Success as an artist
I watched the movie “Lovingly Vincent” the other night with a friend. It is a completely painted movie about the life of Vincent Van Goh, the famous Dutch artist. The movie is phenomenal and I highly recommend it to anyone who is an artist or is an avid fan of art. Van Goh’s works are masterpieces of Impressionism. He is my second favorite non-iconographer artist, only behind Monet. I absolutely LOVE his work. In the movie it was pointed out that during his brief 8 years of painting before he died, Van Goh painted over 800 pieces. And yet he sold only 2 pieces during his life time. Now, over 100 years after his life, his pieces sell for millions, but during his life time he needed to have his brother Theo support him with the money to buy supplies to paint with. My friend who went to see the movie with me is an even bigger fan of Van Goh than I am, having a tattoo of the famous painting of him on his arm. He was shocked to hear that only 2 of Van Goh’s paintings sold during his life time.
This very fact got me thinking about the meaning of success as an artist. I struggle with this idea quite a bit, mostly due to my own insecurities. I have never felt like I was successful as an artist, mostly because I do not paint churches full of icons like some of my friends do, and further because my icons are not nearly as technically sound as some of my other friends work. And yet, when I was actively painting icons, which I hope to get back to rather soon, I always had a non-stop list of commissions to work on for others. When I was actively selling prints of my work, I always had a non-stop supply of orders for prints of my work.
By the life time standards of Vincent Van Goh, I have been highly successful over the past 20 years of painting icons. Icons painted by my hand are on multiple continents. I have icons in churches, even if I do not have nearly as many as I would like to have in churches. They have been published in magazines, books and textbooks, and I was paid for the publishing in the books and textbooks! Three different Orthodox Bishops have icons painted by my hand. There is a family who have told me they consider me a member of their family simply because of the sheer number of icons and icons prints which I have produced which they have gracing their home! I taught a student how to paint icons, taking her from not knowing how to properly hold a paintbrush to being a competent iconographer in her own right. I have sold hundreds of prints of icons that I have painted and have sold dozens of icons during my time painting.
In spite of my own emotional struggles with art, I have done well enough that it would make the great Vincent Van Goh ask me how I was so successful! Thus, I think it is time to re-evaluate my own standards and my own assessment of the success of my work over the past 20 years. If you are out there struggling with whether your art is any good and struggling with motivation to keep going in your art, consider this fact: if you have sold 2 or more of your paintings during your artistic career, then you are more successful than one of the greatest artists in history was during his life time! If this does not motivate you, then perhaps you, like myself, need to re-evaluate your own definition of artistic success. Keep painting, drawing, photographing, dancing, turning, potting, etc. Whatever form your art takes, keep doing it!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!!!
