Is There Such a Thing as Creative Accounting?

I was driving past a well known tax preparation business today and I noticed that they had a vast number of colorful swooper flags, small yard signs and their signature green colored helium filled balloons waving in full glory for all passing vehicles to see.  You know I actually worked for that company for the past two tax seasons but following the end of 2015 tax season, I decided to take a part-time accounting job at a local real estate office instead.  It's this time of the year that those of us that have an accounting call on our lives begin to get REAL busy!

I'm not trying to stereotype any portion of the population but it has been my experience that most creative individuals are not always the most detail individuals.  They are more what I would call free spirits.   I on the other hand, possess  both the ability to create and appreciate art and balance a mean checkbook.  Just not at the same time.  

Accounting has always been a "CREATIVENESS SUCKER" in my life and for 30 years I let that skill dominate my thinking.  Painting was nothing more than a faded memory of something I knew I could do or at least I hoped I could still do.  A couple of pieces, created in high school have always hung on the walls of my house as a testimony to dispel any doubters but my paints were packed away and mostly dried and useless somewhere on a shelf.  

Please don't misunderstand me because being an artist is also being a self-employed businessman or woman.  I keep all my financial records for my art activity and have separate business account so that there is no CO-MINGLING of funds.  I have created a spreadsheet I have developed to track all my revenues and expense.  I can tell you the exact dollar amount of my arts sales for the year that came from cowbells, art lessons or painting sales.  This is an important part of being a successful artist, so many of you may struggle in this area but for me this is a skill that I have much practice in.

It's been over 5 years now since I started painting again with a "PASSION".  I regret the time I wasted not developing my skills as an artist but I can't change the past.  I can only pursue the future with all the strength I can muster.  I can't make the time I must spend doing accounting creative time but I can certainly make sure that I have set aside plenty of time to be creative.

Here are two watercolor and pen sketches I did as part of a series that I jokingly called "Confessions of a Recovering Accountant" to show that no longer was the analytical part of my brain in charge of all my time.  By the way, if you like my work and would like to see my website please visit me at JulieTownsendStudio.com and I would be thrilled if you would leave me a comment below.  Do you relate to my struggle of being both right and left brained or maybe you have a tax question as an artist?  I would love to hear from you.

"Creative Finance"

"Right Brain versus Left Brain"

Create It and They Will Come

I have been doing some research and browsing for examples of a commission agreement that I could use to create my own form.  This past week I was told that I might be getting a call from an individual that purchased one of my hand painted cowbells and that he was interested in getting me to paint a picture of long-horn steers and that confirmed to me that I needed to get busy.

Although, I haven't done very many commission art pieces yet in my short art career, they are a very important part of being a professional artist and so I am both nervous but excited about the possibility that someone may be calling.  I certainly want to be ready when it does happen and so today I created a Commission Agreement.  I have in my mind that it may be something like that Kevin Costner movie "Field of Dreams" and if I create the form then the commission requests will come!

There are basically 4 main sections to most of the contracts that I reviewed they are:

1.Artwork details- This is where you outline sizes, mediums, framing and anything else particular to this piece of artwork that is under consideration.  This might include some attached renderings.  Creating some small renderings is always a good idea so that the collector won't be completely caught off guard at the date of delivery.

2. Payment Schedules- Date the first payment, which is serves as a non-refundable deposit is due and the balance remaining at estimated delivery date.

3. Copyright- This is a standard statement that should accompany all of your artwork.  I have a very similar statement on my Certificate of Authenticity form.  I will be sharing that form in also in the next few weeks so please keep checking in.

4.  Right to Refuse- Gives the buyer one last chance to change their mind but also protects the artist.  The artist retains ownership of the piece that may be sold at a later date and gets to keep the non-refundable deposit for all the sweat and tears that when into creating a commission piece.

