This book is about what it actually costs to keep making work as an artist. Not the romantic cost. Not the abstract cost. The real one—measured in time, money, safety, exhaustion, and repeated decisions to take risks long before anyone agrees they are reasonable.

Structured as a series of short, narrative chapters, the book follows an artist navigating commissions, public art, object-based work, grassroots selling, and large-scale installations. It offers recognition rather than instruction. At its core, it’s about endurance.