{"id":23609,"date":"2020-11-06T03:00:01","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T11:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=23609"},"modified":"2020-11-02T08:32:02","modified_gmt":"2020-11-02T16:32:02","slug":"the-restless-artist-the-inventor-by-catharine-bramkamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2020\/11\/06\/the-restless-artist-the-inventor-by-catharine-bramkamp\/","title":{"rendered":"The Restless Artist: The Inventor by Catharine Bramkamp"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s welcome back monthly columnist Catharine Bramkamp<\/a> as she shares with us \u201cThe Restless Artist: The Inventor.\u201d Enjoy!<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

I failed at Craft of the Month Club.<\/strong> My mother, a consistent and accomplished crafter, enrolled me with the hope and ex<\/span>pectation that I would…<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Succeed.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Love it.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Finish.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Surrounded by failed turkey centerpieces (made from felt and pineapple) and holiday door hangers with scenes placed into plastic fruit (it was the seventies), I discovered I couldn\u2019t follow directions and I couldn\u2019t make the same thing over and over.<\/span><\/p>\n

    What I am accomplished at is changing it up.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Let\u2019s all sing \u201cRestless\u201d to the tune of \u201cHopeless.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    One of the differences between an excellent crafts maker and an artist is similar to the difference between an inventor and a business manager.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Restless Artist is an Inventor\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

    The inventor cannot sit still.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    The inventor is happiest when she is creating the next great thing<\/strong>. She is not happy managing all the people and procedures needed to bring the last thing she made to market.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Like the inventor, the artists often cannot \u201cdo it again,\u201d repeatedly producing the same product for the market for years and years. She resents the very idea that she should.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Often a successful artist is pressured to morph from artist into craftsperson<\/strong>. But that\u2019s not the nature of this restless creator.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Painters need to suddenly write poetry, musicians need to make films, novelists want to build houses.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    The Restless Artist: How to Make A Living\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

    Yet to make a living, the artist must do little more than provide their greatest hits, at every concert.<\/span><\/p>\n

    There is nothing wrong with playing out the greatest hits.<\/strong> Who doesn\u2019t want to make a living with their art?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    But the process and the production can be enervating; it\u2019s not long before the performer cries enough! And quits the circuit, sells the business, drops the paintbrush, and finds another outlet.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Yet when an artist does mix it up,<\/strong> she risks disappointing or alienating her fans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Sometimes the blowback is extreme, which is unfair. Fans want what they want, and if the artist doesn\u2019t deliver as fast as an Amazon package, the fans may reject the next work.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    A talented craftsperson makes far more money, far more consistently:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n