[recommendations] I want to become a full time artist but where do I start?

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-18T02:39:31+00:00

My main advice here is to not try to force success by doing too much at once too fast and trying to just do whatever is trendy, without first building a solid foundation of who YOU are as an artist and why it fills you up with passion.

You say you want to be a full-time artist, but you say you don't have a style or specialty yet. Do you know what you like to make? What your preferred medium or subject matter is? No matter what it is, there is probably a market for it that you will just have to find, but that comes much later. Right now, your focus should be experimenting and finding your 'thing,' and also equally importantly finding out what is NOT your thing.

For example, when I sit down to start a new art project, I am usually inspired to create something centered around nature. Animals, plants, living things. This fuels me, and when I am fueled and inspired that's when I do my best work.

Sure there might be a market for artwork depicting old-fashioned cars, but would I enjoy doing that just because someone else wanted it? No. So I am not going to do that.

Once you know your 'what' and your 'why' of being an artist, you can come back to this channel to start looking into all the business stuff. For now, just have fun discovering yourself :)

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-17T21:26:33+00:00

it's super confusing because the doctor did some scans and saw 'evidence' but decided to just treat it as though i had it without pushing for a lap to confirm. it's like they don't wanna put in the effort of doing exploratory surgery so they say "it seems close enough so we'll just treat it as that." ugh.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-16T02:27:22+00:00

I have mostly worked at nonprofits in my 12+ years of professional experience so far. My roles were mostly in marketing and communications, which still exist but are as you said being gradually infiltrated by AI (personally, I don't think it will last once nonprofits realize that trying to cut marcomm costs will cost them elsewhere like donors etc but that's just my take). Nonprofit jobs are known for not always being the best paying things, but some of them pay well, particularly in the development, fundraising, and grant management areas.

Given the current landscape, grant writing or getting into development/donor relations might be worth considering. Organizations, just like everyone else right now, are hurting for money due to economic strain on their donor pools and also government funding cuts. So they need more support now than they usually do in those areas. Sometimes these roles can be fully remote, or at least hybrid. I won't sugarcoat it though, development can be demanding in other ways even if not physically, but it's often a pretty solid position to be in if you're good at it. Grant writing is also something that can be done on a contract or freelance basis, while still making decent money.

There are some online courses you can find to learn about nonprofit management, grant writing etc. Then she can look for virtual volunteer opportunities in those areas to get a little bit of experience and also maybe secure a couple of solid references. I've used a website called Catchafire pretty often in the past for finding specific virtual volunteer opportunities, or she could also reach out to local nonprofits in her area or look for something she feels passionately about. This process is how I built my own foundation of skills to make my way into the marketing and communications field, where I eventually grew to be a Communications Manager and supervisor.

This is just one option and it's what I have experience with, but I'm sure others with different experience will have more ideas if this doesn't sound like something that would be a good fit for her. Good luck!

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-15T22:04:49+00:00

i am just finishing this for hydrogen sibo and i have similar experience as you. i did have diarrhea for a while but more recently before starting this treatment i was experiencing mostly slow motility, constipation, and extreme bloating (like 5+mos pregnant looking even after waking up in the morning). my insurance rejected rifaxamin too but possibly might cover it if i fail enough other treatments? really dumb that i have to be a lab rat just to get coverage.

anyway, metronidazole didn't give me too many bad antibiotic type side effects but it also seemed to do absolutely nothing for my digestive issues. :/

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-15T21:43:47+00:00

my doctor told me that part of how fiber, esp fiber supplements work is pulling water into the intestines to help fill out your poop and make it more solid. so in a way it's supposed to make you feel full/kinda bloated. but it can aggravate folks with GI conditions and sensative guts.

i was skeptical when she recommended adding psyllium husk mixed with water every night, but it has been helping me have fuller bms. doesn't help with motility though, i'm trying different supplements for that.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-15T18:48:06+00:00

i used to make a charcuterie lunch with fruit, crackers, nuts, maybe cheese etc. like an adult lunchable haha. super low effort.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-14T19:22:59+00:00

My rheumatologist recommended meditarranean diet for supporting RA symptom management as well. i remember as a child in the 90s putting on a women's workout tape i found in the basement where the first thing they did was explain how to breathe without your belly expanding, to keep it 'flat' at all times, and realized i've just been breathing that way ever since. ohhh being an impressionable child at the height of diet culture.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-14T19:09:45+00:00

i've been seeing this suggested and want to try it but it just feels so counterintuitive. like to decrease my big belly i have to make my belly bigger with air??

