Handling Rejection as an Artist
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00:06
“Welcome back to the A.O. Blogcast, this is Aramis Hamer. Nestle in tight. She got some bad news. I didn't get the Black Rock Residency. Womp, womp, womp...”
00:38
“I was scanning the names just to double check, because I'm like, ‘I'm sure I would have been notified via an Instagram; I'm sure they would have emailed me.’ So I'm like, ‘Okay, I haven't got an email. Let me scan this list of artists. They just posted the announcement. Cool. My name isn't there.’ The first, initial feeling was disappointment, but as I started to think about it a little bit more I actually felt a sense of relief, which was really interesting. I think it was a visceral understanding that my body already knew, and that my subconscious knew, is that I'm not ready for that residency.”
“If you didn't know, me and Andy, my husband, we just purchased a new home. We are new homeowners, and there is a lot to do at the house. I am so grateful to have a new home and so grateful for our back yard. If you follow me on Instagram, you might see pictures of me, sharing different videos in my stories of our apple trees; pear trees; raspberries; plums; the whole nine. Having a large backyard; having property; land you got to till and weeds you got to pull - we got a lot to do at our house that that needs a lot of prep. In addition to that, there's also a lot that I want to create in my own studio right now. I am in such a blessed and privileged space to have a studio that I absolutely love.”
“Part of me was thinking that if I don't get this residency, I'm just going to choose my own residency. I'm literally just going to make my own residency where I go off the radar; commit myself to some alone time in my studio to paint, not worry about social media and all the other things. I'm genuinely creating my own residency. The funny thing is that Andy has been saying this forever. He's like, ‘Babe, why do you have to fly across the world?’ ”
“I've been to Ghana twice, back in 2016 and 2019. In 2019 I was teaching art workshops at a school out there [in Ghana], The People’s School of Positive Education; an amazing school that was started by a Seattle founder. If you would like to donate to the school [The People’s School of Positive Thought], I think they recently celebrated their 12 year anniversary. It was it was so great to share art with the kids.”
“I've been wanting to go back to one of the countries in Africa for so long. I love West Africa. Of course, as a descendant of the African diaspora I definitely like to check-in with the with the roots, so Senegal is definitely one of the places that is on my list to visit. I've also been trying to learn French. Ask me how much French I know. Is it a lot? No. We need to work on the French skills because your girl is way behind.”
04:36
“Andy has been saying for a while, ‘Bae, you can make your own residency right here at home. Commit the time.’ “
“I think part of my issue - when it comes to social media; being an independent artist and wanting to show up and create content; sell my work, promote my work and market my work - there's always this juggling act of admin / sales / marketing consuming so much of my time, where we [I] lose the aspect of creation. I've heard so many artists talk about this. I recently listened to a video by Purple Palace, another incredible artist who shares her craft on YouTube, and she talked about this. There are other artists who comment on my YouTube videos saying the same things: we're so busy in the admin; and marketing; and sales; and replying to DMs; and posting on Instagram; editing YouTube videos - we're so consumed in all of that process that we that we lose the aspect of creating our work. So, I'm about to make my own residency right here, right now. I'm going to do it; I'm going to do it.”
“I feel like September will be a perfect month to do it where I can literally unplug. As somebody who actually likes sharing and connecting with my community online, I don't imagine myself going completely ghost, but I do imagine myself committing more time to making art, instead of committing so much time to planning a marketing campaign around a product launch.”
“When you think about trying to maintain the finances of a small business, owner, independent artists and entrepreneur, we're constantly thinking about just different elements of like revenue, where's the next check coming from, it's always a juggling act. The un-locker for me has been Patreon. I genuinely say this all the time, but I can't thank my Patrons enough for providing me with that consistent stream of income and consistent financial support to my craft.”
“I don't like using the word support. One of my amazing Patrons, Tipton, shared a phenomenal book with me, The Law of Divine Compensation, (love it!) by Marianne Williamson. [In it] she talked about how sometimes we can have this poverty language like, ‘Oh, thank you so much for supporting my business’. You paid for a product. This isn’t a charity; I'm not a not-for-profit. This isn't a 501c3. We're exchanging goods. I think that's the sort of language that keeps artists / small businesses / entrepreneurs, small. Target doesn't have a sign that says, ‘thank you for supporting their business’. They say, ‘thank you for your business’. Period; because that's what it is. This is business.”
