I quit | Quitting my corporate job to be a full-time artist

I was told I could never make it as an artist. I went into an interior design studio and showed them a few things that I had designed. I was hired on the spot. not because I was some great artist. every time I was asked "we need this, can you do it?" I always said yes I'm sure I can figure it out. (before the internet) I started doing murals, trompe-l oeil, and faux finishes. I went out on my own. made a great living. never had to advertise. day started when I dropped my kids off at school and ended when I picked them up. did this for 15 yr.s It was a Blessing from God! congrats! good luck!

Congrats, I'm in the same boat and one day transition to a full-time writer. I'm reminded of a Joseph Campbell quote, “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”

I can relate to this story so much. I was just finishing my THIRD college degree when the pandemic hit. I had been doing art whenever I could during college, but since I couldn’t find a job during the pandemic and I had lots of time I started painting even more. I started getting more followers, opened an Etsy shop, sold some paintings and prints, moved to New York City, kept growing, has a couple of art shows and some more painting sales, and then it became too hard, couldn’t keep living in such a hard city with so many roommates to keep the dream alive, moved to Florida, made some sales but not enough, did all kinds of odd/ stressful jobs that would allow me time to paint. Now I’m in North Carolina, still painting, making money with my own tattoo business, applying to shows, really wanting to make it as a painter.

Congrats! Pursuing your dream is a scary, and courageous thing. I stayed at a good paying factory job for 35 years then retired, and one of my biggest regrets is not trying to pursue my dreams. Your story is inspiring, I wish YouTube was around in the early 90s

I can’t absolutely wait to be in this position full time because I also have a lot of ideas as well. I have a 9 to 5 job that I can’t leave yet. Someday I can

Good luck with your career. March 2002 I left my job to become a full time artist. Best thing I ever did. After years of hard work I'm now earning over a 6 figure yearly income from my paintings. Consistency, effort and a belief that it'll always work out kept me going.

I haven’t found a “journey to full time artist” story as similar to my own until I watched this vid . I work at my local health dept. it’s an extremely stable job, but my dream is to be an artist. Someday I will make the transition. I appreciate your in-depth explanation about the incremental increase of your time in the studio throughout the week. It really is a battle earning your time back. glad you won that battle :).

Congratulations on the move. The video should be an inspiration to everyone trying to go full time with their art.

Christina, I’m thanking whatever twists and turns in the YouTube algorithm brought me to your channel! Our stories are SO similar. My background is in ecology/environmental science. I thought about pursuing a PhD for a long time, but ended up getting a masters degree. I’ve always been creative, but when I was in school I never took my art seriously or really gave it a chance. As soon as I graduated and didn’t have the confines of academia around me, I found that I couldn’t stop painting. I had three months of down time before my full time job started (also in consulting!), and those months were so instrumental in kickstarting this creative dream of mine. Right now, I’m still working full time in environmental consulting, but I’m looking ahead at following a similar path as you did (I.e., slowly going down to 80%, 50%, etc.). It’s so inspiring to hear your story, and I can’t wait to follow along on your journey 🙌🏼

Wishing you the best! Pursuing dreams is (in part) what life is all about! Going for your dream is the right thing to do when your job is all consuming. Even if the art does not bring you full time economic sustainability, I believe that it will lead you on a path where you will connect with the income you need while making the art that you enjoy. I remember having a crappy job with crappy pay... I left it and freelanced... loved the work but the pay was still crap because there was not enough of it. But I was introduced to new skills that led me to work that paid decent and allowed me to have day job stability while pursuing my creativity. Having the doable day job allow me to do the creative work that I loved. I always had livable money coming in monthly not to mention good benefits. I hope that you have wonderful financial success with your art, but if not I hope that you can supplement your income with work that will allow you to live well and be creative.

Useful and inspiring. Thank you

Yay!! Oh my goodness following your journey is so inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing it all here ❤️

Love hearing these stories !!! ❤️❤️

Thank you for sharing your journey

Best of luck! I enjoy your art and your videos!

Love your story!! I found encouragement

Thanks for sharing your story. It's inspiring!

Congratulations! So exciting and inspiring!

that's amazing and so inspiring! :) good luck to you!

I really needed to see this video,thank U🤍