By Eleanor Gordon-Smith
Publication Date: 2026-03-05 21:17:00
I am an artist in my 30s without any notable success. Before the pandemic, I had quite a few options. Unfortunately, Covid and then political and personal matters beyond my control fell apart my work and my social environment. I lost contacts and had no time for networking.
My art has evolved with me, becoming less conceptual, more narrative and more accessible. The most fulfilling moment in the last few months was when I surprised a local cashier by giving her an illustration. Nevertheless, I began to doubt whether I could move people with my art.
I don’t know how to reach people without spending hours on social media (which is exhausting), and the advancement of generative AI worries me. There is little to no money to be made from art, and although I put my whole soul and heart into it, my energy (and health) is not infinite. I also see other, larger, well-known artists struggling because their work has been used to train AI models without their consent. I keep asking myself, “What’s the point?” I…