08:01
“When we think about exchanging energy with artists, we feel like we are contributing in a different this-is-business [way], because it is different. It's something to me that's on a soul level; that's so beautiful. But, if we keep it in a lane where it's somebody only supporting your work and not having a value exchange where there is reciprocity, then it continues to put the customer / collector / client in the place of superiority; where the artists / entrepreneur / small business owner constantly feels like they are in this position of unworthiness; where they have to continue to overdo / overcompensate / over show love or over show thanks. I know that's something I personally struggle with. I feel like I'm always trying to let people know how grateful [I am] for them, and I appreciate them. One, because I just genuinely am. My default word that I probably say so much is the word ‘like’. I say like a lot. The other two phrases that I say a lot are ‘I'm excited’ and ‘I'm grateful’. I say those because I genuinely am. When I say that I'm grateful for my supporters, I am, but I also want to make sure that it's not coming from an energy [where] somebody is doing me a favor in buying my art. I'm also gifting them with something as well, which is which is the privilege of owning my art. I really want artists to unlearn this idea that somebody is ‘supporting your craft’.”
“I appreciate my patrons for reminding me that I am worthy, and the art that I share in the world is truly bringing light and truly bringing value. I'm just so grateful.”
“As artists / entrepreneurs we are constantly thinking about our next stream of income. As I'm moving into my abundance mindset with my art and my craft, I'm letting myself know that I can take the time to commit to my craft. I'm going to let myself know that by taking a residency right here at home, right here in my own studio. It’s the A.O. residency for me. Let's do it. I am beyond geeked.”
“I just wanted to share this little update with you all, because it's not that bad news at all. I think everything is our interpretation of something; how we define it and how we perceive it. So, I couldn't be here like, ‘I didn't get the Black Rock Residency. I got denied again’. I'm starting to stack up the little denial and rejection letters, I don't mind at all. I just keep going in on this journey. As an artist, you have to really develop thick skin and your girl has crocodile skin. I have grown so strong and resilient through all the rejection, and I'm grateful for that. Now, don't get me wrong, that has taken time and cultivation; I've just decided I've made a decision that point blank - I am an artist and I'm going to continue making my art whatever comes or whatever goes. That's what I'm doing whether I get accepted to a residency; whether I get a grant to fund a show.”
“I had applied for a grant to help fund the Zodiac show; didn't get it. That's fine. We carry on. We go out here; sell our prints; show up on YouTube; have contributions to my craft from my patrons. So truly, my supporters, my collectors, and my patrons have made this possible. Period. That's the power in supporting independent artists. People can support the arts. We don't need these huge organizations, these not-for-profits, galleries, etc. The people can truly make it possible. The people made it possible for me, and I'm just so thankful. If you [read] this and you're a patron, a collector or supporter; if you have something; commented on a blog; are a part of all the families: the gram-fam, the Tube team, newsletter community - I SO appreciate you.”
13:00
“I'm grateful for that level of rejection because it helped me realize that I can decide. I don't have to wait on anybody. I don't have to get accepted into a program to claim my time to create as an artist. I get to define when and where I create, and I'm deciding and choosing to have my own residency right here in Seattle, right here in my studio, right up the street and not across the globe. We are claiming our time, and we are committing to our craft.”
“If you want to follow along on the journey, subscribe on the YouTube channel. I am doing a residency series, y'all. You [read] it first, right here on the A.O. blog. I'm having a 30 day residency where I'm committing to my craft. Hold me accountable - the month of September we're painting Earth Day all day.”
“Thank you for [reading]. Let me know your comments below. Are you an artist? Are you a collector? What's your vibe? Who’s [reading] the A.O. blog? Does this resonate for you as an artist? Was this informative for you as a collector? Are you now considering joining the Patreon community because you want to contribute to my work on a deeper level? Just say and let me know. I appreciate all the things. If you don't want to get these updates sent to your inbox, you can subscribe to the A.O. blog. If you tune in via Spotify make sure you hit that follow button so Spotify can notify you right on your phone. Thank you all so much again for being here and I hope you have a fantastic day.”
