Painting as a Profession

I was in the UPS store the other day, mailing a large painting to a client, when a lady noticed what I was doing.  When she realized that I was the artist, she said to me, "That is a wonderful hobby".  I would loved to have explained to her that painting for me is not just a hobby, but it is my profession and business.  As I read in a recent blog post from gallery owner, Jason Horejs, most people do not realize that an artist is a small business owner and has much work to do to keep the business afloat.  There is making art, of course, but also, keeping inventory, participating in exhibitions and shows, keeping up with taxes, framing, packaging and mailing, writing a blog, posting on social media, pursuing gallery space and/or clients, emailing information about shows, and often much more.  It is truly a business that takes much more time than the actual making of the art.  Most artists do all of that themselves, because most artists do not have the funds to hire help.  Attached to this blog post is the painting I was mailing to Julie Ann Segal, Metro Interiors, Minneapolis, MN.