Hello, I’m Juli and I’m a compulsive creative. I paint, crochet, collage, journal, design, sew, and illustrate. And for the past year I’ve been trying to incorporate all of these things into building my business. 10 out of 10 would not recommend.
We live in a society that honors a specialist. Much of our education is geared towards finding your niche, zeroing in on a subcategory of a subcategory of a subcategory. There is nothing wrong with a hyper specialized niche. Niching down is strategic for business. It’s very difficult for a multi passionate artist such as myself.
I’m in awe of the creative person who commits themselves 100% to one particular art form, maybe even a bit jealous (especially if it’s dance.) Truthfully, I’m terrified of a niche. I cling to all of my artistic pursuits with ferocious kitty claws not realizing that this holding is poking holes through my bigger goals.
So , here I sit, exhausted, after a year of trying to juggle painting miniature watercolor landscapes, designing stickers, maintaining multiple sketchbooks, illustrating collections to pitch to potential art licensing clients, feeling guilty for a myriad of reasons (a real energy suck), and crocheting like an absolute madwoman. Yikes.
On a bad day I feel silly about it all. My nightmare, the average American’s favorite question, the dreaded, “What do you do?” Of course they mean for money. (That’s a whole other can of worms, the guilt of trying to sell my art and products in this late stage capitalist hellscape of over consumption.) I digress. I respond with feeble attempts to explain myself, an elevator pitch that consists of me shrinking away in shame, mumbling incoherently of my unfocused, silly pipe dream of an art career. Yikes.
Girl, get it together. We are not here to continue on this old, beaten path of guilt, fear, and self doubt. No. We are here to share with the world, to give and receive abundantly.
As I review the past year, I created a lot of work, an abundance of work, really. Was it always focused and strategic? Hell no. Was some of it successful? Yes! (My inner critic wants to chime in here, to her, I say, not today.)
Welcome, comrade, to my knotty yarn ball of creativity! Let’s see where this thing goes.
I will not be crocheting handmade items as part of my creative business moving forward but she may return in the form of patterns in the future, stay tuned.