State of the Studio Part I
tis the season to review some charts and numbers...
One of the most difficult aspects of being a professional studio artist is the inconsistencies surrounding monthly income and expenses. Every year looks a little (or sometimes a lot) different. I recognize that the roller coaster ride of this career path is not always possible for everybody. I’ve been extremely fortunate in many ways - entering this career as online art marketplaces were just finding their footing; having a background in information technology and manufacturing providing a solid base of knowledge from which to navigate the space; and simply being in the right place at the right time to make contacts that would advance my career in ways I never expected.
“… I know how fragile art as a career can be”
I don’t know if I could have had the same success if I entered into this profession before or after I happened to do so. As such, I know how fragile art as a career can be. My roller coaster has climbed pretty high but has also dipped rather low too. In my case, I’m extra lucky to have a supportive spouse with a stable career to buffer those lows (and carry the mental load of financial worries, which I know from experience can be a huge stressor when pursuing an insecure career path). Regardless of how I got here, though, I need to reflect on the business of what I do (even when it’s the art that brings me my purpose) so that I can look to the future more informed and rooted in reality.
Even though I run the numbers each quarter, I tend to look a little more critically at the bigger picture once the books for the year have been closed, using charts and year-over-year comparisons to guide me. As I categorize and review the final numbers, I also try to look at them in a way that helps to identify any opportunities for course correction/simplification/growth as I contemplate the next steps forward in my studio practice.
So, in that spirit, today I’m sharing a brief look at the studio books with you - inspired by the transparency and insights provided by a recent Beyond the Studio podcast: “Financial Transparency in the Arts” (as well as my own happy and colorful relationship with charting data).
Jennifer Lommers LLC - 2023 Income Sources
As you can see, in 2023 licensing takes a very (and rather scary*) large piece of the pie - categorized as direct (and indirect). I group my self-managed licensing accounts (e.g. FineArtAmerica.com) separately from my outside-managed accounts (e.g. McGaw Graphics).
Self-managed “licensing-direct” accounts: I maintain the image library and set the markup on most products. These are self-curated. I choose what I want to upload. Products, customer service, and shipments are managed by the account (i.e. third-party printing).
Outside-managed (indirect) “licensing” accounts: I have a contract with a licensing group for particular images and particular uses. Products, customer service, and shipments are again managed by the account which also curates images to fit within their particular brand/artist collection. I typically receive a flat % of each sale as agreed upon in a direct contract.
*Scary in the sense that if these revenue streams implode, I will be struggling to keep my studio afloat.
Jennifer Lommers LLC - 2019 Income Sources
I decided to compare pre-pandemic numbers with 2023 numbers for a couple of reasons: (1) As with other industries, the pandemic changed many aspects of a professional artist’s revenue streams and (2) I made personal choices in 2019 that show a significant impact on my current numbers as well.
Licensing saw a $20K drop in sales
As shown in the charts above, in 2019, 64% of my income came from licensing. In 2023, 79% is from licensing. Did my licensing $ increase? No. The charts don’t tell the whole story. My total licensing sales dropped a shocking nearly $20K from 2019 compared to 2023. Let’s look at it another way.
So overall - what happened between 2019 and 2023?
Other than licensing - you can see here that there was a large drop in online sales (direct-non show) and with in-person show sales (direct-show).
I can pinpoint a few key (obvious, and not-so-obvious) factors in my income volatility:
The obvious one - COVID: Online sales increased significantly during the first two years of the pandemic (miraculously saving me from having to apply for stimulus funds or from needing to find another revenue source). My licensing $ actually went up in 2020 and 2021. It has since seen a steady decline, however, as people started enjoying other activities again and reducing their online shopping.
Shows/Marketing: In 2019 I was already starting to reduce the number of shows I attended. In 2018 I shared my work at 7 different West Coast festivals. (Pre-licensing, I would show at 10-20 festivals). My work was changing and shows didn’t make as much sense for what I was producing. Then COVID hit and eliminated all the shows I had on my calendar. When people ask about my success selling online, I always stress the importance of in-person marketing. I have always received significantly more online sales and followers after attending a show. Taking away the shows, I found the marketing became much less personal and stopped reaching as broad an audience as in-person shows could provide.
2019 was also the beginning of a series of personal choices I made within my studio practice: I moved direct online sales for my studio from Etsy* (my primary online marketplace) to my own website (JenniferLommers.com) after deciding to stop producing my own prints in-house when it came time to replace the printer I had been using; I left Facebook* (a primary source of marketing and customer outreach); and more personally, I embraced a new way of working and thinking about my studio practice.
*I am slowly adding a few merchandise items back to Etsy. Also, I still don’t like Facebook, but have since returned for event posting, but don’t regularly monitor it.
The Work: As I alluded to above, and as anyone who’s been watching my work the last few years will know - my studio work is undergoing significant changes. My style and media have moved into a completely new arena, and as such, my ability to reproduce my work for licensing has been stymied. And as I continue deeper down this alternative path, I lose a few of the folks who joined me at a different time. It feels like I’m starting all over again, rebuilding my studio practice (and “brand”) from the ground up. While I’ve mostly accepted this challenge because the art I’m making today is so precious and fulfilling to me, it is still unsettling to feel like I’m starting all over - repeating the first steps I took into the art world as a young energetic painter, but now with new mediums and materials and at a slower and older stage of life.
Riding the coaster
Still - after 20 years of selling my art, 18 of which have been as a full-time studio artist - hopefully, with age, comes wisdom…
…or maybe just the simple serenity of believing in the choices we make.
To joyfully riding this coaster,
Jennifer
So now what? How does reviewing the data influence the state of my studio practice?