Welcome to another installment of Blog Carnival, where an
international selection of artists provides their perspective on a common
theme. This month it is “Businesses you have started”. For artists this is a
distinct and separate question from “Businesses you have finished”. As all
artists know, a work is never finished - it’s only abandoned.
Artistic discipline (or lack thereof) aside, the real point
of all this is that artists tend to be polymaths. That is a ten-dollar word
meaning a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different
subject areas. Artists probably aren’t born polymaths, but become such in a
life-long quest to make a living while hopefully staying as close to their art
as possible. In plain English this all means that artists do a lot of things to
get by. This often results in a rather curious effect, when charted out, of the
artist’s career bearing a strong resemblance to the path of a pin-ball. Artists
will often remark that the effect in real life feels very much the same.
The odd part is that we have started, operated and sold so
many businesses over the last 30 years that we are now by definition serial
entrepreneurs. Here’s a peek at some of the businesses that got us here…
One Hit Wonder Bong Factory.
This was many years ago during our ceramics period. This
seemed like a natural extension of our manufacturing capabilities. Based on our
extra-curricular activities at the time we also had a built-in distribution
network. The world needed more artistically designed bongs and there was a
distinct moneyed niche that was willing to buy something unique. The business
prospered, but the product R&D proved to be a real impediment to
efficiency. We eventually sold the business to our partner when we became
interested in other media.
The King of the Bar Nude.
Small town USA, particularly throughout the mid-west, is
generously populated with old bars and saloons. Many of these places are
left-overs from the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. They haven’t changed much
since the day they were built, which either adds to their charm or designation
as a “shit-hole” bar depending on your point of view. We are hopeless
romantics, so we thought these places quite charming. We were actually doing research for a book,
“Guide to America’s Shit Hole Bars” when we began to notice that more than a
few of these places had old paintings of nudes hanging over the bar. More often
than not, these painting had degenerated into state of very poor condition. Sitting,
drinking, thinking at one of these bars, it occurred to us that WE paint nudes
and were totally capable of reproducing historical styles (thank you old school
art training). This had opportunity written all over it. We approached the bar
owner about either repairing or replacing his bar nude. Bingo - Our first sale!
This led to a five year run and hundreds of bar nudes. We eventually burned out
and just stopped taking orders. Never did finish the book.
Gingerbread Taj Mahal.
One of our artistic hallmarks is embracing a wide spectrum
of media. For many, many years we were into playing with our food. Not content
to build mountains out of mashed potatoes ala Close Encounters of the Third
Kind, we took food sculpture to a whole new level. It was an instant success,
and on an international level we had not experienced before. The recognition,
money and offers came pouring in. Frankly, we were not prepared.
This eventually became a pivotal experience in our careers
and our lives. Prior to this, we had a vague idea of what “fame and fortune”
meant and an illusion of what the lifestyle would be like. It was all that, and
a whole lot more. Unfortunately, that “more” part was stuff we really didn’t
like. In fact, we hated it. As the saying goes, “be careful what you ask for,
you may just get it”. We were doing
television, traveling with royalty, making more money than we had ever thought
possible and were utterly miserable. How can this be you ask? Another saying
goes, God says, “You can have anything you want in this life, all you have to
do is pay for it.” Meaning everything comes with a cost – to your metal
stability, health, personal relationships etc.
Sometimes knowing what you want is defined by knowing what you don’t
want.
Over the years there have been many, many more businesses
that we have started and run. All have been more or less successful. We have
made money, but more important, we have learned. We have learned to be
comfortable with who we are, and we have learned that the best things in life
aren’t things.
We currently own four businesses that operate
internationally and constantly fight the urge to make it an even five. We have
learned that entrepreneurialism is addictive.
