What kind of income are we talking here?

[Lara Cannon]

Hello,

I am glad someone else started the topic of money. I know talking about income & art is probably in poor taste, but I really am curious and a little frustrated.

I started working as a portrait artist two years ago. I have had constant work since I began, but I have yet to make a sustainable income. In fact, I am fresh off of filing my taxes for the year and I have a very good idea of my revenues. After all of my expenses were added into the equation I only made $2,000 for a year of work. Although I am not putting in full-time hours, I am putting in part-time hours. (Not even Walmart pays that little!) I fully understand that building your own business takes time, and it is rare for a start-up cottage industry like portrait painting to make a significant profit for the first few years. I kind of went into all of this with the idea of improving my skills and being paid to do it. Which is my mind is a win-win scenario for now.

But looking into the future, I am curious about how long it has taken some of you to make a sustainable income (over $35,000?). I can't justify too many years of $2,000. I work too hard and portraits are such a custom piece of art that I get very little in return, other than a bigger portfolio and improved skills.

Okay, this is enough of my candid comments, I hope someone might venture a response?

Thank you,
Lara Cannon