“Circus of Balance”, available as A4 poster right here in my shop
We never know beforehand. Not fully. We have to walk the path, often feeling partly blindfolded or dimmed in our vision. Like driving through the night, only able to see as far as the frontlights are able to light up the darkness. And still we somehow get there. That is, if we “get up, get in the car and drive”. Sitting at home wondering how to drive in the dark won´t do it.
When I created this image it was for an international competition. I felt way out of my comfort zone and actually scared, but I dove in and really gave it my very best. I even went to have the painting scanned professionally and payed a graphic designer to create the file in the right dimensions. I often refrain from any kind of competition because I am afraid that I won´t be able to handle if I loose!
Well, I didn´t win and I was not selected as one of the top 50 either. There were more than 2000 entries from all over the world, but still I could feel my heart drop: “how will I ever get there” “There” meaning learning how to get into a market I don´t know much about, learning how to make a business from my passion, learning how to earn money from what I create so that I can keep creating.
I am still learning, and often frightened too. However, this image went on to become the all times bestseller amongst my creations so far. Whenever a shop places an order, they will give a number of their wanted cards and images in different sizes, and very often they add: and could you give us 10 extra of this image in all your sizes please, it is selling so fast!
What I am saying is: I could not see, it felt utterly uncomfortable, I still gave it my best – then I felt like a looser, and my heart dropped. But found my way forward with what was important: to keep driving/creating from my passion. And then this image found it´s very own way of being of use and joy in this world, slowly but steadily finding it´s own place and usage.
I am very thankful for that experience, the whole of it!
