We recently connected with David Borden and have shared our conversation below.

David, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I had always used a small corner of the house or a portion of a bedroom for an art studio. Although this was the “safest, most economical” option, it was hard. The art never got its priority. It never felt real. I felt like art was a hobby, not a real thing. I always wondered what it would be like to have a real studio. In 2018 I took the big risk. Austin real estate is insanely expensive, and I needed something cheap, so I drew a big circle around Austin, and started looking at commercial buildings. In my price range things were run down or completely abandoned. I bought a dilapidated gas station in the tiny town of Florence, Texas, about 45 minutes drive from Austin.

When I told people what I’d done, they were astonished. It was crazy. But after I explained what I was doing, they became envious. I guess that’s what makes the difference between people who follow their dreams and those who don’t– whether they can take the risk.

This biggest struggle was the building itself. It had been abandoned for about 15 years. As you can imagine, it was filthy, rotting, and suffering from electrical and plumbing issues. It took two long years to get it in shape. At one point, I thought I would open a cafe with the studio, but the building would be too expensive to retrofit to meet health kitchen inspection standards, so I scrapped that idea in favor of the business model I landed on: affordable art classes and space for artists.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I rediscovered visual art after the birth of my first child. She came into the world with profound, multiple disabilities. Drawing, painting, and printmaking gave me an outlet I desperately needed to cope with those difficult times. After she passed away shortly before her sixteenth birthday, I wrote an honest and raw graphic novel, “And yet we Rise,” (available on Amazon.com) about the experience of being the long-term caregiver and father to a truly amazing child. The world is so full of bad news and tragedy that I decided to find a way to be in the joy business… the business of helping people find happiness… and the vehicle for making that happen was art.

That’s when it hit me: I should create an affordable art hub. That’s how I’ll get into the joy business. I’ll help artists find a home…

The problem with art is that it doesn’t pay well and the profit margins are low when you factor in rent, materials, and time. It is hard to make a living exclusively selling art. However, I’ve decided to turn that obstacle into an advantage. When I was starting out, I couldn’t afford to rent studio space. The Impossible Dream Studio is available for creatives to rent the space at super low prices as a way for me to help others achieve their dreams. If you are a yoga teacher who’s outgrown your living room, or an artist, or other creative who needs to take your business to the next level, but you can’t afford that expensive lease, you can rent the space one day a week, month to month for $35 a day. So far, I’ve rented to individual artists, a teacher who does watercolor classes, and a children’s art program. None of these folks would have been able to rent a space and done their project without this studio.

We’re still in our first year of operation, but we’re on track to break even.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Art is not a real business. That is what we’re told. I never thought I could run an art business. When you run the numbers, it is hard to make a living selling art. The inputs are too high: studio rent, materials, booth fees, and the margins too low. People just don’t want to pay what art is worth. Sure, a tiny percentage of artists are going to make it big selling art. But sadly, most people are not.

I had to learn that to make it as an artist, you have to be creative. You have to find that combination of things you can do that get you there. So for me, revenue comes in three ways: 1. art that I create, whether that is painting, drawing, or designed products. 2. I teach one time classes, so called, “paint and sips..” (because people of all abilities paint along, Bob Ross style, for two hours and drink wine.) These are very popular and frequently sell out. I also conduct a Saturday Studio where students work on their own projects at their own pace with help from me. And 3. I rent the space to other artists to do their own projects or conduct their own classes at a profit to them.

I learned this combination from trial and error over many years of struggling to make money as an artist.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, being an artist is the reward. I love going to my studio and working on whatever I want. I enjoy meeting other creative people and helping them along on their journey. And I enjoy helping people realize that art doesn’t have to be “good” or make money. Art is something we all should do. It is a way to express ourselves, to let off steam, to realize our dreams. It’s a great way to meet interesting people and just forget about the horrors of the world. All of that is my reward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.impossibledreamstudio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/impossible_dream_studio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Grimfargle