Making connections as a creative

Most artists are introverts. You have to go inside yourself to find those aspects you wish to express through a medium such as paint, pen, camera, or instrument. With introversion comes, for many, an aversion to social interaction. However, social interaction can be the very thing that jumpstarts your career.

Even today, with most people finding their audience through social media, so many bottlenecks exist. If you make a post, you need people to share it. For people to share it, you need them to see it. And, with how overcrowded the internet is, you probably need people you have already formed a connection with to be willing to share your work. This is what we call organic growth. Growth that comes from natural, unpaid advertisement. If you think about it, this was allowed to happen because of connections you have already made.

After you’ve exhausted your personal network for advertising, you’ve likely made at least a few new fans, if not dozens or hundreds (or even thousands). At this point, you have a few options. You can either pay for advertising, hope a miracle happens due to organic growth, or actively try and make more connections. 

I’ve never been a huge fan of the saying “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” However, when it comes to making connections and networking, this could not be more true. The irony is that introverts have the highest fear of annoying others with their behavior, yet, at the same time, they are often the least likely people to do so because they are so reserved. Introverts worry they don’t have anything interesting to say, but their genuine thoughts, passions, concerns and dreams are interesting, especially to those who share similar interests. And those people may be extroverts or introverts, but regardless, they will never know about you if you don’t give them the chance. And, trust me, it does not matter how introverted you are; we all have traits that other people recognize and admire.

You might feel as if the particular form of art you specialize in isn’t cool or even respectable, but you’d be surprised, especially in a quirky city like Portland. Most people, I think--and especially here--admire creative talent. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the most talked about skill on the internet. People love learning about other people’s skills. And if you happen to talk to somebody who does what you do, they’ll know how much skill it takes to do it and you’ll have formed a bond of mutual respect.

Part of the “curse” of being a millennial is that work is more about networking and less about trade than it has been for decades. College degrees are more abundant than they’ve ever been. In a trade as subjective as art, the “best” artist does not always win. Sometimes, the most marketable artist wins. But, to be fair, being marketable might be part of what makes you good. My point here is that it’s impossible to quantify how “good” art is, and so, sometimes, just getting eyes on your art first is equally as important. And a great way to do that is to put yourself out there more than the other guy, even if it’s just a little bit more.

Furthermore, you never know who knows who. Say your friend invites you on a hike (and you hate hikes) with her and her other friend. What you don’t know is that her other friend is the head marketing strategist at Nike, and her team just lost their graphic designer. Or maybe her friend is a successful Instagram artist who wants to get better at stippling; the one thing you’ve mastered. Maybe you have a friend who wants you to come check out his band. Maybe you’re a complete psychopath and hate live music. Or maybe you know your friend sucks and you don’t feel like supporting an untalented, uninspired punk-grunge band. But it turns out they need t-shirts printed, and you have a screen printer. And they know a dozen other bands that need shirts designed and screen printed as well. Now you’re screen printing hundreds of shirts and they’re covering the costs (or better yet, paying you enough to make it a decent side gig). Now your art is being seen by thousands of people that otherwise may never have heard of you. Chances are, the art scene in your town is “smaller” than you think.

I believe people can tell when they’ve met a special person in their field of interest. If you are in the beginning stages of your career, you might not think you’re good enough. And while you don’t want to ask for handouts before you’ve put a good amount of time and effort into your craft, you will be recognized by somebody in your industry if you put out work that you’ve invested genuine energy and emotion into. 

There is an aspect to art and succeeding in art that I think often gets overlooked: showing up. And I don’t just mean showing up in the studio. I mean showing up in other areas of life. Art is incredibly social. Art causes people to gather together. People love the art of the people they know. Think about it: if two bands created music that you equally enjoyed, but one of them has a member you know personally, whose show are you more likely to attend? 

In addition to the inherent social nature of art. It is becoming increasingly collaborative. If you don’t believe me, look at the rise in 3D animated movies, and then take a look at how many people worked on those films. It is staggering. Or take a look at what popular music has become. Everything is a collaboration. 

We are artists. While we may be the only ones who can truly express ourselves using our own voice, we are not always the best at seeing our own full potential. We cannot always understand all the ways in which we are special. We need other people for that. We need other people to pull us out of our own heads from time to time. As artists, we have the blessing of being able to create beautiful works from being inside our own heads. But we don’t have to spend our whole lives there. Even if a directly beneficial work or marketing opportunity does not come out of a social gathering, often inspiration will. Creating new connections introduces us to new feelings, and these new feelings stir up new ideas. These new ideas lead us to new art. And that new art leads to further organic growth. But it still began from a connection. Connections, and art, both teach us about ourselves. Connections remind us of who we are and who we are not. And the more we learn about ourselves, the more we are reminded of parts of ourselves once forgotten or yet explored, the further we can dive into our artistic career. 

What are the real risks of putting yourself out there? You might get embarrassed. Your feelings could be hurt. Even if you made a fool of yourself, which is highly unlikely, it would probably soon be forgotten about assuming you’ve treated others with respect along the way. Artists are worriers, and this anxiety creates scenarios in our heads that are highly unlikely to ever come to fruition. This can actually be quite a gift as it is so often expressed through one’s pieces.

On a deeper level, I believe stagnation is what turns a good artist into a bad one. When one “loses touch,” I believe this may be largely due to the fact that they have forgotten to go out and connect with the world. In these cases, we must go beyond (but not ignore) our connections with other people. We must connect with life, with nature, with our experiences; particularly new and inspiring ones. And, really, anybody can be inspired by the right experience with the right perspective. But, when we are not having experiences, that is when we are the least likely to be inspired. 

So, really, (besides covid) what is holding you back? Asking yourself this question and what your actual fears are can reveal how ridiculous they might be. And, hopefully, once you’ve reached this point, you can allow yourself to meet people for the sake of meeting people, with an open mind and a willingness to talk about what you do and why you do it.