Why Artists Never Really “Make It”

So here’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately – especially as an artist.

You’re working in the studio. Things are flowing. Maybe you’re even selling. People are responding. And you think, “Okay, this is it. I finally figured it out.”

Then you wake up one morning and something’s off.

Maybe it’s the colors you’ve been using. Maybe you’re bored with your own technique. Maybe there’s this whisper of something else you want to try. Whatever felt so right yesterday suddenly feels like yesterday’s clothes—you’ve already outgrown it.

And that vision you thought you reached? It’s gone. Now it’s way out there again, miles down the road, and you’re chasing it all over again.

If you’ve been doing this for at least ten years, you already know what I’m talking about. But so many artists don’t. They think there’s this big moment coming. Some milestone. Some point where they’ll “make it” and finally feel like they’ve arrived.

Here’s what I need to tell you: that moment doesn’t exist.

Even the artists who seem like they have it all figured out? They never actually arrived either.

The Vision That Won’t Stay Still

Here’s the pattern: You work toward something. You can see it clearly. You’re getting closer. Then you actually get there and it shifts. What you thought was the finish line was just another step.

I’ve done this my whole career. Worked in digital for years (almost 20 years) because of allergies, thought that was it. Then I got treatment and could go back to traditional mediums, and everything I thought I knew shifted.

Moved into watercolor and gouache and discovered this whole other side of my work that had always been there, just hidden. Contemporary symbolist folk art that feels more like me than anything I’d done before.

And every time I think, “Okay, THIS is the real work. This is what I’m supposed to be making.” And every time, eventually, I start hearing that whisper again asking, “But what about…?”

You circle back to old ideas and see them differently. You revisit things you abandoned and find new meaning. Nothing stays still.

The “Made It” Myth

Part of the problem is how we talk about success. You see an artist with gallery representation, big Instagram following, work in museums, and you think they arrived. They made it. They’re done.

But talk to them and you’ll hear the same thing. Same restlessness. Same questioning. Same feeling that the work isn’t quite there yet.

There is no top of the ladder because there is no ladder. That whole metaphor is wrong.

Your Taste Develops Faster Than Your Hands

Your taste gets good before your skills catch up. You know what excellent work looks like, but actually making it? That takes longer.

So you’re always working in this gap—seeing what you want to make and what you’re actually making. And just when you feel like you’re closing it, your taste evolves again.

This is why so many artists feel like they’re never good enough. Not because you’re failing. Because you’re growing.

I Am Afraid I Wont Arrive… I Won’t Make It

“What’s the point if I’m never going to arrive?” When you first realize this, it can feel discouraging.  It feels like a lot of time and effort to just never arrive… to never actually make it. You feel left out, it can feel hurtful and a waste of precious time.

But flip it: Why would you want to arrive? What would you do then? Stop?

The reaching is what makes you an artist. The gap keeps you showing up.
And those moments when something clicks? When you break through? Those are enough. Not because you arrived, but because you’re still moving. 

Social Media Makes It Worse

Here’s something that makes this whole thing harder: social media makes people think others have arrived when they haven’t.

You see an artist with hundreds of thousands of followers and think they made it. Meanwhile, they’re looking at their analytics wondering why nobody actually buys anything. All those eyes, but no collectors.
Then there are wildly successful artists—selling everything they make, working with major galleries—who have barely any followers at all. You’d never know they existed if you only looked at Instagram.

You can’t measure success by numbers or by an algorithm. Just because someone is up right now doesn’t mean they’ll stay there. Their time will come when no one cares anymore. And artists nobody cares about right now? Some of them will get their moment in the spotlight later.
It’s up and down. It’s not linear. It’s futile to try to measure it.

Remember that when you’re scrolling and feeling like everyone else has arrived except you. They haven’t. They’re all still chasing the same moving vision you are.

Ira Glass On The Creative Process

Years ago I came across this video and it was so profound. And even years later I sit here and watch it again and it is still a very important reminder that I keep forgetting time and again. I hope you enjoy it!

What I Have Learned

Here’s what I’ve figured out after two decades: The most successful artists aren’t the ones who arrived. They’re the ones who accepted they never will.
They made peace with it. They stopped chasing a finish line and started paying attention to right now.

They still struggle. Still wake up some mornings thinking their work isn’t good enough. But they keep showing up. Because this is what they do.

If you’re ten years in, twenty years in, and you still don’t feel like you’ve arrived—good. You’re doing it right.

That vision you’re chasing?

It’s supposed to keep moving.

That’s the work.