Originally I put the following blog post up on ko-fi titled “Procrasti-no-tion”, but seeing as how that was in May and now it’s September and I’ve not at all managed to move ahead with the plans I had back then, it really can’t be called anything else than self sabotage. For a minute I thought about leaving this blog post out of the mirroring process to my own page here, since it probably comes off even more embarrassing now than it did then, but the point of this is to be authentic after all. Besides, omitting mistakes and low points doesn’t make for a good depiction of process and future high points will feel all the sweeter for it. Too much time passed idly and I might be in a worse situation now, but the sentiment of the original blog post still applies, so here we go:
Procrasti-no-tion
Originally my next blog post was to be about the highly variable perception of value and how my own perspective was shaped and skewed in a way that made it one of, if not the biggest obstacle to turning my work into a proper income. Then I realized I was using the article-to-be-written as yet another reason to delay having to price and list the pieces here for actual sale. So I lined them up to snap pictures for this quick blog post intended to keep me from dallying any longer. Except that was a long while ago by now as well, highlighting just how deeply seated this issue is for me.
I still plan on writing that article, since I believe reflecting and putting my thoughts into words can help not just myself, but others as well. It’s not an uncommon thing amongst even professional artists to still undervalue themselves along with their work and like a friend recently pointed out, growing up around that will feed right back into the cycle.
That said, there are really no valid reasons to postpone selling my work, let alone an article meant to illuminate the invalid reasons. It is high time to find new loving homes for my art and to be quite candid, I need to make money off these skills I’ve cultivated over the years while entirely neglecting the business ones.
The intent behind this blog post is two-fold. For one it’s an announcement that I will start to price my pieces and put up listings (and stick to itsince it’s written here, in the open. Shout out to my friend who keeps patiently nudging me to do so, despite my repeated failings!) and the second is as a sort of heads-up to anyone who has been following me, seen my art on twitter through the years and maybe had their eyes on something they like. It will probably take me a while to decide on prices and combat further procrastination, so until then is the time to message me if you have an interest in any of my pieces before others try to snag them. (Even better if you know what you’d like to spend; send me an offer and maybe we’ll both be happy with that.)
While a post like this might feel quite unprofessional and in a way embarrassing, it is also authentic me and I much prefer that to writing a fully serious, pretentious artist bio about myself in the third person trying to convince people of something I’m not.
Ideally this post will one day serve as a reminder about how far I’ve come. In a future where I create, price and sell my art without holding back. Let’s see how long it takes me to get there.
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Thank you,
Horst-Peter