I know the problem - osmosis and telepathy let us down sometimes :)
I don't believe this artist is poor, he has retired after teaching for something like twenty years (as well as producing his own work), his mum is enjoying a little joke by saying that he is unemployed.
But I agree with you the difficulties of being an artist, especially if you are testing your creativity, and before you become established. I'm managing it by becoming an artist later in life, when I retire and have an income :)
Is your knitting boring? Your sewing definitely isn't, you're experimenting in many different ways - fabrics, colour, pattern, cutting etc.
In my knitting which, at the moment, is my preferred medium, I am learning skills, understanding how different materials work, their challenges, getting to grips with construction, so I can choose the effects I want. I found a beautiful book about construction and texture ... I may write about it next week.
I like how I've developed over the past year - I'm more focused on what interests me, rather than what other people might think or how something looks. Participating in #needleworkmonday has really increased my confidence. Although, I am constantly frustrated by having to attend to distractions :).
I looked up #madememay19 - good idea, I might do it another month, though :)