host: Alyson Stanfield
I want to talk about something that I think gets in the way of how you think about what a successful art business is or can be.
I want to help you reframe your daily decisions, actions, and results (or lack thereof)—to embrace the volatility of an artist life. To understand that there will be highs and lows, and that just comes along with the territory.
One of the most-used business metaphors is the ladder of success, which is problematic for two reasons:
I have a different vision. Your art career is a circle consisting of 3 areas:
Inspiration+Research, Studio Practice, and Business+Marketing.
You’re a sphere (okay, a ping pong ball) bouncing back and forth from one area to the next as you grow your art career.
Let me explain …
🎧 RELATED EPISODES
Calculating Risks in Your Art Business with Leah Smithson (ep. 94)
What Your Failures Are Teaching You with Laura Petrovich-Cheney (ep. 95)
Risk, Rejection, and Resilience with Christine Aaron (ep. 114)
How to Feel Like a Successful Artist (ep. 165)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/growth-minded-artists
🔶 Does your art business need a boost or a refresh? Please see my comprehensive art-marketing program, Essentials for Artist Success 🔶 full of tools, strategies, and process you need to establish your professionalism and increase your visibility. For those with beginning and emerging art careers and those who need to approach their business with more thought and intention.
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
host: Alyson Stanfield
Some artists are fine working by themselves in their studios. Other artists need to move their art beyond the studio walls and into the public in order to be fulfilled.
My guest for this episode is Marilyn Fontaine, a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in East London. Her work is spiritual with a strong foothold in feminine themes.
She has begun marrying that work to the history of the local community—in particular, the stories of those who share her Afro-Caribbean roots.
Marilyn and I talk about the work she does within her community, including how it is funded and why her growing network is essential.
We also discuss:
🎧 RELATED EPISODES
Injecting Personal Narrative Into Your Art with Sara Lee Hughes (ep. 131)
Committed to Telling Native Stories Through Her Art and Activism with Danielle SeeWalker (ep. 153)
How Your Art Makes People Feel (ep. 184)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/community-fontaine
⭐️ Connect with Marilyn and see more of her art: https://marilynfontaineart.weebly.com/
🔶 Please join me for THE PEOPLE PLAN 🔶 a planning workshop to identify, establish, and nurture stronger relationships with buyers, collectors, curators, students, gallerists, and more. May 7-9, 2024. https://artbizsuccess.com/peopleplan
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
Host: Alyson B. Stanfield
For so long, I asked artists Why they make art.
Some artists have a Why.
For other artists, being asked why they make art is unfruitful—even debilitating. They feel unworthy if they can’t come up with a good Why.
A better strategy is to focus on the people who will be viewing, talking about, and living with your art.
How does your art make people feel?
Bernadette Jiwa says, "People don't buy why you do something. They buy how it makes them feel." If you think about it, this, ironically, leads to your Why: Connection.
🎧 RELATED EPISODES
Episodes that focus on your relationships:
Following Her Curiosity and Making New Connections After 60 with Jan McCarthy (ep. 158)
Being Seen—Networking for Artists (ep. 148)
How to Guarantee that People Remember You with Skip Hill (ep. 147)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/make-them-feel/
🔶 Please join me for THE PEOPLE PLAN 🔶 a planning workshop to identify, establish, and nurture stronger relationships with buyers, collectors, curators, students, gallerists, and more. May 7-9, 2024. https://artbizsuccess.com/peopleplan
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
Host: Alyson B. Stanfield
In this episode of The Art Biz I talk with Lori Sokoluk and Susan Purney Mark, who met in my coaching group many years ago and started a collaboration during the pandemic.
When I teach about collaboration, I’m usually talking about an exhibition or event. Lori and Susan took it to the next level and collaborated on the artwork itself—resulting in a two-person exhibition that recently closed.
I wanted to know what the artmaking process was like when you’re presented with someone else’s marks on the canvas. I think you’ll enjoy hearing about it and what they discovered during the process
We also discussed:
🎧 RELATED EPISODES
Here are a few more episodes about collaboration:
Multiply Your Audience and Expand Your Show’s Impact with Jill Powers (ep. 27)
Knit Democracy Together with Eve Jacobs-Carnahan (ep. 64)
Play Tops Work, Connection Tops Solitude, and Confidence Tops Fear with Willie Cole (ep. 126)
Expanding Your Skillset to Respond to Opportunities with Detour (ep. 128)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/sokoluk-mark
⭐️ Connect with Lori and Susan and see more of their art:
🔶 Please join me for THE PEOPLE PLAN 🔶 a planning workshop to identify, establish, and nurture stronger relationships with buyers, collectors, curators, students, gallerists, and more. May 7-9, 2024. https://artbizsuccess.com/peopleplan
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
Host: Alyson B. Stanfield
Your list is something unique to you and your career. No one has this same list. No one makes art like you do; no one knows the same people as you do; and no one has the exact vision that you have. Nobody! Your list is almost worthless to anyone else, yet it’s invaluable to you.
