This episode isn’t for artists who want to dabble and keep art as a hobby. I so respect your desire to enter and exit the studio whenever you feel like it, but this isn’t for you. This isn’t even for artists who want to set up a side hustle of selling art here and there to make some extra cash. Again, I respect the fact that you want or need to do that, but what I share here isn’t for you. This is for anyone who is serious about building and living the life of an artist. This episode is also for...
Dec 21, 2023•20 min•Ep. 173
My guest for this episode of The Art Biz is Kamal X. Kamal recently released his book, Black Astronaut , which is a collection of photographs he started after the murder of George Floyd. It was, as you recall, the height of Covid and like many, Kamal was hesitant to travel and be in crowds. But, as he said, he knew he had to risk it all because the moment was bigger than him. In our conversation, you’ll hear about how and why Kamal learned photography and how he approaches his subjects on the st...
Dec 14, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 172
Carol MacConnell has built a strong business foundation over her long art career. I was particularly interested in talking with her about how she works with interior designers. You’ll hear us discuss: Carol’s income streams, 30% of which comes from working with interior designers and the vast majority through open studio events. How she, as an artist who is legally deaf, navigates conversations. How she segments and uses her list of 2,000 interior designers and 2,000 other subscribers. What the ...
Nov 30, 2023•44 min•Ep. 171
As we learned when diagramming sentences in 4th grade, verbs are where the action is. No verb, no action. The first iteration of my newsletter for artists back in 2002 included a specific art business action at the end of each issue. My book, I’d Rather Be in the Studio , is broken down into 16 “actions” rather than chapters. I’m all about action, but am no longer interested in it in the form of obsessive hyper-productivity. I’ll leave that to the bro motivators out there. Action at all costs is...
Nov 16, 2023•12 min•Ep. 170
In this episode I talk with David Sandum who was driven to take up art personally and then professionally after being hospitalized with depression in 2001. His journey through depression led him to the works of Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch—finding solace and a deep connection with their expression of raw emotions. We discuss how art continues to be a lifeline in his struggle with depression and his memoir, I’ll Run Till the Sun Goes Down: A Memoir About Depression & Discovering Art. Dav...
Nov 09, 2023•43 min•Ep. 169
In this episode of The Art Biz I talk with Nanci Hersh about an exhibition she organized with 25 artists from multiple states and countries. The show used the central theme of tears to explore empathy, compassion, and understanding within a sacred space—a metaphorical chapel. She says, as artists “we are so fortunate that we can use our art to make sense of life experiences.” Nanci and I discuss: The ripple effect of art when it impacts the artist first. The training she received to facilitate u...
Oct 26, 2023•44 min•Ep. 168
Dare you have a sale of your art? I acknowledge that having a sale of original work might be unpalatable. It feels as if you are cheapening the work you put so much effort into. I get it. In just the last episode of The Art Biz ( #166 ), I talked with Bri Larson about the mindset around raising prices and why it was important to do so. In this episode of The Art Biz I discuss the psychology and process around having a sale of your art or any products that you might sell. Products such as calenda...
Oct 19, 2023•11 min•Ep. 167
In this episode, Bri Larson and I talk about her decision to raise her prices and how she overcame the mindset that her art needed to be affordable. We also discuss: The value of her artist community—how they have supported her growth as an artist and her journey into motherhood. How she has been able to maintain a studio practice with a baby, including how she structures her days around the baby’s schedule. What kind of work she would give to a studio assistant and how she’ll know when to hire....
Oct 12, 2023•41 min•Ep. 166
There’s no neat way to explain what success is because it’s different for every artist. I hope this episode is the start of an ongoing conversation on the subject. 💡HIGHLIGHTS Success for artists might include income (sales), exhibitions, leadership roles, achievements, collections, and studio production. A few of the diverse stories of success from artist-guests of The Art Biz. The importance of aligning the goals for your art and expectations of yourself with how you want your life to be. Suc...
Oct 05, 2023•16 min•Ep. 165
Sally Hirst was born to teach. Fortunately, she was also born an artist. Like most of us, she adapted to the new reality that she was faced with at the beginning of the pandemic. Well, actually, she did more than adapt. She thrived. She took the challenge head on and has been thriving ever since. Sally and I discuss what her income sources looked like before Covid and look like now. Specifically, we talk about her teaching: The teaching platform she uses and why she chose it The skills she had t...
