Professional Artists? Starting a discussion on barriers to accessing art

Hi Kit, thanks for responding. You are right to point this out: When I just googled something like "disabled arts" or something like that. Most of the things that came up were about art therapy, not it being a professional activity.

As to your efforts: Having sold handmade journals for a living for a couple of years myself - selling handmade is a tough bussines, and in the range of prints/printmaking there's lots of competition. I can fully understand why you would find markets hard to access. I find it strenuous both physically and mentally, too, and I don't like participating in fairs also for other reasons: It's a huge investment in time, you often have to pay a fee up front, and for me it's always been a problem with arranging childcare. But that doesn't have to keep you. In the handmade community there are those who sell mostly in person, those who sell mostly online, and those who manage both successfull (but the latter are scarce). There are several online selling platforms like Etsy and Folksy (I like this one better these days) that I sold on successfully, and which might be a good way forward for you. I would be happy to help you along if you have any questions (I'll try to send a private message; don't know whether we have this feature here).

For both plattforms there are different groups on social media, too, where everyone is super friendly and you can always ask for help. While some do start out selling to friends, it's those who manage to expand beyond their personal acquaintances for who it is sustainable. Good luck!

I don't know depop. Both Etsy and Folksy definitely need some time until they can take off, and having some friends that buy something in the start may help. Bringing in customers yourself doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have personal friends. (I would argue: if that's where the majority of someone's revenue comes from, then they shouldn't be on a 3rd party platform but sell to them directly - otherwise it's too expensive.) It is true that neither plattform works on its own, you need to put in time and effort.. I am running an Etsy shop as my main source of income - or I did before the pandemic hit; for many there, shop closures were business-booster, but I had to close shop to look after my kids.That's because running an online shop of that scale is not something that works on its own, it is a full time job. I hope to get back to it now that schools open again. But making stuff, making good photos, writing product descriptions, working out prices, shipping modes,... all that takes effort, a learning curve, and a lot of time. Etsy is fairly professional by now, and if it looks too home-made, people might not be attracted. That's why local support groups help a lot.

I am part of the Nottingham Etsy Team. We have monthly meetings with shop critique, help with technicalities, and all kind of support for each other. We are always happy to give a helping hand to a newbie. So, if you are somewhere close.. But there are many local teams you could join. we usually also welcome people who don't even have a shop yet, and just want to talk about how it could work out. That way you'd have 30 odd people look over your shop, and with a little bit of luck, one of them might even be your first customer - although that shouldn't be the main incentive to come to a meeting...