You Only Get Your First Sale Once ~ by Bhat Boy

Meteor Shower by Bhat Boy

I have read some really inspirational words about an artist’s first sale, yet I often meet emerging artists who are reticent to sell with their work because it feels like a betrayal to part with a painting. They seem to feel as if they must be its guardian or parent. Any good parent, of course, knows that you must learn to let go of your children. So why should paintings be any different? Are they not created to go out into the world as children were?

Selling a painting is an experience. It is good for the soul. It fosters confidence and creativity. While it does create a void, that void should be seen as an opportunity. It is an opportunity to create another painting. That void, that niche, will need to be filled. Any artist will soon discover that the same painting can never be reproduced, only a brother or a sister. So, slowly an artist’s body of work is created. Selling old paintings should inspire you to create new paintings, why would we paint if not to share with other people?

By the way, I sold my first painting at the Gallery in the Ottawa School of Art for $175, the school director bought it. That night, to celebrate I got drunk, and while vomiting in the gutter of Rideau Street, I was slushed by a passing bus. Ah…such sweet memories. You only get your first sale once, make the most of it.

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