Dear Jan, I like your blog and keeping positive is a key part of making great art and keeping energy flowing into your work so the creativity can move me. This year I realized a lot of stuff and where my place is in the art world. We I first started to market on ebay in 2008, I have been selling my works smaller paintings about 70 per year on ebay. The best part of that was just learning not the money part. While the money aspect has improved slightly has not compensated in a proportional way as my work improves and that is the nature of making art. Most of what sells is not due always to quality but marketing, how to sell a better mouse trap vs the other artist competing for the same dollars. Rather than to get into that rat race more I have decided not to push any sales at all, rather share my work with organizations that can not directly buy or afford my work, and help them bring in more member to their organizations and help them to prosper. I get a lot more satisfaction for this and I have total artistic license and when I do my work is the very best, so my best work matters and I do not compare my work to other artists and what they are doing. I set my own bar and do my art, enjoying every aspect to how that works for me. I'll accept some donations back, and those funds help me with materials so that helps over the year not to take out of our household budget which can get me into trouble too.
