There's a huge cloud of shame around art and business being seen as bedfellows.
I think basically an actor is a salesman.
I'm enamored with the art world. Anytime you look at anything that's considered artistic, there's a commercial world around it: the ballet, opera, any kind of music. It can't exist without it.
To make money, I did portraits. The truth is so bizarre! I'm kind of embarrassed. I was like a 19th-century pirate painter. I'd say, 'Your mom would love a painting of you!' A salesman! I'd hawk paintings.
In order to create art today, you have to compromise your art somewhat and be a businessman.
I have respect for those who make money at art and do it well and smartly, because that commercial aspect keeps the world going and running, in a sense.
The people who make art their business are mostly imposters.
Before I began concentrating on writing, in my free time I was an artist, making and selling etchings illustrating stories based on my readings in classical literature.
