FAQ: How does the struggling economy affect the struggling artist?

The other day, somebody dropped $45 million on this Henri Matisse painting.  I bet a lot of you look at this painting and think to yourself, "I could have done that!"  I know I do.  With a headline like this, it's hard to see all doom and gloom in my profession.

I've never tied my interpretation of success to my economic situation.  And that's not some high brow moralizing I'm doing.  It's an actual gut feeling.  Probably some primal survival mechanism for artists.  I was talking to a fellow artist about this just the other day.  We've both been penniless at many points in our lives but we've always maintained a steadying sense of accomplishment through what we've achieved through our art.  We don't really worry about unemployment.  We just wake up and work, whether it bears fruit or not.

It may change in the near future, but at the moment, I don't really notice an economic crisis as it relates to my painting.  I've had better times and worse times.  Surviving on art is always a struggle, and I'd say that the amount of struggle right now is not abnormal.  The way I see it, the internet gives me potential access to 6 billion people.  If I can connect with a handful each month, I'll keep my family fed.

So, though the happy days of selling ice to Eskimos and spending the loot on four dollar lattes may be over for now, the painting goes on.  What else am I going to do?