Should I pursue an art career?

[Elleny]

Hi, I really like art and I pursued art at University in Italy but they didn't teach me anything useful at all. It took me many years to complete my studies at a public university, whose degree has legal value. In my opinion it was better to study in a private university (no legal value), where they actually teach you all the techniques, but my parents were against it. I still dream to attend some professional course but I don't work and I can't find any kind of job since the job market in Italy is awful. My therapist encourages me to keep trying for art but I don't have that much money. If I wanted to continue I would be forced to take out a loan. I don't even know if any bank would approve it since I basically have no income, and honestly I'm scared to do such thing. What do you think?

 

[Forever Sleep]

I work in a creative field. It's been and is difficult but then- it sounds like you are prepared for that. Obviously, don't doxx yourself here but, are you more on the side of fine art- painting, sculpture etc. or, applied/ commercial art- graphic design, illustration, model making etc?

I suppose you have to ask yourself- how can I make money from this? How do I want to work? Am I willing to adapt or, will that feel like selling out? I've also felt frustrated with how poorly universities prepare us for the real world though.

It's a very tricky one to be honest. To be transparent, I lost a lot of close family members early on- which was obviously awful. It did mean I had some inheritance money to fall back on though. Which enabled me to do a second degree- when I failed to yield many results from the first one! I also worked part and full time in ghastly retail work for ten years to subsidise myself initially. So- it also depends on whether you are willing to do something like that if needed.

It's been difficult throughout though. I've been faced with feeling like I needed to quit multiple times. I've considered all sorts to try to do it too. Teaching and technician jobs. Learning a trade to go alongside it. Very loosely related jobs. Also running departments- because it meant full time work- instead of freelance- which can feel perilous.

It also means a bunch of other crap too- you may well not enjoy but- still need to do- tax returns, promoting yourself, applying to companies, reponding to emails, ordering materials. You'll find yourself wearing lots of hats most likely.

Truthfully, at times, I wish I'd just studdied for an appreticeship and learnt a trade but then- I imagine I would have been miserable doing that. I think being creative is a gift but also a curse. I've found from my own and friend's experiences- that we always feel like there's something huge missing when we aren't being creative yet, it can be so hard to do. Companies can also take the piss too. So many want something for nothing.

It's very difficult to answer to be honest because, you may end up regretting either decision! I think I'd likely regret it more if I hadn't tried though.

Plus, at the moment- you are just starting out. You've done a degree. It would be a shame to waste that. I definitely think you should put a big push into trying to break in to doing it as a job initially and then, go from there. All the best of luck to you!