Can creative work be sustainable not just financially, but emotionally and integrated within everyday life without causing an ongoing friction or burnout?
I’ve been wrestling with this question for a while now, and I’m afraid I still haven’t found one simple answer. As for me, the answer changes depending on how my life changes. For example, being pregnant, becoming a parent or homeschooling my son changed the way I created artworks and developed projects. Some of those changes were permanent, and some dissolved when I entered yet another stage of my life.
When it comes to making my creative art practice financially sustainable in the long run the answers I thought I had don’t seem to be working in the world going through a very painful transition. (That reflection requires an individual post.)
However, what I definitely know is that if an artist doesn’t have to worry about finances, they have more creative freedom and an appetite for experimenting and developing projects. If the rent isn’t secure, the same artist will have to prioritise paying the rent above anything else. After all, it’s difficult to create if one is anxious about money all the time.
Buying supplies and having both the physical and mental space to create are just as important for creativity as feeding yourself or having safe housing.
In an increasingly expensive world, which has positioned itself in contrast to artistic dreams, ambitions or heart desires, meeting basic needs has become challenging for people with regular income. So just imagine how tough it must be for artists and creatives who are usually underpaid and often don’t know where their next pay cheque will come from.
I’ve run my creative art practice since 2004 and in that time a lot has changed. Along those changes I’ve learnt a thing or two about creativity, flexibility, creative burnout and running a creative art practice that is sustainable emotionally, creatively, financially and environmentally. Regardless of all the upheavals I’ve experienced I’m still creating, making my art projects and growing as an artist and I’m not planning to give up.
Here is what I’ve learnt since 2004:
- Creative progress is not a straight line. The line is often curvy, invisible, and sometimes the line is just a dot.
- Developing and growing projects and ideas takes longer than usually anticipated.
- There is no shame in being stuck in a process or a project.
- Walking away from projects even for years at a time can help getting the project moving. Time provides the breathing space needed to understand what the project wants to become and where it wants to go.
- Money is important. (The starving artist narrative is a myth that should never capture anyone’s imagination.)
- Charging money for creative work is important even if it feels uncomfortable at first.
- Having a job that provides income outside your creative art practice is not a failure of your creative art practice. It is simply a way to keep going, especially if you have caring responsibilities.
- Creative burnout is real. It’s both a trap and a state of being that can stop everything you hold dear.
- Sometimes life and projects don’t work out. Occasionally there is a reason, but more often than not it doesn’t have a deeper meaning.
- Ask for help if you need it. You don’t need to do everything on your own.
- Accept help from others.
- You are allowed to rest and enjoy life outside of your work and creative art practice.
- Making art and developing creative projects is not easy. The process requires a lot: time, energy and emotional resources.
- Even independent projects, made on a shoestring budget, need funding.
- Creative art practice can have many layers.
Here are some assumptions I had to let go of:
- If I work hard, embrace toxic productivity and listen to productivity gurus, everything will work out.
- The system is fair and all I needed was a bit of talent and a lot of hard work.
- The end product counts more not the process.
- I assumed that the market economy would allow me to save and invest enough money to support my creative lifestyle indefinitely. (That last assumption was completely wrong and deserves a post of its own.)
Observation about “the system”, in which the artist and creative work exist, I’ve had over the years:
- The traditional capitalist system doesn’t work particularly well for many artists and creatives.
- Competitions and funding applications are not always fairly run.
- Being a nepo baby and/or having connections helps enormously.
I don’t mention these things to be cynical. I mention them because pretending they don’t exist doesn’t help either.
What I’m testing next:
Rather than being stuck on trying to be accepted and approved by the establishment (years of rejection do take a toll even on the toughest of us), I’ve decided to keep experimenting:
- I’m setting up an online shop for my children’s books and educational resources. I want to see if this idea has any legs to stand on.
- I plan to set up a very small gallery space. I don’t know where yet, but this idea was inspired by an artist Monica Lacey and her small gallery project. If you have any ideas or suggestions, let me know in the comments below.
- I’m also going back to sending a regular seasonal newsletter from my website. If you’d like to follow along, you’re welcome to join. I even have a few free goodies for new subscribers.
What sustainable creative art practice means to me in 2026?
- At its core, sustainable creativity means having:
- enough time to create, even if it’s only 15 minutes a day,
- enough mental space and capacity to give my creativity space to think,
- enough financial stability to keep going, growing and experimenting,
- enough flexibility to adapt when circumstances change.
Of course, I’d love to hear from you.
What are you doing to make your practice more sustainable over a long time and in a world that is hard to keep up with.
Further reading
I do recommend you check out the links below to get a bigger picture of what I propose when I talk about running and creating a sustainable creative art practice:
Long-Term Financial Sustainability in My Creative Art Practice
How to Live Life a Little Less Traditionally and Save Money in the Process? (Part 1)
How to Live Life a Little Less Traditionally and Save Money in the Process? (Part 2)
What Does Environmental Sustainability Mean, In the Context of Cultivating Sustainable Art Practice?
Creating Sustainable Art Practice Chapter 1
Creating Sustainable Art Practice Chapter 2
Creating Sustainable Art Practice Chapter 3
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