it took me a long time to admit i was an artist.  i’m not really sure why.  maybe i thought i wasn’t worthy of the title?  to me an artist was someone who made a living off of their work.

when someone asked, “where do you work?” or “what do you do?” i almost fumbled over a response, like “well, i was a preschool teacher for years then i quit to commit myself to my artwork full time…”  how much easier (and less awkward!) to just admit – “i’m an artist”.

***

last year i won a bottle of Dimensional Magic on the Mod Podge Rocks! blog.  i’d never used the product before and decided to use it to make some pendants with images of my artwork.  i also wanted to make some necklaces with old thesaurus pages.

(these photos are not great – i took them last year, before i started blogging.  the second photo was taken with my old cellphone.)

i decided to make myself a necklace with the thesaurus page using the definitions of the words artisan, artist, and artistic.  (maybe if i wore the definition around my neck, i could say it out loud, right?)

i love the way the pendants with the words came out, and i LOVE my “artist” pendant necklace. but i won’t lie; i didn’t wear it right away.  but the more shows i do, the more work i sell on my Etsy shop, and as my work is starting to sell on our Arte de Nuestro Corazon site, i find my confidence growing.  having a Facebook business page has helped me too: you’re interacting with so many more people online, answering questions and getting feedback from customers and potential customers.  if you want to one day have a successful business, you need to step up.

i find myself wearing my artist necklace often now.  when asked “what do you do?” i answer, “i’m an artist.”

i might even hand out a business card…