Highs and Lows of being an Artist

I’ve gotten asked what is the hardest things about being a gig poster artist? I tell them the unpredictable workload. It’s kinda like a rollercoaster at Six Flags, lots of loop-de-a-loops.

There are mornings when I wake up at 4am, open my emails and bam… 3 emails from potential clients, each one with the possibility of being carved into a show/festival poster or a design for admat. On those days, the energy is high, not like 3 cups of Green Bike coffee from Stone Creek coffee high but it’s up there :-)

I spend hours sketching, jotting down ideas, working on designs that might never see a merch table or a FB/IG story. It’s the unglamorous side of the job that no one really talks about, when you pour your soul into a piece and it quietly disappears into the “just in case” folder.

Daisy… make me smile

There are days… sometimes weeks where my inbox is quieter than a Skid Row soundcheck at 4 a.m. Those stretches…. they’re really tough on me and the business. They make me question my worth, my momentum, my ability to create at all.

And yet… I’ve been lucky. I’ve worked with some of my musical heroes….Trey Anastasio, Spafford, The Steel Wheels, Ani DiFranco, and when those emails or texts come in, it’s a reminder that what I do matters to lots of people.

Bubba backstage at Royal Oak Theatre

To add to that… when a client emails or calls and says “The posters sold out at the show or we’ve gotten so many compliments on the artwork, I sit back, take a deep breath and smile 😊

Even with the corkscrew, holy crap turns left and right, I’m thankful every day for this weird world of art that is my full-time gig.

And yes….coffee helps too.