAND
The Pain of the Right Path
March 12th, 2025
The Pain of the Right Path
I know all too well what it’s like to make the safe choice. You know ones where you have that boring sense of security but feel dead inside. I spent many years in an office cubicle dreaming and plotting my way out. Being a traveling artist, I have found that a lot of my friends and peers out on the road flesh this concept out on a continual basis as well. I meet artists all the time that are hanging on to their day job for the insurance, or driving for Uber because the last show didn’t go so well and they need rent money. Some are well established and have a good nest egg, while others stress from show to show about finances.
I quit my office job a decade ago to pursue art full time. Granted, during those years I was a stay at home mom, but now my situation is different and I solely support myself and 15 year old son. Last year was a very successful year for me through the end of the summer. I had some record breaking shows, and it looked like, despite not having the luxury of another income,a day job was a distant, never to be revisited place. Once late September came around however, things started to drastically tighten up. The talk around the art community was that everyone was worried about the election. It’s kind of a known fact that election years for artists can be very unpredictable, even more so than just the general inconsistency of an artist’s life. Toward the late fall of 2024, I had four art shows left, and even a featured artist invitation. I had high hopes, but it wasn’t the best season for me. By late December I was internally asking myself, “Is this going to work? Do I really have to consider returning to the safety net and simultaneous horror of a 9-5?”
The 2025 show season began for me in February and let’s just say it’s left a bit to be desired. I started off in Orlando, and this past weekend was in a show here in Knoxville. The Webb School Artxtravaganza is a show I’ve done for over 10 years, and last year I did my best ever, but this year some of us were struggling through it. The topic came up again about the economy, or what might have caused the drop in sales, but nonetheless sometimes you just don’t have an answer. Some of my regular customers came and made it a fun experience (after all, you guys are what make it worthwhile).
On Sunday morning before I had to be back at the show, I made some coffee and pulled out my computer. It was really happening now. I started to tear up at the thought of all the years I’ve put in just to be back at this; contemplating not just the safe choice, but possibly a necessary one. While weeding through the job ads, I unexpectedly received an email from a customer I had met about 10 years ago. Her inquiry was about a very playful painting I had recently done, called “Happy Birthday Mr. Bear”. She decided to purchase this large piece, and in a matter of minutes I went from a dismal job search to slamming my computer shut!
I was talking with one of my very best friends yesterday about this whole situation and how it all transpired, and she very thoughtfully said to me, “See, that just goes to show you are doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing”. She doesn’t know, but on the other end of the phone I was fighting back tears. It has cemented in me more than ever that the right path is never the safe or easy one. I wrote a blog post about 6 years ago called A Penthouse In New York, which talks about my grandfather’s life as a commercial artist and taking risks. I re-read it again this morning.
I am, and will always be excessively grateful to my customers and collectors. If you are one, or support art in any way, please know that it is because of you that we keep going. It is because of you that we all choose the pain of the right path.
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