All the verbiage that I reviewed seemed to be very standard but the agreement covers the necessary points to protect both the artist and the collector.  Key point to me was collecting 1/2 of the total price as a non-refundable deposit.

So you can find the agreement that I came up with on my webpage.  I wanted to embed the document directly into this blog for you but learned that Blogger doesn't allow for that function so you will have to follow the link I've listed below and it will take you to my contact page where I have the document linked.  I'm happy to share this so feel free to adapt it to your own use and hopefully there are many occasions for us both to use it!

Julie Townsend Studio Contact Page

If you found this blog helpful, consider becoming a follower.  I'm on a slow journey to success and you're welcome to tag along!

Putting A Little Action In Your Dreams

Well, it is that time of the year again.  You know the time that we all begin thinking about the new year that is too quickly approaching. It has been 2 years since I left the 8-5 workforce, so in my mind that marks 2 years that I have seriously been pursuing my art career.  I've managed to hit many of my early goals and targets but now I find in this current economy it very difficult to grow and really be successful.  It is a good time to evaluate your true motavation and ask yourself why do you DO art.  Is what you are doing a business or is it a hobby?  This is the first important question to consider.  If your art is simply an activity that you enjoy doing with no regards to the profitability of the activity then you are a hobbyist and there is nothing wrong with that.  I on the other hand want to measure my success by seeing my hard work and effort actually helping supplement our household income.  I want to end 2015 with a positive bottom line. The concept is a pretty simple one....I want to make money with my art.

So I have been considering some 2015 goals and doing some research artist goals in particular.  Today I actually began compiling a list.  If you are serious about your art being a business then you must focus on measurable goals.  You need to DREAM and DREAM BIG, but more importantly you must put ACTION to those dreams or they are really nothing more than fleeting daydreams. 

(1)MAKE $1000 A MONTH FROM MY ART-That is how my list starts.  I started my list by establishing a monthly profit amount that I would like to see me attain.  $1000 a month may seem small to many established and successful artists or it may seem completely out of the grasp of many that are struggling to get a sale.  I'm currently in that struggling category and so increasing my sales is certainly a priority in 2015.  

(2) REGULAR ART STUDENTS- A good revenue source that many artists can utilize is that of teaching.  Having students is a scary step because it feels like I need to have become an expert at painting in order to teach painting and that is so far from where I see myself.  I have been told that your art improves greatly as you begin to teach others so for 2015 I am hoping to find those that appreciate my style enough that they are willing to paint with me and pay me money for that privilege.  Having just 3 weekly student taking 2 hour lessons at $20 an hour gets me almost half way to my monthly income goal.   

(3) BECOME A LICENSED ARTIST- A second revenue source that I am going to start to focus on is getting my art licensed.  It feels a little like moving away from fine art, but there is money there if you work hard enough and I actually really enjoy sketching and painting in more of an illustrated style almost as much as painting a large landscape. Much of my weekly goals for 2015 will be focused on creating designs that can be licensed by companies and eventually provide a steady stream of revenue.  I joined a greeting card facebook group and I downloaded an excellent how-to book by Kate Harper.  I have also been reading some excellent articles on the subject.    

(4) FIND A CREATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER- In my researching articles about artist goal setting, I noticed on several sites a common suggestion.  Find a friend that can be your creative accountability partner.  Someone that can weekly motivate you to keep your time and energies focused on attaining your goals.  It doesn't have to be another artist, but someone who has an equal drive to attain measurable goals that you can meet with or talk to and share everything you did that week to reach your goals.  I'm thinking of creating a private Facebook group just for that purpose.

(5) FIND GALLERY REPRESENTATION OUTSIDE OF LAS VEGAS- Gallery exposure is key and I want to expand my exposure outside my local area.  

I have a number of other goals listed and I won't bore you with all my ramblings, but I would close with encouraging you to a notebook and pencil and start your own 2015 business goals.  I would also love to hear from you about your plans or suggestions on how you reach your creative goals.