liz phair
JOB: Artist. DURATION OF EMPLOYMENT: "Ages 23 to 26. I was a dilettante and refusing to get a real job. I worked out of my apartment in Wicker Park, Chicago. My mom would buy me clothes, and I would mooch food -- and mud masks -- off friends." SALARY: "I sold about a piece a month, so around $400. I barely made my rent." WORK EXPERIENCE: "My mother worked at the Art Institute of Chicago. I made terrible art, cheesy stuff, until I went to college and I was challenged. People wouldn't let me get away with crap. They forced me to make art that was meaningful." SKILLS: "Hand-eye coordination and a keen sense of graphics." JOB PERKS: "Freedom. I didn't have typical job hours, which I liked. And creative rewards. I felt great about myself when I made a great piece of art." JOB HAZARDS: "Abject poverty. And charcoal is hideously dirty -- probably a health risk when you inhale it. So I trashed my the room I worked in; I trashed my body, my pores. As much fun as it was making art, I hated all the dirt under my nails. I miss drawing, but I don't miss the lifestyle." THE BOSS: "I was my own boss, totally." CURRENT LINE OF WORK: Her CD Liz Phair is on Capitol.