In defense of genius

I have had considerable success lately as an artist thanks mostly to the support of kind folks like yourselves who have been buying my art as fast as I can post it and ship it. As a result of this, as of late, I have heard grumbling from artist "friends" and associates who have decided that my latest endeavor is "selling out" or some form of artistic "prostitution." Alex would like to take this forum and this moment to address those very same people. Firstly, I would like to say without courage there is no art, an artist who tells you they are happy hanging their paintings in some lonely little studio to be viewed only by the spiders and shadows of creeping failure is not an honest artist. An artist loves to sell and be seen, that is why we exist! The problem is that most artists are so frozen by fears and insecurities that they will not even admit to themselves the real reasons for hiding in obscurity. So often they clothe themselves in the self-sewn "shabby and false" garments of integrity or purity. I promised myself long ago that If I fail as an artist it would not be because of fear, I promised I would give art every last ounce of fight I had in my guts before I quit or failed. If you love yourself and respect yourself in this world you should not lie to yourself. That is a great sin that separates the "sunday painters" from the rest.