How I earn money and spend my time as a professional artist

The beginning of 2026 marks four full calendar years out of full time work for me and the second year I am celebrating this shift in my life with some super fun stats 🎉

My main takeaway from completing this exercise hasn't changed: making a living as a professional artist remains extremely difficult. While I benefit from a number of structural privileges (being white, cis and middle class are three examples), there are some factors which affect my earning capacity, primarily that I am autistic and manage mental illness. Other potentially relevant factors are that I live alone and take great pleasure in spending money and acquiring things.

MONEY💰

Prior to 2022, I juggled full time work at an NGO, a casual job in the arts sector and my independent arts practice. While I was financially stable, the combination proved to be unsustainable for me.

From 2022, I moved to multiple part time jobs that have allowed me the space and flexibility to prioritise my creative work. These years have been filled with both a relentless financial anxiety and a sense of deep fulfillment. 2025 in particular has been difficult with opportunities more competitive than ever.

Here is a high-level break down of my income (pre-tax) across this time frame with 2021 included for reference. Please note, I have had to work some magic to translate my tax returns into calendar year summaries. My calculations seem correct but it is probably safest to take them as a ball park.

As you can see, the proportion of money I have earned directly from my creative practice ranges from 8% to 28%. Generally, this income is derived from (in decreasing order of dollars earned):

• Grants
• Prizes
• Residencies
• Other income
• Freelance writing
• Royalties
• Appearance fees

The proportion of my income earned from part time work within the arts sector has increased as I have settled into roles that better align with my current interests.

2025 was a particularly difficult year for me to generate income, either by securing a grant or through smaller freelance opportunities. Mid-year I took a break from applying for things because I had become so worn down by repeated rejections. Thankfully, I made a come back later in the year and was able to secure a major grant that will support me in 2026.

TIME 🕰️

Since making the transition out of full time work, I have been tracking the way that I spend my time.

My number one priority has been the development of major creative works including two novel manuscripts (Now that I see you in 2020-21 and Doing Good Work in 2022-23), a new performance work (I play myself 2024-ongoing) and paintings for The Archibald Prize (2024-2025) and Squares and Kaleidoscope (2025).

Major Creative Works

As part of my work for and with arts organisations, I have also contributed to the development of other major creative works, primarily contemporary dance.

Professional Development

Moving out of full time work has allowed me to have a greater focus on professional development. These activities include opportunities like workshops, masterclasses, major coursework and rehearsal observation and development.

Opportunities and Applications

After professional development, the largest investment I make in my practice is in preparing applications for grants, residencies and other opportunities.

As is evident, I make many more applications than I receive.

*outcome pending on 3 applications

Personal applications - Applications made as an individual for creative projects where I am the lead artist.

Organisation applications - Applications I have contributed as an arts worker at an arts Organisation.

Advocacy

I sit on two boards, both in a voluntary capacity, and am on one paid committee (this income has been included as part of my arts sector income in the table above).

I am the chair of one of these boards, a substantial contribution in terms of time and responsibility, but one I am deeply committed to.

Engagement

Finally, I try and spend time engaging in as much arts and culture as possible. This is something I have begun tracking more recently so I don't have full stats on everything. I am also working with some loose buckets so there are very well engagements that haven't been captured at all.

Anecdotally, the severity of my depression has definitely been an influencing factor on my cultural consumption. I struggle to read while my depression is bad (i.e. 2022-2025) and have a greater tendency to remain at home rather than going out. My number one favourite thing to do at the moment is to go to the movies by myself so I am not surprised my film consumption is up.

SUMMARY 💹

In the grand scheme of things, four years isn't that long and I am proud of what I have been able to achieve in this time. Having the time and emotional space to invest in myself as an artist and in the work I produce has been transformational, even with increased financial anxiety.