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Art Is Not Math
And it certainly isn’t accounting.
I follow a lot of writers. Famous writers, beginning writers, mid-level poets and freelance essayists. I like to read what writers have to say online, and I’m often impressed with or astounded by their opinions. But there’s a sad refrain I read too often:
“I don’t sell many books.”
or
“But I don’t have a lot of readers or followers.”
or
“I only wrote 15 poems last year.”
Everyone looking at the numbers.
I also follow a lot of artists in other mediums, sculptors and painters and sketch artists, and I see the same self-effacing lines:
“I haven’t done a show this year.”
or
“But I only sold one painting all of 2021.”
or
“I need to draw more to call myself an artist.”
I’m sure these statements are true in their minds, and I know that it’s hard to be an artist — any kind of artist — but I’d argue that we’re focusing on the wrong things.
Art has never been about numbers. Being a painter isn’t about how many paintings you sell, just like being a novelist shouldn’t be about your ranking on the Amazon or NYT…
