Milliner’s Delight or How Many Hats Can I Wear in a Day?

Life as a professional artist on the gypsy train is seldom boring and often a bit chaotic.  Any given day will find me wearing any number of hats as I navigate the waters of this business called art.  What is certain but often misunderstood is that I seldom spend one full work day at the easel.

When one makes the jump into the professional arena (throwing their hat in the ring so to speak) an entire millinery shop opens to the artist.  Creating art is just the beginning of a process that shifts time, energy, and resources to any number of tasks at hand.  Let me share the journey of the painting shown here:

Step 1:  Create a painting (the artist and/or development director hat)

Step 2:  Name the painting (the wordsmith hat) In this case:  “Serendipity”

Step 3:  Price the painting and enter it into computerized inventory  (the director of finance hat)  $145

Step 4:  Create an image of the painting (the photographer hat)

Step 5:  Download, crop, size, and color correct the image (the digital photographer hat)

Step 6:  Upload the image to the internet, facebook,and/or  newsletter (multiple hats here:  web master, social media guru, and marketing director all included)

Step 7:  Ticket, label and display the painting appropriately in the gallery/studio/tent (the director of visual marketing hat)

Step 8:  Apply, travel to and set up the tent at an art show (again multiple hats:  director of operations, navigator, manual labor, etc.)

Step 9:  Share the story of the painting to any and all potential customers (the storyteller/salesperson hat) “Coming across a wild garden full of brilliant blossoms quite by accident.”

Step 10:  Make the sale!  Record the transaction and make appropriate banking records (the accounting hat)

No one ever told me that I’d be wearing so many hats as a professional artist.   What I shared above is just those associated with creating and selling a painting.  In any given week I am landlord, painter, teacher, adviser, sales person, marketing guru, web master, photographer, writer, and the list goes on. The challenge is to juggle all of these caps and of course to keep them all straight.  Knowing which to wear at any given time in any given day is a matter of…well prioritizing.

And that requires the milliner to create an organizer/business/scheduling hat.  Wonder if I have room in my closet…