TS Eliot remained a banker and Philip Glass worked as a plumber even after they were successful artists.
While some artists want day jobs within the arts industry, others are looking for roles which provide a rich vein of creative inspiration. Finding a job that allows access to the stuff that life is made of – relationships, secrets, love, death, children, nature – allows a deeper look at humanity and life, and provides a wellspring of creative material.
We’ve rounded up ten jobs that put you at the centre of real life and provide plenty of fodder for your art.
1. Hospitality work
Any role that allows for plenty of interaction with the public is sure to be a source of material. The stoic bartender who listens to your woes? He might be scribbling down your heart-wrenching tales for his next play. The barista in the café near your work? She’s probably sketching café patrons on her lunch break. Getting a glimpse into the ordinary lives of everyday people offers deep insights into the human condition, and a rich vein of creative material. Working in hospitality allows you to eavesdrop on conversations, imagine backstories for your customers and meet people from all walks of life.
Brent Nichols is a bartender and artist in Sydney. ‘I find talking to my regular customers gives me a different perspective than I would usually get from my arts-minded peers. It allows me to tap into different generations and meet people I would never usually meet.’
2. Counsellor
The counselling environment is a natural crucible for human emotions. While patient confidentiality requires that no specific details are revealed, picking up on the patterns and forms of people’s deepest fears and secrets allows the artist to develop a deep understanding of human connection and frailty. Listening without judgement or subjectivity develops your powers of observation, and helps strengthen your creative muscles.
The HBO drama series In Treatment is a great example of the powerful dramatic setting of therapy and it didn’t come out of nowhere. It was based on an Israeli series BeTipul by Hagai Levi, whose parents are both therapists.
Training as a psychologist requires at least five years but there are shorter courses to qualify as a counsellor or youth worker, all of which enable you to help make a difference to those in need while garnering material for your art..
Read: Five ways creative thinkers build business value
3. Working with children
Comedian W.C Fields famously said, “Never work with children or animals”, but he was referring to life on the stage not the opportunity for creative inspiration. Kids at play are completely creatively free and without restraint. Want to draw a purple tree or a rainbow dragon? Go for it. Feel like building a gigantic sculpture out of cereal boxes and tape? No problem. From finger-painting and play dough to Lego sculptures and sandcastles, playing like a kid offers endless creative opportunities. Working in a childcare centre, kindergarten or afterschool care setting is a great way to get in touch with your inner kid and release your own creative doubts.
4. Gardener
Working with your hands, developing an understanding of the seasons and elements, nurturing and harvesting: gardening is an excellent way to get in touch with nature and ground yourself. There is a reason that the natural world is so well documented in art: it provides a bounty of inspiration.
William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson and Claude Monet were all keen gardeners so you will be in good company if you devote your working hours to the soil, whether as a trained landscaper or horticulturist, maintaining gardens for clients or working your own plot.
5. Taxi or Uber driver
Long hours spent chatting with strangers, hearing their stories and observing their relationships is a sure-fire way to find inspiration. As the New York Times reports, ‘over the last two years droves of [actors and artists] have gone to work for ride-sharing services…because of their flexible hours and decent pay.’ The flexibility of the hours, plus the chance to be your own boss and have the ability to interact with the public, makes driving strangers around a viable option for many creative types.
You probably don’t want to model your life on Martin Scorces’s Taxi Driver but you might well want to emulate the film’s success.
6. Emergency services
Police officers, firefighters and SES volunteers are up against the coalface of humanity and have a rich insight into the darker undercurrents of society. The characters, stories and experiences involved in these roles are ripe for immortalisation in art. There’s a reason why some police officers and detectives write crime novels: because the reality is often as good as fiction. If you can find your way into security services even better,. You could be the next Stella Rimmington, former Director of M15 or John le Carré.
Read: Five ways to unlock your creativity
7. Removalist
If you’ve ever felt the urge to go through someone else’s drawers or cupboards, then maybe being a removalist is for you. Other people’s belongings and the things they love enough to move house with offers an insight into the stories and history of everyday objects. That hideous china horse sculpture may have been a treasured gift from a beloved nanna, while a solicitor’s gigantic collection of sci-fi novels offers an understanding of her identity. Plus, you won’t need to go to the gym after a day of packing and moving boxes and furniture.
Celebrated sculptor Richard Serra moved furniture before he became famous, finding the flexibility ideal for his art practice.
8. Work in a foreign country
Living in a foreign country can reinvigorate and refresh your creative practice. Whether you are teaching English in Seoul, working in a hotel in Mumbai or playing in bands in Austin, spending time living and working overseas will introduce you to new sounds and sights that you would never have found working the same job back home. Plus you’ll have the opportunity to meet new and interesting people. With creative memoir a booming field, there is also a great opportunity to make a book out of a stint overseas. Think A Year in Provence or Eat, Pray, Love or Nine Parts of Desire.
9. Florist
While floristry is a creative career in its own right, it can also provide inspiration for other creative mediums. Working with gorgeous blooms and using your keen eye for form, structure and colour allows you to flex your creative muscles, plus being there for your customer’s big life moments provides you with a wealth of material. People give flowers for births, funerals, weddings, anniversaries… and there is bound to be a wealth of stories and personalities behind these events.
10. Truck driver
Seeing the country, having time to ponder and listen to all the music you want: life as a truckie could be perfect for creative who need solitude to invent. The characters you’d meet at truck stops in the middle of nowhere would fill a novel, too. If you have a road movie in you or crave the time to develop your interior life, driving across the Nullabor may be remarkably inspirational.
