Here is one response I received recently to this question. I thought I'd share it with you.
What does it mean to be a successful artist?
I think one must, first, define the term success.
With regard to a career in the arts, it may involve finding a different way
to view success or at least defining it in a way that makes sense to the
artist - it is therefore a very subjective thing. I am professionally
trained as a lawyer, and so I reflexively attempt to analyze life through
the lens of objectivity- to the extent that an objective vision is possible
when the filter of individual experience is applied. To assign a subjective
or personal definition to the concept of success feels like "cheating" in a
sense, but when discussing art, it may be the most appropriate way to begin
the discussion.
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