Friday, August 15, 2014

How I Pay the Rent

Click image to view larger.

Happy Friday Doodlebugerz!
This topic was sent in through the blog giveaway I had recently—Thank you! Short answer - my husband pays the mortgage! I pay for groceries, car payment, cable bill/utilities , business expenses.... we divided up the bills ages ago.

The majority of my income comes from my graphic design business. Right now on my graphic design plate are t-shirt designs for the orthoditists above, Billboards for Celebrity Homes (above middle brochure pages),  two 28-page magazines (top right is one of them) and a 12 page newsletter for the City of La Vista. I'm pretty sure another new home builder is going to have me do a watercolor of an aerial photo. I am excited about a possible new client with a postcard campaign they want designed. There are a few other clients - but that is a long enough laundry list.

I have been a graphic designer for 26+ years. Owned my own business for 16 of those years. I always new I wanted to have a creative career. WAY BACK then, becoming an illustrator was just too scary for me! I didn't have much interest in galleries back then either. For me, sharing my art is a much more vulnerable thing to do. I know many of you can relate :-D

Until very recently, I had a small part time job at a 'paint your own pottery place'. I liked the "mad money" and the families that came in to paint. I miss the kids! If money got tight, it helped to stabilize my monthly income.

Forever I have been walking around stores, looking at stuff with art on it and saying "I could do that!" My adult children can't remember a time when I didn't say that :-)

I am on the new end of art licensing and THRILLED to be here! It is the absolute perfect combination of art and graphic design for me. I love the challenge! I feel so very blessed to be able to do what I love and get paid too :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by - please comment below and tell me a bit about you. If you don't mind sharing how you pay the rent - please share! It might spur an idea in someone else.

10 comments:

  1. Annie, Thank you so much for your honest post! It's relieving to know that other fantastic artists also need jobs on the site to pay the rent! But here's to being able to make our dreams come true and live 'just' on our art!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You bet Susanne :-) I am looking at a new small part-time job. Multiple streams of income make me happier and less stressed.

      Delete
  2. Great talk from your seat on the bus…. Sounds like you do a lot of work, but as long as it's interesting and you like it, it's all good. For now, I use my income for extras, fun things, or save for something bigger… Licensing seems like it would be the best way, but finding the right licensing company that likes you and you like them could be tricky. Keep doing what you're doing, and I think the perfect combination of things will come together for you… Thanks as always for having the ability to put things front and center. :) Jo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jo!!! Sounds like you are describing getting married ;-)
    ("finding the right licensing company") - Really, it kind of is! Thank you for all your support. It means A LOT to me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Annie, The two things I love most in this world are kids and art. So, at present I'm bringing a little money (for art supplies!) from my nanny job -- keeping a one-year old in the mornings. This still leaves me time to work on my art. Though I have done other things in my life, it has long been a dream of mine to get into the art licensing business. One roadblock I'm having to get around is teaching myself the graphic arts part of it. (When I was in art school, I was told that girls didn't go into graphic arts. Can you believe that??) Anyway, I'm trying to make up for lost time by teaching myself Photoshop Elements.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Eve! thanks for stopping by and commenting - A Nanny job is a great idea for bringing in some money, thanks! You might be able to find a graphic design student who will intern for you for free or maybe you could barter with them. They can show you what they know - set stuff up for you... Just a thought.

      Great to 'see' you!

      Delete
  5. Nice piece on a peek into your life Annie. I wish I had someone splitting the bills but it's all relative and I am happy that you do. Love seeing some of your graphic work and GOOD FOR YOU having so much of it. You are always a treat and make me smile.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Madeline! Thank you so much for stopping by the blog! Having multiple income streams is such a great thing :-)

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...