(09-21) 04:00 PST 09/21/08 -- While there may be some romance in the notion of the starving artist, actually living hand-to-mouth while trying to pursue one's creative passions is anything but glamorous. Though artists are often regarded as outsiders, most would rather avoid moving from one dead-end job to another to make ends meet. Fortunately, however, there are plenty of writers, musicians, actors and visual artists who have found day jobs that not only pay the bills but also give them the freedom and flexibility to create the perfect "work-art balance." That's especially important in the Bay Area, where the high cost of living can make it difficult to live on one's earnings as an artist.

Dena Sneider of the Bay Area Career Center says that many creative people come to her looking for stable full-time jobs that will enable them to pursue their creative endeavors in their off time. "They can either opt for work that is totally different from their artistic output, or they can choose the parallel track option and try to find work within their existing skill set," she says. Sneider has found that for most people the second option is the preferable one, but she warns that no matter which option you choose, you must be willing to compromise.

Perhaps the ultimate example of a dual-track life is Wallace Stevens, who managed to win a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry in 1955 while earning a living as a vice president of Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company, where he worked for nearly 40 years. While not everyone can pull off that level of artistic and professional success, it's still possible to earn a decent living (even by Bay Area standards) without abandoning one's creative aspirations.

Artist Helene Fischman was faced with the dilemma of trying to balance her career as the assistant director of a religious school with her desire to create art. "I was making a lot of artwork because I just can't stop," she says. "But eventually it became too much of a burnout for me to have a career that I was deeply invested in, and also an art career which I was deeply invested in." After six years in the field, she decided to take a job at Bayer Health Care in Berkeley. "It was the best decision I could have made, and it impacted my life dramatically," she says. "I first started contracting at Bayer in 2001 as an office manager, and within one year I received my first artistic grant, which took me to London for a conference, and two more grants that took me to the Czech Republic and Poland for art projects."

Fischman says Bayer has "been tremendously supportive. They are flexible about when I take time off to go on artist residencies or set up shows, or even take a long lunch to pick up supplies or photographs." Even so, she has found that it is no easy task to balance surviving in the world and still having time to do what she is passionate about. "I think that it is extraordinarily difficult, and you have to be extremely motivated," she says.

Rajiv Khilnani has been painting and exhibiting his artwork for 16 years, but his day job is working for Stanford University organizing events and marketing. He feels he has found a balance between his livelihood and his creative pursuits. "All my life I have been painting and doing art work," he says. "The university has been very supportive, and they even have an annual staff program for staff members to show their work."

While scheduling is an important consideration for artists who are considering so-called "straight jobs," there is also the matter of emotional or physical energy. After working a full day in a difficult or strenuous job, many people are far too mentally exhausted to do much more than read a book or watch television. That might be fine for most people in the workforce, but it can be a killer for artists who plan to use their off-hours to create rather than vegetate. As a result, many artists intentionally seek out jobs that pay the bills but aren't incredibly taxing. "Now I'm supporting the people with the big ideas," Fischman says of her own experience, "instead of having to come up with the big ideas."

If you are an artist looking for a new way to make a living that will allow you to have the financial freedom and scheduling flexibility to pursue your art, ask yourself one fundamental question: How much energy will the job contribute to your creative life, and how much will it detract from it?

Whatever solution you find to strike a work-art balance, Khilnani warns that artists who are serious about keeping up with their art while working need to be willing to put in the elbow grease. "If you have passion and you are interested in succeeding, you can always make the time," he says, "but you might have to sleep a little less."

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