Comments on: Coming Tomorrow: The Secret Connection* Between Art and Money

By: glennis

glennis — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:18:44 +0000

Hours to mastery, definitely. 10,000 hours, varies, maybe more-maybe less. I think the big idea to take away here is that if you want to succeed at making a living with your art, craft, writing, music etc., you better plan on doing an awful lot of it. Really enjoying what you do makes that much easier. And doing a lot of it, you learn how to do things more efficiently (increasing your profit) as well as perhaps correctly so that you can continue to do it throughout your life (and not suffer health issues as a result). But I would agree, you can also find yourself in a situation of having to unlearn some very bad habits. They teach the Alexander Technique to the music students at many universities.
I am a self-supporting artist-type living with a self-supporting musician with two musician type kids in college who want to do the same.
Thanks for all the info- looking for more.

By: Sandra Miller

Sandra Miller — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:25:03 +0000

Zoe, I thoroughly enjoyed the interview you did with me. It was a pleasure to work with someone so professional and at the same time extremely personable. You made the interview so relaxing to do….just like talking to another artist friend.

The best of luck with the ebook and I am anxious to hear the other interviews now too.

Sandra Miller
Graffiti Jewelry

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:20:21 +0000

Hello all, thanks for the notes and questions. The question from @Tyler is especially good – I’ll try to answer that and a few others on Sunday so that more people will see it.

By: Franis Engel

Franis Engel — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:59:35 +0000

Mastery is a fertile subject, one I’ve studied for decades too via Alexander Technique. Yes, you must be careful what you allow yourself to repeat, because repetition creates and installs a habitual routine. Whatever you allow yourself to practice, you’ll become better at doing – so be careful!

On my website you’ll be able to find some fascinating stuff on these topics – mostly under the Alexander Technique part. You can learn to juggle there too.

The most inspirational person I’ve ever known who totally changed my attitude about selling was a salesman named Chuck Lewis. He eventually wrote a book called “You’re Gonna Love It!” in the eighties. Thought of it as a book about selling for artists.

Art was my first livelihood. Now when I make art, I get paid from $50 – $100. an hour. Obviously, Chuck Lewis transformed my ideas about being paid for my art.

I’m really excited to hear what you have to say about this – thanks for this work!

By: Tyler

Tyler — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:46:12 +0000

Is this specifically for artists, or are you using artist in the more general sense? For instance, I write and create short films. Is this for me?

By: Evangeline Crockett

Evangeline Crockett — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:35:44 +0000

This sounds kool, I’ve always felt that the way my success has come through has been by working when I want to, when I don’t want to and having to pull in old fashioned discipline when I wanted to run away from it all. I have to say some of my best stuff has come through when I thought I wasn’t inspired but just hung in there.

By: mr-crash

mr-crash — Thu, 28 May 2009 06:40:19 +0000

Hours to mastery is a deceptive notion in my opinion. Maybe not a bad rough benchmark, but I think people can – with the right amount of effort and a routine for efficient practice of tasks – proceed at a significantly more optimum pace.

I remember in a psychology lecture, learning to juggle (just three balls, nothing fancy) and the lecturer pointing out what factors hindered or helped your performance of new tasks. Cross modal teaching, examples by people who have already performed at the standard you require and systems for breaking down a large task into smaller more discrete tasks all have at least some neurological basis for being useful in us learning even very complex tasks.

But still, peoples ideas around this sort of thing interest me and i’m feeling pretty tempted to learn a new instrument or language while documenting my progress online as a bit of an experiment. I want to think about it some more though, so I can sort out something that would be sufficiently perceived as “virtuosity” rather than just a good performance.

I’m *really* excited about this guide, looking forward to reading it! It’s already been great food for thought

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:38:07 +0000

I’ll definitely order this from you tomorrow. My career’s going better than I thought possible, but I’d like to support your efforts, particularly this one. And your collaborator too (I’m pleased to work w/her via the Location Independent Creatives).

By: Colin Wright

Colin Wright — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:57:22 +0000

Definitely looking forward to seeing what you two came up with! I think 1 + 1 will equal 3 in this case.

By: Wyman

Wyman — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:06:29 +0000

I am more for less than more when it comes to writing. I don’t have time to read one million words on any subject. Paul Myers (talk Biz, free newsletter) writes of “Mrs. Wombat” and the grammar zombies. She would be 128 years old and still doing another revision of her book that still isn’t ready to publish yet.

Good enough and send updates later is fine with me. I want my info. now while I’m young enough (71) to use it.