An artists plea. for the holidays
Start Shopping Small
Its been a year so far and hurtling by at speeds I am not comfortable with. I can’t believe we are at the beginning of September. Being a small independant artist is getting harder to sustain. I gotta work 2x as hard for a fraction of what I used to make. I need to pay more taxes and tariffs than I ever have in my entire career of almost 20 years (are we great yet?). Your small artists/ makers are now an endangered species and if we are not supported we will disappear. Swallowed by ai slop and billionaires greed.
What can you do? Change it. Shift your mentality now. Even one small habit will have lasting impact. This year my husband and I have decided that we are actively supporting small businesses going into the holiday season, starting with Halloween. Both of our birthdays and anniversary take place in the fall and we are really going to commit this year to only supporting small/handmaid businesses. Is it as convenient? Not as much as say Amazon but it helps more than harms which is more than I can say for the latter. I cancelled my Prime membership in January and I frankly don’t miss it. Every product I ever got there is available elsewhere and sometimes cheaper. You can find things like main stream toys etc in smaller shops. I get it is so easy to just add to cart and next day ship. Its very hard to change a habit especially at first and attempting it with a looming holiday deadline seems even more daunting. Don’t wait untill November to do these things. Small business have less stock and bigger lead times for shipping and processing, so rather than wait till you are stressed and give up, make that mental shift now. Decide today and start making a plan. Buying a gift from a small business is like giving two gifts, one for the recipient and one to the small business who gets to feed their family and keep the dream going. Maybe three if you feel good doing it too.
Its September and you have time to really reflect on how your dollar, which doesn’t go as far, is spent. You have time right now to start making lists of the small indies you want to support. Small shops will actually have seasonal items DURING THAT SEASON. Make a note of the shops you want to support in your town. List the artists you just adore and want to share with people this season. Join their mailing lists now. Make an effort to avoid big box stores this year. So much of the Halloween decor we are seeing is STOLEN and/or Ai slop. Stop chasing viral crap influencers are PAID to push on you. They aren’t your friends, they don’t care about you. They just want to cash in no matter how friendly/genuine they seem on their content. They manufacture want for a living. Get off of socials. Stop scrolling and read a book. Decide this year enough is enough. Know that change does not have to be ALL or nothing. Small measures add up. If you have to get something from Target thats life, you don’t have to feel like you failed and do the rest of your holiday shopping there. One purchase makes a difference to a small business. One change is the beginning of a habit.
Right now is the time to start thinking I would be devistated if X artist stopped making art or this shop/restaurant closed. Show up for them. Keep showing up for them. If you simply can’t spare the money, cheer them on, recommend them to friends,become part of their community.
Your dollars and attention have real power. Use it wisely.
If you want to heed my advice and join my mailing list the sign up is here. Otherwise Patreon is a great place to keep up. bit.ly/AshEvansmail