THE BIG BREAK

For a long time I put a lot of energy into thinking one big break would crack my whole career wide open and I’d be made. One big collaboration, one big gallery deal. I got bummed out all the time because it’s not real. Well maybe sometimes it is but I feel like mostly with 14yr old girls getting picked up by model scouts at a market in Russia or something. 

 

It’s all the little jobs that make a strong career.I remember hearing a speaker at Semi Permanent once say "It's the jobs you turn down that define your career". And not just the paid jobs it's also the studio time- time spent experimenting and creating work that’s true to how you feel. Often commercial work or work for an external body can be cloudy. The few times I’ve met with galleries in the hope they’d pick me up (pre 2013) I always felt like I was doing it wrong. They’d suggest strange things like “why don’t you paint DEAD animals” Yep. Because they had a model- they wanted dark, broody or a literal display or conceptualism. Plus my background in fashion was not exactly ideal. 

 

I feel like a lot of my posts come back to the same thing- DO THE WORK. Don’t focus too much on the external idea of “making it” or "putting yourself out there" instead just create as much as possible, all the time. And if what you make is any good people will take notice (sobering but true). Create something everyday and you’ll never need to see a therapist.  Well maybe you will but I truly believe you can answer many of your pickles by forging a creative path.

Read MOTHER SLASH ARTIST SLASH BUSINESSWOMAN.