I consider myself very lucky, having experienced several very different careers over the years, from geophysicist to International Tax Specialist. I took up watercolour painting as a relaxing retreat from the pressures of work, although opportunities to paint back then were few & far between.
Now that I’ve retired and can paint almost every day, I still consider painting a relaxing hobby rather than a business and if I can sell just enough of my work to cover the costs of my hobby, then I’m a happy chappie.
So, setting aside the occasional commission, I have the luxury of being able to paint what interests me and if I think that a print of that painting might also interest others I advertise it online for a while.
And that’s where luck again intervened, because some of my work does seem to be popular enough for sales to cover all of my painting costs.
Therefore, to answer the above question, it’s possible to do both. Your art will take you to places and scenes that also evoke memories and dreams for other people, and they’ll want to hang it on their wall.
The two paintings shown here were done for myself, for the pure pleasure of painting them. One is Buchanness Lighthouse on the Aberdeenshire coast near Peterhead and the other is a scene from rural Aberdeenshire showing Bennachie in the distance. Both scenes bring back happy memories for me.
I may offer prints for sale to see if there’s any interest, they may sell or may not. Either way I’ll continue to paint what I like.
My Etsy shop is here:
GM-Art 