Sep 28, 2023•55 min•Ep. 164
This episode is a remix of episode 36 from 2019. It is such an inspiring interview that I wanted more people to hear it. Adele Sypesteyn has been making a living from her art for four decades. Listen in as she takes us through her journey of selling her art, from the traditional process of applying to galleries to a more strategic approach that involved teaching herself about business and pivoting in the face of economic downturns. Adele also shares how she transitioned from galleries to the ant...
Sep 14, 2023•48 min•Ep. 63
Lately, I’ve been diving into money on The Art Biz. As much as I do NOT want to talk about money, I know it’s necessary. I also know it’s more necessary for some artists to make money from their work than for others. If you’re lucky enough to have outside support for your art business—even if it’s from a day job—count your blessings. Because the pressure on the work is real when you don’t have that extra source of income, which is why I will continue to bring up the topic of money. Let’s continu...
Sep 07, 2023•56 min•Ep. 162
In this episode, I’m doing something different and sharing my money odyssey from an interview with Parker Stevenson of The Bottom Line podcast by Evolved Finance. I reveal: How my dad taught me to balance my checkbook (and how it was quite different from my mother’s suggestion). How I learned to ask for money by collecting money for charities as a little girl. That I set the curve in my accounting classes at the University of Wyoming. How I gamed the system to get cash because I knew the checks ...
Aug 30, 2023•48 min•Ep. 161
Heather Beardsley’s art has been influenced by extensive travel and residencies in diverse cultures. This started with her year in Vienna as a Fulbright Scholar and then continued for several years until the pandemic shut down her residency in Kyiv, Ukraine. Like everyone else, Heather had to pivot upon returning to the U.S. She used the downtime to her advantage by getting organized and shaping her career path. In our conversation in this episode of The Art Biz, you’ll hear how she managed to t...
Aug 24, 2023•49 min•Ep. 160
In this episode, I want to start a conversation about one of those things that can get in the way of feeling successful: Money. In particular, I want to dive into income sources for artists. Where does the money come from? I discuss: Why you might want to branch out and sell more than originals. How to categorize your income sources so that you can better understand the possibilities. How to analyze where the money has come from in the past so you can plan for the future. 📖 To read more, see im...
Aug 17, 2023•14 min•Ep. 159
In this episode, I talk with Jan McCarthy, who wants you to know that there is plenty of life to live after 50. And even 60. She describes herself as a maker because, in her eyes, that term encompasses more than the word “artist.” Jan has started businesses, founded organizations, designed interiors, organized fundraisers, dinner parties, retreats, and workshops, and made plenty of products and art. Jan and I discuss: The creativity workshops she has organized for corporations. How she has broug...
Aug 10, 2023•51 min•Ep. 158
In this episode, I talk with Sarah Becktel about her sources of income and how she has increased her income by 25% in the last 3 years by being very deliberate about where and how she shows her work. Sarah does sell through galleries, but she has recently increased her self-sales by 400% by focusing on 3 specific types of indoor shows every year. She breaks them down as follows: One indoor art fair, which she considers her solo exhibition for the year Two fine art and craft shows One curated and...
Aug 03, 2023•51 min•Ep. 157
In this episode, I talk with Kimberly Santini about a variety of topics, including how she used Covid as a sabbatical to figure out what she really wanted from her art. We also touched on her dedication to blogging and why she continues the habit after so many artists have given up or neglected their blogs. The bulk of our conversation focused on how Kim uses Patreon to teach and build a community of artists. We discuss: What she charges for her Patreon patron tiers. What each tier receives for ...
Jul 27, 2023•48 min•Ep. 156
I can say with confidence that artists who happily embrace their role as CEO of their businesses do better than artists who fight it and wish they didn’t have to deal with the grind. Wishing won’t make it go away. It only makes you more frustrated, anxious, or resentful. This doesn’t mean that you need to fake joy whenever you’re paying bills. It means that you accept that it comes with the territory. You rise to the challenge because you know it’s a necessary step toward achieving your goals. T...
Jul 20, 2023•13 min•Ep. 155
While not everyone will be interested in your art, you can choose to focus on those who genuinely love your work. To embrace what is rather than wishing for it to be different. In this episode Cathy Nichols went from 5,000 to 107,000 Instagram followers in 3 years by researching who they were and why they were following her. She shares valuable insights about how she continues to grow her art business with joy and authenticity. We discuss: How Cathy researched who her followers were. What she st...