It is the primary tool you use to share your art with the world. It’s your #1 marketing asset, but worthless if you’re not using it.
The definition of a mailing list isn’t as clear cut as it sounds.
I have a philosophy around this 2-word phrase that we frequently take for granted:
You don’t have a single list. You have multiple lists.
I use the term mailing list as an umbrella term, but, in truth, you have three lists that I define as follows:
1️⃣ Your email list
2️⃣ Your VIP list
3️⃣ Your online followers
In this episode, I describe the difference among them and why you need to remember all of them when you’re thinking about your mailing list.
🎧 RELATED EPISODES
Self Sales, Open Studios, and Relationships with Interior Designers with Carol MacConnell (ep. 171)
She Knows Exactly How Much Her Art Income Will be Every Month with Kelly Pelfrey (ep. 162)
Following Her Curiosity and Making New Connections After 60 with Jan McCarthy (ep. 158)
📖 To read more, see images, download the transcript + mailing list assessment mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/your-lists
🔶 Put your mailing list to better use in THE PEOPLE PLAN 🔶 a planning workshop to identify, establish, and nurture stronger relationships with your lists. May 7-9, 2024. https://artbizsuccess.com/peopleplan
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
Host: Alyson Stanfield, Art Biz Success
My guest is Janice Mason Steeves, author of Bloom: On Becoming An Artist Later in Life. Which, as I say in our interview, is “a lovely mix of insights from a questionnaire, gentle guidance from someone who teaches and leads artist workshops all over the world, and wisdom from academics, professionals, and spiritual advisors.”
Janice has been in my orbit for a long time and I have been dying to talk with her about this book, the seeds of which she mentioned to me about 4 years ago. It’s a book that needed to be written and proves that we have a lot more to talk about this topic.
But let’s kick off the conversation.
Janice will share her background and the realization that the students in her workshops tended to be in the 60 to 80 age groups. This piqued her curiosity about taking up art later in life.
We spend the first half of our conversation talking about how the book came to be. Then we discuss the advantages, benefits and challenges of becoming an artist after age 60.
I, of course, want to know about how artists over 60 approach the business of art, but that’s not Janice’s concern. (And I have some experience that perhaps will lead to a different episode.)
🎧 RELATED EPISODES
These are episodes with other artist-authors >>
Secrets from Copying a Masterpiece with Lilianne Milgrom (ep. 87)
Publishing a How To Book for Artists with Carol McIntyre (ep. 37)
How Two Artists Self-Published and Are Promoting a Successful Book Together (ep. 9)
Mentioned: How Do You Know You’re an Artist? with James Holmes (ep. 181)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/bloom-steeves.
⭐️ Connect with Janice and see more of her art: https://janicemasonsteeves.com
If you want to learn about or improve your art marketing skills, 🔶check out my Essentials program. 🔶 It’s for beginning and emerging artists as well as artists who just need a reboot.
artbizsuccess.com/essentials
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
I believe in the power of daily affirmations. I first used them a number of years ago to increase my income and it worked. I increased my income 40% that year. And while I am not now as dedicated to reciting them daily, I know should be! I attribute the majority of my success back then to these affirmations.
What possessed me to stop? 🤷♀️ I do not believe that reciting affirmations alone will move the needle. You must have the commitment to your goals in the first place and take appropriate action to move forward. I encourage you to try them as a proven business accelerator tool. It can’t hurt! I read through these affirmations slowly. Then I take a break and repeat them. Use what lands for you—changing the wording to make them your own.
🎧 RELATED EPISODES
Raising Prices on Your Art, Valuing Community, and Balancing Motherhood with Bri Larson (ep. 166)
6 Ways to Be [Even] Happier About Running Your Art Business (ep. 155)
Risk, Rejection, and Resilience with Christine Aaron (ep. 114)
What Your Failures Are Teaching You with Laura Petrovich-Cheney (ep. 95)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/affirmations
🔶 Does your art business need a boost or a refresh? Please see my comprehensive art-marketing program, Essentials for Artist Success 🔶 full of tools, strategies, and process you need to establish your professionalism and increase your visibility. For those with beginning and emerging art careers and those who need to approach their business with more thought and intention.
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
If you’re like a lot of the artist-clients that I work with at Art Biz Success, you would love someone to help you with social media. Or your website. Or maybe anything else to help lighten the load.
Having any kind of help sounds like a dream. It may seem like an impossible dream. You might be looking for someone like my guest for this episode of The Art Biz: Hallie Edlund, a virtual assistant for artists.
