Kids Don’t Run Businesses, they just run.

When I was young, I took my sketchbook everywhere. Car rides, vacation, school, family gatherings, it was with me. It made me happy. I drew in it all the time but at some point I put it down for a while. 

I had not been in art class since I was 13 when on my 18th birthday, I decided I wanted to paint. I have not stopped painting. I am 21. Over the last 3 years, painting has brought me relaxation, excitement and lots of new ways to create art. Creating art has become one of my favorite things and allows me to re-enter that child-like excitement. 

When I was 19 I put several of my favorite paintings out for sale during an art event at my church. To my surprise, one or two of them sold and I was hooked on the feeling of connecting to others with creativity. Seeing them look at my work for the first time, and the way it made them feel, to then becoming something they could see all the time was instantly addicting to me.

At the beginning of last year, I began to reflect on how I could continue to do this. I thought selling my art could be an incredible way to impact people because I believe the value of art is worth more than dollars. To give someone the chance to improve their everyday experiences by making them think or to feel thought about or even just having something nice to look at in their home from time to time. This is the goal of sharing my art.

After thinking about it for a while, I launched the beginning of my art store from which my friends could buy my art. Since then I have learned a lot and my passion has grown. But negative feelings also appeared for the first time. I don’t want to lose sight of why I love making art in the first place as I sit among thoughts of making art as a business vs making art as a passion, and how they can be the same and different. I struggle with guilt from trying to monetize my passion while also being aware that my creativity belongs in the world and I have to eat – that I am not responsible for the way the world revolves around money. As kids, we do things because we want to, not because we expect to make money from them. Our ability to create is natural and fulfilling by itself. If we let it, our sense of value can shift to how much our creation can serve us further beyond the original joy of making it.

I have realized that without telling my story, and sharing these thoughts, no one will have the chance to know or care about the weight I place on myself and how much of my energy goes into the things I am working on. People will only have a chance to see the product at the end and it may or may not have any real impact on them. But if I continue to let these thoughts inhibit me from putting my art into the world, nothing will come from this energy at all. 

So what I know for certain right now is that I want to continue making art. I want to share it with other people and bring good to them with it. And I want my art to be for sale . . . but I also want to understand that cost and maintain my child-like love of creating. Bringing joy to others with my creativity is way too valuable to not do.