Dear Agony Aunt,

I’m an artist working as a jeweller with a small clientele who seem to like my designs. However, I don’t have enough buyers to make anything like a living. I have been getting increasing numbers of requests for jewellery repair work and some offers of commissions to make items according to a client’s own design. I’m trying to square what is needed to be able to sustain myself in my artistic field. What is your view about whether I would compromise my reputation by becoming a ‘jeweller for hire’? Dualist, Drummoyne

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Dear Dualist,

I have always felt that creators have to balance their artistic passion with a way to earn enough income to sustain a healthy happy working life. Throughout the centuries, artists have had to sell their skills to patrons and not been regarded as lesser artists for it. Rembrandt, Michelangelo and many great masters were artist ‘mercenaries’ and the challenges associated with that to some extent set the parameters of their work. Many successful jewellers I know take on commission work as a way to be able to earn income. However, they usually try to negotiate designs that are in some regard an expression of their creative style. After all, that’s probably what brought the clients to them in the first place. If you do decide to take on the demands of commissioners of various kinds, I predict you will gain in reputation and be able to be more assertive about your own ideas. Usually clients will respect your experience and skills. Alternatively, as I’m sure you know, other options are: to find work which is in some regard aligned with your area of skill; teach your skills to others; try to get grants or residencies; or do a higher degree to buy time to develop and refine your creative ideas. I think creators need to engage with their practice in a way that makes them happy. If it can't sustain them financially then they have to try and create the balance of a supportive income from other sources. I’m not sure whether I’ve shared this story with IWCN before but I once met a young artist whose work in an exhibition was really striking. In answering my enquiries, he disclosed that he worked for an advertising agency. He said it was a really symbiotic relationship; they benefitted from his originality of approach, and he learned how to achieve high production values. In discussing your dilemma with Lucas Blacker, a jeweller who is an IWCN committee member, he said, “personally, if I didn't have the interaction with the clients, I think I would be very boring. And I think my jewellery wouldn't be as creative as it is. It does generate problem solving situations and sometimes causes me some headaches, but when I am successful it gives me a boost and the financial means to keep working in the field I love.”