The ground has been shifting a bit in the art world over the past five years or so, and it has caused quite a stir. The "how to make a living" question in the arts is more open, and more confusing, than ever.  Artist of all ages are faced with the  of seeing "old school" models challenged and new  independent "entrepreneurial" models arise: how do you choose the right path for you?

This is a question I am (naturally) heavily invested in as both an artist and educator. While I certainly don't have any conclusive answers, I have found a lot of great online resources, many of them free. Here are a few of my favorites from the past year. If you have any you'd like to add to the list, feel free to put them in the comments. (For my Facebook friends, this is going to be pretty redundant.)

To start, a great article on the in flux state of the art world from the Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/the-death-of-the-artist-and-the-birth-of-the-creative-entrepreneur/383497/

Some inspiration from Terisita Fernandez: http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/12/29/teresita-fernandez-commencement-address/

A really, really great ebook  from Artist U. which helps provide direction and inspiration. I cannot recommend this highly enough! http://www.artistsu.org/making/#.VK1VG4rF8XE

Need an art coach? (hint, if you are just starting out, or just out of school,  the answer is "yes." If you have been doing this for a long time but want to find out how to get your work to the next level the answer is "yes." If you have been doing this for a long time and have become jaded and cynical the answer is "no," unless you are willing to let go of your negativity)
 Here's mine:
Klein Artist Works: http://kleinartistworks.com/
here's another offer from an artist I know (a bit), Sergio Gomez. I haven't taken any classes from him but I think he would be great. There are also a lot of free resources on his site:
The Artist Next Level: http://www.theartistnextlevel.com/

A few "practical" links:
CaFe (Call for artists): https://www.callforentry.org/
Juried Art Services:  http://www.juriedartservices.com/
Live in the Greater Chicago area? : http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? I got this little nugget of wisdom from Elaine's daily devotional book. She read it out to me as we were driving to South Carolina over Christmas break. When I heard it I thought it made sense, especially in light of a) my more demanding work responsibilities b) my desire to simplify/ organize my home and work environments, and c) the recent value I have found in a more contemplative artistic practice.  OK, I thought, I now have a New Year's resolution.

Then I read the fine print:

I like the first part of that bit, but to be honest with myself I'm a little apprehensive about the latter part. Rather, I am more concerned that I am "some people." I hate to have to admit that but it's true. I'm not sure I am ready to let go of my busy-ness. I'm not sure I really want to "do less," unless it leads to some kind of tangible "achieve more," and I'm pretty sure that's not the kind of "achievements" the author had in mind. 

Polly Laffitte, former curator of the SC Museum of art, once described my work as combining "the frenetic pace of modern life" with the "slow, deliberate pace" of working with clay. I always thought that was a great description of what I was doing. That felt like achieving some kind of balance. But now I feel like it's a false balance, one that is achieved by running back and forth from one side of the teeter totter to the other. I'm not so sure that's sustainable anymore. Anyone else feeling this problem?

So, while I am not quite ready to make "do less, achieve more" a full blown resolution, I will at least adopt it as my "reso-mantra"- a reminder I can give myself throughout the year to help focus my puppy-like attention span.  If I can walk, instead of run, from one side of the teeter totter to the other it'll be a nice improvement. 

As a practical measure, I am gong to start by putting all of my goals in one basket. I got this idea from the free e-book "Making Your Life as an Artist." I have typically thought of my life as a series of competing roles, each with it's own set of goals, all vying for time on my calendar: artist, husband, father, teacher, tennis player...etc. I am going to try to think of all the goals I have as essentially "equal," and then prioritize them and put them into seasons of the year. The idea here is twofold: 1) to stop thinking that all goals are in competition but rather see them as dominoes that stack and fall in order and 2) to develop more realistic expectations of how much I can accomplish (which theoretically should allow me to better prioritize and say "no" to peripheral projects).

We'll see how this turns out next year.