The Starving Artist

I absolutely loathe the term "Starving Artist"! I don't hate very many things, but I have a great disdain for the aforementioned terminology.

I am an artist with a creative mind and I am not missing or lacking anything. Now...at this point in my career I may not be where I would like to be due to many factors (to be covered in the next post), and I may not be making the type of money that I will be in the very near future, but I am in no way "starving". I am taken care of/provided for!

In my mind the phrase implies that art is a second hand thought...as if there is not art in everything...as if art is more of a mere hobby than a job. Have you checked out your favorite movie or television show? What about the words that you see on a menu or billboards? How about the clothes that you wear or the jewelry that adorn you neck or fingers? Have you thought about the wares you eat with? Better yet...what about the home you live in, chairs you sit in, the bed you sleep in, the table you sit things on, and the car that you drive? And to drive my point home...what about the cell phone that you don (carry around) on a daily basis? You know, the one that you would absolutely die without? And to think, this is just a small list.

Now let's take a peek at the salaries of some of those that have jobs in the above fields.

Film producer: $57,254
Fine Artist (Including sculptor, painter, or illustrator) : $40,719
Furniture Designer: $46,561
Jewelry Designer: $41,639
Architect: $58, 982
Graphic Designer: $48,947
Computer Interface Designer: $70,244
 * average salaries found on PayScale

Last time I checked...none of the salaries above would be considered starving!

So where did the horrible term come from anyway? I did my research and couldn't find any substantial information as to the phrases origin. What I did find is that the term seemingly started in the Romanticism era (late 18th and early 19th), and is interchangeable with the word Bohemian.

You got it right folks! Almost everything that we do takes a creative mind. The creative mind is just as important as the analytical mind. The artist is just as important as the engineer!

Take time to celebrate a creative mind that you know. If you see creating art as just a hobby, take time to ask an artist their creative process. It will surely change your perspective of the artist, and their creations!

Until next time...