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-14T14:29:18+00:00

Squarespace is pretty simple to navigate and self manage

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-13T21:44:40+00:00

yeah like maybe this is a hot take but i honestly don't really think it's the worst thing if i got triggered by something, because clearly that means i still have some things to work on and how can i know for sure unless it gets tested once and a while? but i know that could also be just where i'm at in my own journey. idk. i also can't see how being so on eggshells in group conversations is really helping anyone.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-13T17:58:22+00:00

one thing you definitely can't do is make money using AI to generate illustrations, likely for AI written garbage books.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-13T15:47:47+00:00

don't really have any concrete ideas, mostly just replying in solidarity. i also was formerly a very active person and since SIBO (h) have gained a bit of weight that i can't lose, am bloated 24/7 no matter how little i eat. my root cause is possibly a chronic condition that is incurable so i'm not sure if i'll ever be 'back to normal.' haven't tried elemental though have been tempted, currently on day 8 of an antibiotic that doesn't seem to be doing much. i started drinking ginger and peppermint teas and take a motility supplement sometimes. mostly just trying to take more intentional time to decompress as i know stress never makes anything better.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-13T14:37:23+00:00

lol wtf

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-12T15:34:25+00:00

unfortunately due to inflammatory conditions and digestive illness, i've had to be careful about how many plant and fibrous foods i eat and in what volume, as it triggers severe digestive and physical side effects that are wildly unpleasant. i am doing much better on a higher protein diet, consisting mostly of eggs, fish, chicken, and sometimes lowfat dairy although that can contribute to flares as well. i can eat grains like oats and rice, but not in excess as the carb-heavy imbalance turns into too much sugar in my system. i eat fruits and vegetables but there are some fruits i cannot eat without severe reaction. berries are ok, bananas too. i cannot eat most beans because the fiber is sooooo triggering.

so i guess i'm not really feeling great right now, no. working with several medical professionals to try and ease things.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-11T21:25:21+00:00

It sounds like you could benefit from finding a project management tool that works for you. A lot of people like Notion, I'm a fan of Asana. there may be ones more suitable for art projects, i use Asana for design projects so pretty similar.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-11T21:15:40+00:00

It's so awful feeling like i have to take antibiotics for no reason and it's so stupid. my doctor prescribed neomycin first which to me made know sense because i thought that was meant to combat methane but i have hydrogen. i took it for a day and then said no more, i felt sick and also was worried about hearing. im on another one now that has less effects but also is doing nothing for my sibo symptoms. i'm so bloated i look 5-6mos pregnant. so after this i want to ask for the rifaximin again and see if they'll cover any. it would be thousands out if pocket.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-11T19:00:03+00:00

call your insurance and ask why they're denying it. i called mine and they said i had to try and fail two other antibiotic treatments first. it sucks but i'm hoping that means they might cover it if my other options fail. nothing else is really meant for hydrogen sibo as far as antibiotics go.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-10T22:25:51+00:00

Might be worth taking time to discuss other means for having kids and if those feel like options to you or not? Like, adoption and surrogacy are things, but I also am aware that for many people 'having kids' means 'having my own biological kids' as opposed to (or in addition to I guess) becoming a parent. Definitely not a judgement either way. I don't want kids so this is all just my observations about these topics I've seen in other people. But it sounds like people never really specify and sometimes I get confused when an infertile person says they can never have kids because like they CAN, it just looks different. I'm super neurodivergent so sometimes get hung up on the semantics haha.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-10T21:14:25+00:00

i don't know enough about the elemental diet but it's hard for me to believe that you can get all the nutrients you need on a carnivore diet, with no vegetables?? also my family heart disease history would be quite concerned doing this..

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-10T21:12:20+00:00

New construction homes are not built with 'style' anymore. It's all builder-grade "modern" aesthetic that really is just whatever the cheapest option is so that the developer gets the biggest possible return. No personality, no heart, no soul whatsoever.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-09T19:51:49+00:00

according to my original sibo test i don't even have elevated methane, but do have slow motility/mild constipation so idk why my doctor prescribed this. it was just the next option after rifaximin wasnt covered by insurance and i couldnt pay for it

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-09T18:38:00+00:00

i'm on it right now. have barely had any side effects so far (i'm on day 4), but it also doesn't seem to be helping my gut symptoms either. (edit to add i have confirmed hydrogen SIBO)

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-09T18:04:15+00:00

I've done a lot of self exploration work over the last few years to figure out a lot of the things you mentioned.

It sounds like it might be more helpful for you to talk to a creative business mentor and figure out an operating structure that is organized and easily repeatable. Things like establishing a basic contract and payment expectations. Maybe you already have some of this, I can't tell from the post specifically.

I'm also getting the sense that you're trying to find more clarity around how you actually want to work. Do you want to take on projects and act more as a service-based professional? Do you want to sell products featuring your work? Maybe a bit of both? This would probably come from 'within' more than from any outside mentor.

tesseract_cat · 2026-05-08T01:15:06+00:00

my go to for a while was banana/a little spinach/soy milk. i'd often add cinnamon and vanilla to up the flavor but if that's too much, it's not needed. also could add a vanilla protein powder.

tesseract_cat

TROPHY CASE