Searching After Wildness - journals of a photographic artist

Starting a new business is tough. Starting out as an artist can make some parents weep in concern. I’m almost through my first year as a fulltime photographer, and I am blessed with a warm home and a full stomach.

Much of my attention this year has been focused on how to stay or grow in business. This includes finding my target audience, figuring out the logistics of creating and selling work, and how to stay creative and create new images. In all the craziness of, “how does all this work?”, there have been some wonderful unexpected consequences.

One of those consequences is the pleasure of getting to know other artists. Many of my days involve working alone in the studio. The camaraderie of other artists helps us to inspire and spur each of us along.

Here’s an email from Martin, who I met in Louisville this past weekend:

My wife and I met you on Friday afternoon at the show (we asked if you knew relatives of ours who live in Indy). I must say, for me, your images were one of the highlights of the show. I recently began revisiting my watercolor practice after many years in the working world (which took me away from work with my hands). As we strolled the show my wife would point out watercolor paintings with the hope of inspiring me. I told her that what moves me most is great photography that presents images that inspire me to ask “How would I represent that in watercolor?” Your work inspired me in that way…. I really enjoyed your blog. I usually don’t like blogs but your insights into the creative process, use of light and playfulness were attractive to me in my own process of re-awakening my creativity…. Thank you for the inspiration.

Wow. I thank all of you for supporting my work, and continuing to inspire me. I hope that I may pass some of the same back to you.

For those of you curious about the life of emerging artists, check out Deanna Wood’s excellent blog, Artist, Emerging.