Without a doubt, trying to "make it" as an artist or creative is a constant struggle. The whole stereotype of "starving artists" is no joke... artists who actually make a living from their art are few and far between!
The Road to Creative Success — 2022 Style
In recent months, I have been "poking around" in the whole area of artists reaching the point of being independently self-sufficient.
The reality is that the vast majority who are do not depend purely on art sales, they typically derive much of their income from a blend of crowdfunding, monetized social media and instruction/teaching.
As far as I am concerned, there's no shame in asking for a little help — after all, many artists and creatives of times gone by were partly supported by wealthy patrons who supported their efforts. So, when we do ask for help we also need to openly define what we're really talking about when people say "you're just looking for a handout!"
It's NOT About Handouts!
The vast majority of artists using some form of crowdfunding aren't begging for handouts... they are quite willingly entering "something for something" agreements with potential supporters.
When someone uses a platform like GoFundMe, it's usually to underwrite a single larger expense. Might be something like a ceramicist needing $3,000 to buy a new kiln. Typically, the "agreement" is that supporters might get new pieces from that new kiln, in exchange for the up-front contribution.
NOT a handout.
Conversely, Patreon is a system of longer term exchanges of "something for something." We're talking about a creative person — whether they're an author, an artist or something else — getting "paid subscriptions" in exchange for giving the subscribers some benefits on an ongoing basis. My wife supports a couple of artists on Patreon, and periodically gets small works of art mailed from the artists, as a thank you.
In essence, Patreon campaigns are created around a sense of reciprocity. The artist or other creative simply needs a little help and they are ultimately asking for "the sale" in advance rather than going to all the trouble of creating something, sitting on it for six months, and then perhaps selling it to someone. There's nearly always an agreement that if you subscribe to my stuff to the tune of $20.00 a month you're going to receive this set of benefits that you would likely have to pay $20.00 for if you went into a store but instead you get to get them directly from me.
Let's Consider Hive, as Part of the Solution!
The foundation of "creative patronage" begins with providing something that has some kind of value and if people perceive that it has value then they will voluntarily support it... on Hive, that means upvotes and consequently a reward to the creator.
To me, that has long seemed like an idea worth building on.
In the early days of "Hive 1.0" that was actually an "Upfund Me" initiative, started by the 
Which leaves us with the currently most effective way to use Hive and its resources: Share your art and stories about what you create here... and over time, build some sort of support for that creative output via upvotes and rewards.
Building Art Awareness on Hive?
As I look around Hive, I do see a number of artists who have consistently built a following, and could definitely be characterized as getting "supplemental income" from their efforts here. The question is: How much support for art can you really gain, on Hive?
It's something I'm exploring and experimenting with, myself, these days... and I believe part of the answer to finding success lies in "marrying" an art blog to something like 
I have long been a proponent of of actual commerce on Hive offering another type of use case that would enable people to do something very common and ordinary like shopping, here on the Hive Blockchain.
The Artistic Dream: It's All an Experiment!
Ever since finding Hive's predecessor in early 2017, the idea of actually marketing my work directly to the Cryptosphere seemed like a perfect next step to getting to work art into new avenues.
In an ideal world, create art, write about it, sell something for crypto, then turn around and stake that crypto to slowly build your own long-term benefits. All while doing something you really enjoy!
For the time being, it all remains a big experiment... it'll be interesting to see where it takes us all!
Thanks for stopping by! Do leave me a comment if you feel so inspired — interaction and engagement are always welcome!
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
Because I am trying to make some semblance of income — a part time living, even — I now add this footer to all my posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to take a further look at my work, and perhaps consider supporting independent art.
Thank you, in advance, for your consideration and support!
My Alchemy Stones Patreon appeal
Alchemy Stones web site and blog
Regardless, your upvotes and comments are always appreciated!
Thank you for supporting independent art!
2022.10.21 AS-TXT-125/093