What is the worth of art? What is the worth of one's livelihood? These days the 2 questions are connected. It seems that now, in today's economy, the artist no longer has a right to make a living. While artists are certainly not the only ones struggling in today's world, art appears to have taken a particular hit. In the world of illustration, there are reports of publishing houses that send the staff out with digital cameras to capture images previously created by an artist. Fine art is viewed as fluff, for which no one currently has a use. And then we read commentaries by pundits who think government money to the National Endowment for the Arts is wasted. "Doesn't create jobs". Don't artists, dancers, actors, writers, and all people in the arts have a right to a paying career, as do auto workers, computer programmers, clerks, etc.? What I have studied and worked for in the past 20+ years now has no value. None. All we can do is keep working, and try to break some new ground. After all, if no one is buying, we get to put on the canvas whatever we want.