When is the right time to go professional as an artist? Sarah Edmonds considers what it takes to become professional.

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About Sarah Edmonds

Sarah is the marketing manager for Pegasus Art and a freelancer supporting creatives and fine artists. Sarah studied a short course at the Slade School of Fine Art and has a degree from Chartered Institute of Marketing. www.sarahedmonds-marketing.com

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From art teacher to artist

Working as a full time artist carries the same risks as any freelancer – unreliable income, peaks and troughs and managing everything yourself. So what are the key attributes required for a professional artist? We asked the landscape painter Melanie Cormack-Hicks about her transition from art teacher to artist and what stopped her from making the leap sooner.

I was struck by her work ethic and highly pragmatic approach to her new career: ‘I had to make my business work financially, or I had to find another job.’ Early on she decided to invest a percentage from sales back into her brand, feeding her professional growth whilst giving herself the best chance of success.

Hushed Awakening, acrylic and acrylic ink on board, (80x80cm) by Melanie Cormack-Hicks

As a big believer in outsourcing and surrounding herself with positive professionals, she has built a strong support network of experts in aspects of business where she lacks knowledge, insisting it saves her time and makes her money.

But the real essence of her ‘brand’ is a pure passion for painting that shines through everything she does. Her love of experimentation, energy, movement and dynamic light helps her translate moods onto the canvas. Immersion in the landscape means she is highly attuned to the natural world from which she draws so much inspiration. 

As a highly curious person, she looks, listens and learns about all aspects of her industry, throwing herself into it 100 per cent. Her deep commitment to her craft sees no real distinction between life and work. Understanding where her own creative strengths lie means she is happier with more time to paint, leaving others to work on the rest. 

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Having a plan

So if you are serious about turning your side hustle into a business, make a plan.

There are two distinct categories – emotional and practical.

List all the emotional hurdles that are holding you back and what you can do to overcome them. This could be entering Open Exhibitions and competitions to give you confidence and feedback – it’s a great way to test the market.

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Then list all the practical elements that will help you reach your goal, such as a predicted monthly budget, cost of a website build, art materials and framing costs.

Writing a business plan sounds scary, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s a working document that can evolve over time. Self-promotion and networking goes against our natural modesty, but don’t feel you have to be pushy. Just be yourself and you’ll naturally attract like-minded supporters.

Above all, believe in yourself and know the value of your work. A desire to keep learning, commitment, drive and joy in your work will keep you moving forward.

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Case Study: Melanie Cormack-Hicks

Melanie Cormack-Hicks

I am not sure I remember the exact moment I decided to turn professional. It was a series of events that made me realise that there was a door opening that I needed to consider walking through.

I think the first moment happened in my spare bedroom studio. Stepping back from my easel I looked at a painting that exceeded all my expectations of my ability and thought: ‘Oh ok, this might be getting serious’. This painting told me I might have a shot at my dream.

Q. What are the psychological hurdles to making the leap to becoming a full time artist? and how did you overcome them?  

A. I thought the biggest psychological hurdle would be the fear of judgement. I had spent the three years of my fine art painting degree feeling like I was not good enough. That was why I taught. I felt so strongly that the metric by which we were being judged was unfair; I wanted to show every pupil their creativity was unique and they were all good enough! When I started painting again, I discovered this belief had shifted my mindset about my work too.

All of a sudden approaching a gallery felt like something I had to do. I was lucky because the first gallery I approached offered me a show. After years of dreaming, it felt like a door had opened. There were practical implications of course. I was very happy in my job, I had a good career and brought in half the household income. After heartfelt discussions with my husband, we both decided the opening of my show should mark the start of my professional career as an artist. It was a big financial risk, so we were surprised at how strongly we both felt that this was an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.

Q. Can you share with us the practical tips that really made a difference in launching yourself as a professional?

A. The key is to focus on the bigger picture – being an artist is my business as well as my job. I had to make my business work financially, or I had to find another job. I had to seek out opportunities because they were not going to come and find me. My advice to anyone starting out is to begin with artist-led art fairs. Find out what sells, test the market value of your work, start to build your email list, listen to feedback. Then seek out the right galleries to represent you. Often artists leave this as the last thing on their to-do list, because it fills us with the most fear. Having information on your art fair sales makes you a much more attractive prospect and takes some of the fear away.

Get a business coach. Even when I couldn’t afford a business coach, I still paid for one. She has taught me how to ‘get out of my own way’ early on in our time together. It really helps to have someone see your art as your business. I needed her business expertise when I had none. More importantly, in the early days she also helped me keep my mindset on track.

I have a thirsty brain. I love to learn. Every podcast and book I can get my hands on that I feel is relevant and aligned with my business I listen to and read. I am passionate about my paintings, so I need to give them the best opportunities to find their owners. I use my creative brain in my business. This helps my paintings to be seen by the people whose hearts they can touch; I love helping to bring them together because I know how much joy my paintings give their owners.

Swell and Fold, acrylic and acrylic ink on board, (60x60cm) by Melanie Cormack-Hicks

Q. What importance do you place on connecting with other artists and building a support team around you?

A. I have always invested back into my business as soon as cash flow allows. This is really important because it frees my time to explore and produce my paintings. You have to feed your business so it can grow and flourish; in return it will feed you, both financially and creatively.

I love investing in other businesses, because they really invest in me too. Over the last three years I have steadily found wonderful people who I can call on that have the expertise I don’t. The galleries I work with come first, alongside my framer, with whom I work very closely. My website is run by Ecademy, an agency that provides the platform and tech for my online course; I have graphic designer friend, a wonderful marketing and PR guru – the list goes on. I have recently invested in an accountant (huge relief) and a social media marketing company to deal with the analytics I don’t have time to understand.

I love, love, love Instagram for art connections. Artists and makers are a wonderful bunch. I met a now very close artist friend on Instagram, Maryanne Hawes. We peer mentor each other every month.

Q. What are the best and worst parts of being a full time artist?

A. Managing my own time is probably the hardest bit. I am very organised; I diarise my week and schedule my year. However, I have a typical creative butterfly brain and am always trying to do three things at once. I also over commit every day, believing I can get far more done than is physically possible.

No worst bits, just a word of caution: my business has different financials seasons throughout the year. It takes a while for the pattern to emerge, you need to track it.

Best bits: walking out my back door into my garden studio. Painting by the sea is work! I never really feel alone, because I have a business network and an artist network that I can reach out to anytime. My working day is very different to walking through the gates of a secondary school every day. For one it is a lot quieter.

About Melanie

Melanie is represented by Marine House at Beer in Devon: marinehouseatbeer.co.uk ; Paragon Gallery in Cheltenham: paragongallery.co.uk; Creates Gallery in Monmouth: createsgallery.com

All her work can be viewed and purchased online as well as in the galleries.

For more info see: www.melaniecormack-hicks.co.uk