Jul 13, 2023•47 min•Ep. 154
In this episode, I talk with Danielle SeeWalker, a Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Native American stories are too frequently told from an historical perspective, but Danielle and other contemporary Indigenous artists want you to know that they’re still here. They never left. We just silenced them for too long after stealing their land. Danielle has beautiful stories to tell, from which we can all learn. And she’s dealing with the same stuff as other artists: balancin...
Jun 29, 2023•36 min•Ep. 153
Every artist I have ever worked with would like to squeeze more time from their busy calendars. After all, you are overflowing with ideas. You’ll never have time to make everything you want to make, and that is incredibly frustrating. In this episode I share 8 tips for time management along with 2 truths to consider. 💡 HIGHLIGHTS 2 Truths about Time Management Time management is a lie. Instead, focus on self-management. The important stuff always gets done. 8 Tips for Time Management Make time ...
Jun 22, 2023•17 min•Ep. 152
Artist residencies, in whatever form they take, are invaluable to an artist’s growth. But there are barriers to doing residencies—primarily the time commitment and cost. In this episode, I talk with Shannon Amidon, an artist who has created a residency especially for artists who might be parents or caretakers and can’t commit to a month or more that some residencies require. In my research on artist residencies, I have discovered how helpful it is when the residency involves some kind of travel,...
Jun 15, 2023•39 min•Ep. 151
There's no getting around the fact that you need confidence in your at and in sharing it with others. It's also true that you will be plagued by doubt and fear at points throughout your art career. It might be helpful to know you are not alone. It happens to everyone, and you're going to be okay. In the meantime, you have to get through the days. In this episode I talk about 6 tips to help you project confidence while you're trying to regain it. Load up on experience. Spiff up. Work on the outsi...
Jun 08, 2023•14 min•Ep. 150
If you are an artist who loves to travel and explore new places, this episode is for you. I’ve been wanting to dig into the subject of artist residencies for a long time now. Fate put me in touch with Amy Clay. In this episode, Amy and I talk about her life as a professional artist-in-residence. She’s gone anywhere from 4 to 6 months at a time, stringing together one artist residency after another to fulfill her lust for travel and build what she calls her visual library. We discuss: How this li...
Jun 01, 2023•43 min•Ep. 149
Meeting people and building relationships is the most important thing you can do for your art career, especially when your goal is to be a full-time artist. This means you have to get out of the studio and socialize. In this solo episode, I discuss: Why everyone you meet is a potential buyer, collector, friend or fan. Where you can network, and why you shouldn’t bother with artist organizations that aren’t a good fit. There are many art worlds. You have to decide where to build your relationship...
Apr 27, 2023•14 min•Ep. 148
My utter bliss is to help artists make business systems that streamline their lives so they can spend more time in the studio. So when Skip Hill said he needed a system for following up with his collectors and important relationships, I knew I wanted to help. In this episode of The Art Biz, I walk Skip through the steps to create a plan for nurturing his relationships. We go through these steps to create his plan: What do you want to happen? By when does it need to happen? Or … How frequently do...
Apr 20, 2023•56 min•Ep. 147
Before the internet, artists were completely dependent on others to show and sell their work. We need to take a moment every now and then to be grateful for having the world at our fingertips. For being able to instantly send images of our art out into the world. For friends around the globe we would never have met 30 years ago. In this episode, I talk with artist Barbara Muir, who is unabashedly happy about being online. She reminds us of all the good things that happen because we are so connec...
Apr 13, 2023•37 min•Ep. 146
In this episode of The Art Biz, I’m joined by Kristen O’Neill, a team member of mine and an accomplished artist who recently created a 30-day daily art lesson challenge for her online followers. But in the end, it may have been more of a challenge for her than it was for the participants. Kristen and I discuss what she hoped to get from this challenge, how she organized it, how much of it was planned ahead, and what her workflow was like—including all of the platforms she used to share the conte...
Mar 23, 2023•47 min
With nobody going anywhere in the spring of 2020, I contacted artist friends Lisa Call and Janice McDonald to see if they wanted to gather regularly to discuss art documentaries. Our little “club,” such as it is, was in business. To date, we have met 57 times to discuss the art documentaries together. It’s important that we are reminded we’re part of something bigger than ourselves and what goes on behind the closed doors of our studios. In this solo episode I talk about why we do this as a grou...
Mar 16, 2023•22 min•Ep. 144
