I agree with what GP is saying here. I think it really does come down to you making it happen. You could be the best ever but if you just sit in the corner and don't market yourself to the world, they may never know about you.

I have been wondering lately if there is more money in the typical art venue than cartography. While I do enjoy creating maps, I have seen folks who are not very talented artistically but can manipulate software and make incredibly awesome maps. They will tell you they can't draw to save their lives but here they have amazing maps to show you. I guess I wonder if I should just pursue maps as a hobby and go for the more typical artistic world because I can draw.

Either way, I believe you still have to work your butt off and advertise yourself if you want to really make serious money.

It's also good to look at the average salaries for the type of job you are seeking. I just did a quick search, which hopefully is wrong, but it showed a Fine artists/Graphics artists, including sculpture at an average hourly rate at $ 15.55 (in USA).........I'm thinking !@#(% that's way WORSE than what I make now. Then again, that's starting out which isn't so bad.