We discuss how she started doing this work and how she helps artists with social media and their websites.
We touch upon how she uses A.I. and her advice for using it in your art business.
And you know I couldn’t resist asking how she stays organized. Her system of keeping everything for her clients in Gmail folders left me with my mouth hanging open, which luckily you can’t witness on a podcast.
Hallie has a new Instagram course for artists and generously shares two tips for that platform near the end of our conversation.
If you’re looking to hire someone to help with your art business, I suggest checking out the related episodes and articles posted below as well.
🎧 RELATED EPISODES & ARTICLES
How to Hire Someone to Help with Your Art Business
Let It Go: Delegating Responsibility
Someone Else Could – What To Delegate in Your Art Business
Trusting Another Artist to Help You Run Your Art Business with Angela Fehr and Robin Edmundson (ep. 104)
How to Work Successfully (and Sanely) with a Relative with Trudy Rice (ep. 105)
Learning How to Be a Boss with Ali Manning (ep. 106)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit
📧 To inquire about working with Hallie, please email her.
🔶 Does your art business need a boost or a refresh? Please see my comprehensive art-marketing program, Essentials for Artist Success 🔶 full of tools, strategies, and process you need to establish your professionalism and increase your visibility. For those with beginning and emerging art careers and those who need to approach their business with more thought and intention.
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
In this episode, I have something a little different for you.
I want to share a tool I found a number of years ago that helps me in life and in my business. And it’s helped many of my clients.
It’s a life map, of sorts, called Human Design.
Jahje Ives is an artist and a Human Design coach and guide. While I have worked with Human Design guides in the past, Jahje is the first artist I have met in this realm.
I wanted her insights as to how knowing your Human Design could help with your art and art business.
To get the most out of it, you have to have a little woo in you. As Jahje says, you might need to put on your tinfoil hat.
She’s going to tell you what Human Design is, cover the 5 different types of designs and what each would mean for an artist. Human Design has taught me that there are no two people alike. We are each unique in our gifts and our approach to life and business.
What works for one artist might not be just a bad idea for another—it could also be a huge waste of time. Or even damaging.
Since learning Human Design, I’ve changed much of my approach to teaching and coaching. I’ve started tuning in to the differences among artists—differences that they were born with—so that I can meet them where they will be able to thrive.
This episode probably isn’t for everyone, but if you’re open to the journey, please continue to listen. Maybe something will ring true. Here’s my conversation with Jahje Ives.
🎧 RELATED EPISODES
Risk, Rejection, and Resilience with Christine Aaron (ep. 114)
What Your Failures Are Teaching You with Laura Petrovich-Cheney (ep. 95)
Are You Playing It Too Safe in Your Art Business? (ep. 92)
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome with Christa Forrest (ep. 91)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/human-design-ives
⭐️ Connect with Jahje and see more of her art: https://jahjeives.com
🔶 Sponsored by The Art Biz Accelerator 🔶 a coaching group for strategies, support, and accountability inside a community of artists who get you. https://artbizsuccess.com/accelerator
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
Two things are clear when it comes to pricing your art.
1️⃣ It’s a struggle for most artists.
2️⃣ There’s a good chance that your prices are too low.
There are 5 reasons to raise your prices:
🔸 You’ve done the math and realized you aren’t paying yourself.
🔸 Your pricing has become uneven over time.
🔸 The cost of your materials has increased.
🔸 You can’t keep up with the demand for your art.
🔸 You start selling through galleries.
I cover all of these in this episode and then tell you HOW to raise your prices.
🆓 GUIDE FOR PRICING YOUR ART
Info and download > http://howtopriceyourart.com/
🎧 RELATED EPISODES
Raising prices can mess with your mindset. These episodes might help:
Raising Prices on Your Art, Valuing Community, and Balancing Motherhood with Bri Larson (ep. 166)
6 Ways to Be [Even] Happier About Running Your Art Business (ep. 155)
Risk, Rejection, and Resilience with Christine Aaron (ep. 114)
What Your Failures Are Teaching You with Laura Petrovich-Cheney (ep. 95)
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome with Christa Forrest (ep. 91)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/raise-prices/.
🔶 Does your art business need a boost or a refresh? Please see my new program, ESTABLISH YOURSELF: Essentials for Artist Success 🔶 a training program full of tools and process you need to establish your professionalism and increase your visibility. For those with beginning and emerging art careers and those who need to approach their business with more thought and intention.
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
I like to say that your art isn’t complete until someone else experiences it. Until you’re standing in front of it and talking about it with people who are interested.
In real life. Digital-only viewing doesn’t count.
