Escaping the Money-Versus-Creativity Trap

Guest blog by Matt Faulkner

 

 
I’m a children’s book illustrator and author and from time to time it is my pleasure to visit schools and share my work with children.  Recently I’ve noticed that kids are questioning the fact that I share the business aspect of what I do during my presentations. Now, I’m fairly sure that this is not some sort of trend in the awareness of children concerning money. It’s probably just me and the sensitivity I’ve developed over the past 30 years of my being an illustrator/author.

And yet, yesterday it happened again.
A 5th grader asked-
“When all is said and done, what’s more important to you- getting money or being creativity.”
I’ll tell you what I said to him in a moment.

But first I want you to know that I have a purpose in presenting the issue of artists and writers acquiring income when talking to kids. It’s my belief that there is a real disconnect in our culture regarding those who choose a creative vocation and many of those who choose something else. I know I’m not saying anything radical here. It’s just that I’m tired of this disconnect and wish to do something about it.

For many reasons, we as a society seem to insist that our creatives remain “pure” and not concern ourselves with worries of money. If a creative should discuss money, we tend to lump her/him into a slimy category of all those others who give up their their virtue for gold- such as drug dealers and lobbyists. The crazy part of this is that, if we, as creatives, actually buy into this societal “money-versus-creativity” trap (e.g. starving artist is good, thriving artist is false) why is it that we don’t demand that our culture support us? I mean, somebody’s got to foot the bill for all the wonderfulness we bring into the world, right? For instance, we could demand that society give all creatives tax abatements, free housing, free chocolate, free lunch meats even. If things were managed this way then creatives could be über-creative (maybe) and yet never have to sully our pristine selves with dirty dollars.  Still a  crappy situation but at least we’d get free chocolate and lunch meats. So, until we accept that being creative is as natural a vocation as any other, requiring hard work, sensibility, discipline and, dare I say it, a desire to pay the rent on time, then we shouldn’t complain when we get paid a pittance and find ourselves stuffed into a cramped box.

And that’s why I talk about how I make money to kids. Because it’s good for them to know that working as an artist is a job like any other. A great job, but still a job.



So, my answer to the 5th grader?
“Yes.”
The 3rd graders up front didn’t like my response.
“That’s not an answer!” they hollered.
I smiled and did another drawing for them, then gave the sketch to one of the kids. I also smiled and thanked the school librarian when I was handed my honorarium check.

As I re-read what I’ve written above I think my answer to the youngster could appear trite. Here’s the thing though- I had just given an hour long presentation which I believe clearly showed my motivation; in short- I love to draw, paint and create. And just so you know, the message- do what you love and the money will follow- is a big element of my talks. I think the kids very much get these points. Yet, as I’ve pointed out, I also let them know that I like money. I tell tham that I believe money to be a tool and that I don’t feel that being creative and making money are exclusive efforts. So, with that said, I don’t know what that young man’s motivation was in asking the question. But I do find it interesting that this question is even asked, whether in a situation like this by a child or at any time by anyone. Why do we even question the motivation of a creator who wishes to make an income? Is it a bad thing when anyone makes a living or even gains wealth by doing what they love to do? Or is it just artists who are bad when they make a living off of their work? Lastly, is it a bad thing that we are instilling this prejudice in our children?
And btw, my private helicopter ran out of Perrier on the way home. Boy, was that ever frustrating.

Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts on the subject.
Sincerely,
Matt Faulkner

www.mattfaulknerblog.blogspot.com
www.mattfaulkner.com
https://twitter.com/MattFaulkner1