Every person who sees your work brings themselves and their background to your work—adding new layers of meaning to your original intention.
My guest for this episode is Susan Abbott, and she recognizes the importance of getting her work out of the studio and in front of people.
We cover a lot of ground in our conversation, but there are 3 themes:
We also discuss how Susan lost 14,000 instagram followers and rebuilt her account to where it is today (~46,000 at the time of this recording).
See if you can pick up on why it pays to dress nicely when visiting gallery.
🎧 RELATED EPISODES
Overcoming Anxiety about Making Art World Connections with Heather Beardsley (ep. 160)
Putting Artists First in Curatorial Projects with Melissa Messina (ep. 136)
Portrait Project and Museum Exhibition with Lisa Kovvuri (ep. 11)
A Married Life in Art: Sam Woolcott and Poe Dismuke (ep. 8)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/series-abbott
⭐️ Connect with Susan and see more of her art: https://susanabbott.com
🔶 Sponsored by The Art Biz Accelerator 🔶 a coaching group for strategies, support, and accountability inside a community of artists who get you. https://artbizsuccess.com/accelerator
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
So many artists are down on their galleries and considering leaving them.
There are absolutely many reasons not to stick with your gallery, but that’s a different episode.
I wanted to share the story of an artist who is thrilled with her gallery.
My guest for this episode is Evita Tezeno—an artist who has grand ambitions for herself. Not content with the status quo, Evita aims for recognition by prestigious honors like the Guggenheim Fellowship and the MacArthur Fellowship, the so called “genius” grant.
She knows she can’t get there by herself. She needs strong gallery representation and a team of people behind her, and she’ll tell you why.
💬 EVITA TEZENO QUOTES
“I had this dream that an angel came to my door and gave me a blueprint of another style.”
“This dream was right on target.”
“[After Denzel Washington bought 8 pieces in 2019] I was able to get another studio and I have never worked for anyone again.”
“The gallery now has me working larger. I love working larger. I love it.”
“I consider myself a visual storyteller.”
“[My life coach] has gotten me to dream bigger than I ever thought that I could dream.”
“I want more museum collections and I want my work also to be known, not only nationally or regionally, but internationally…. So we are reaching toward the sky or the heavens.”
“The art career that you dream of or you envision does not come easy. You have to struggle. You have to go through necessary pains to get to where you want to be.”
🎧 RELATED CONTENT
Leaving Gallery Representation to Reach More Art Buyers with Adele Sypesteyn (ep. 163)
Qualities Galleries Are Looking For in Their Artists with Jeremy Tessmer (ep. 123)
Why Artists Should Embrace Galleries (article)
The Investing Artist: Art, Real Estate, and Legacy with Mary Erickson (ep. 19)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/tezeno-galleries
⭐️ Connect with Evita Tezeno and see more of her art: https://evitatezeno.com
🔶 Does your art business need a boost or a refresh? Please see my new program, ESTABLISH YOURSELF: Essentials for Artist Success 🔶 a training program full of tools and process you need to establish your professionalism and increase your visibility. For those with beginning and emerging art careers.
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
Your artist website is your portfolio these days. It’s usually the first place people go to get a full picture of you and your art. They might initially find you on Instagram and scroll through the images there, but when their interest is piqued and they want to know more, they’ll click that almighty link in your bio.
Your website is the 1 piece of virtual real estate that you have 100% control over. You select what people see and define how they will navigate the experience.
Are you ready for them?
In this episode of The Art Biz, I have a very focused conversation with Jessica Burko about artist websites.
[ We’re focused on your professional presentation this season in Establish Yourself: Essentials for Artist Success ]
Jessica and I discuss:
She says, “What gets people to be very interested in your work, to buy your work or hire you or show your work, and to really tell them the breadth of what you do and to show them all the different aspects of your arts career, your arts business, yourself as an artist” is your website. It’s a much more appropriate place to do that than Instagram.
💁🏼♀️ My bonus tip is to check the footer on your website to see that it has the current copyright date in it. Some websites adjust automatically to a new year, but others do not. Make sure yours is current.
🎧 RELATED EPISODES
How to Name Your Art Business (ep. 56)
How to Feel Like a Successful Artist (ep. 165)
Introduce Yourself Confidently as an Artist (ep. 65)
Starting Your Art Career (ep. 173)
What Your Failures Are Teaching You with Laura Petrovich-Cheney (ep. 95)
📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/websites-burko
⭐️ Connect with Jessica and see more of her art: https://jessicaburko.com
🔶 Does your art business need a boost or a refresh? Please see my new program, ESTABLISH YOURSELF: Essentials for Artist Success 🔶 a training program full of tools and process you need to establish your professionalism and increase your visibility. For those with beginning and emerging art careers.
⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here’s how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/