Unknown: 0:00

Paint what you love, what you love, what you love, what you love, what you love. Welcome to the

Laura Arango Baier: 0:05

BoldBrush show, where we believe that fortune pages of old brush. My name is Laura ankle Baier, and I'm your host. For those of you who are new to the podcast, we are a podcast that covers art marketing techniques and all sorts of business tips, specifically to help artists learn to better sell their work. We interview artists at all stages of their careers, as well as others creating careers tied in the art world. In order to hear their advice and insights. For this week's episode, we came up with a special compilation. It's different from our past ones, because in this front we picked out all the advice in a step by step, chronological manner that would best help you get your artistic career started, we begin with tips about the importance of creating good work, finding a mentor to help you improve continuous practice, and above all, painting what you love and what matters most to you. Then we move on to the importance of living below your means and having good financial support, such as getting a day job to help support you as you learn to paint and build your portfolio. Once you've built up a good repertoire of work, you can join communities, build your network, apply to exhibitions and consider reaching out to galleries. Just as important, of course, is making sure that you have a beautiful website, social media channels to upload your work and continue to build relationships with fellow artists. Finally, our past guests remind us of the importance of treating your craft like a business, and also to never forget why you began painting in the first place. We hope this episode can enlighten our listeners and be a guiding light to anyone who wishes to follow the path of the artist.

Arthur Gain: 1:34

Well, as I said, probably earlier, just to figure out what you really like, no matter how silly it is. I don't know, maybe, maybe anything. Some people, they like to paint landscape. Other people they like like to paint figures. I'm sure there are people who can paint little dolls or small toy cars or anything, even even the most mundane, let's say subject can be turned into art. We can see it in the museums. All this still lives and things, but they look absolutely fantastic, and we can see how light is reflecting from the object. So yeah, my recommendation is just to figure out what you really love and don't don't shape yourself. Don't try to find something which is going to sell or to work or get likes on Instagram, because you never know, and you will do something good, but something probably other people do the same subject will get, like, millions of likes, and you will get 10s, and it will just hit you hard. So I recommend just to paint what you love. It will be very visible, because painting is, can we say alchemy, right? I know it's silly comparison and a lot of controversy, but painting is an alchemy for some reason, even from materialistic point of view, we can say that as alchemists, of all times, we just mixing some metals, some pigments, some minerals, and we turn them into gold or just something valuable. But on metaphysical level, it is when you when you paint something which you really like, when it comes from inside, it shows, shows very fast, because painting is also about self confidence. If you do a lot of unnecessary brushstrokes or do things which are not really you, it will be visible in the painting, and vice versa, when you feel this alchemy inside of you, when this magic happens when you are doing something which you really like. Each brush stroke will be in place. Every mixture will be one step forward, not two step two step backwards. And it will be visible even on a small smartphone screen when people are just flipping through the Instagram or Tiktok in order to find some new entertainment or amusement. So it works even even like that regard. Needless to say, it works when people see your painting in real life or the gallery wall or somewhere else I can so, yeah, just bait. What You Love,

Grace DeVito: 4:44

practice. Do a lot of practice. The the whole 10,000 hour thing really is true. It's I, I often have talked about with, you know, friends. And fellow artists how difficult it is to be a really good artist, and it takes a long time, kind of like, you know, being a doctor or surgeon. Now, those things are super important and but they're also really appreciated for the time that it takes. I don't think artists are given that same appreciation, you know, for the the work and time that's put in, and how, how dedicated you have to be, you know, to to get good you know, it's all I mean, definitely people have start out with different levels of ability and talent, but that'll only get you so far. You you can really do have to put in the hours, and I would even say good hours, like if you practice a bad habit, you're only ingraining it. So, you know, we kind of have to learn to do good practice and and all those things. So I think it will be two things.

Shuang Li: 6:14

One is, you need to understand what's behind it. That's why you take workshops and such. You need to understand what's behind us to make a good painting like, what are we said? You know, the design, the composition, the design principles and how you use these knowledge. How you use this knowledge is the key is jumping from you read a book, you say, I understand what the author states. But can you practice on your painting? So that's so first you need to understand in theory, lot of things you know, read the books and such. Then when you move to the practice part. Of course, you will remind yourself when you're doing the painting, don't go back to your old way. You need to work on your knowledge into your painting at that time, usually you try that, and you will create a lot of disasters. So that's the period you're struggling. You try to apply new new knowledge. I always say when people come to my workshop, I said, Okay, so here's the workshop we're going to start, but you have to lower your expectations. I expect everybody painted. Paint your worst piece, not the best piece in my workshop. Why? Because you need to learn new things. So that's the part. I think people always thought, gee, they came to a class or workshop, they would have a masterpiece painted as the teacher, the instructor, which is actually, I would say it's totally opposite. So be patient is the second part practice and be patient. I gave a phrase to my serious student. I said, you know, if you think anything is good in my painting, any brush stroke, any composition, any color, looks good. I failed at least 999 times. So prepare that, and you keep practicing, using the knowledge you just gain and keep practicing. So this will create a positive circle and move you forward.

Blair Atherholt: 8:47

Paint what you love and paint what you're truly passionate about, because you can literally paint anything. Why, like? Don't waste your time painting things that you aren't interested in or or don't feel something about because I think that comes through. I know it comes through. I see it sometimes in some of those failed paintings where, you know, I just wasn't passionate about this setup or this subject, or, you know, I think that really, like you said, even your headspace kind of comes through into in your work. So I would always recommend, like finding something that you love to paint and just painting that stick with that. Fall in love with the process. Fall in love with the, you know, the subject matter, whatever it is, just really get passionate about it. And, yeah, I think that'll come through in your work. And collectors will see that that'll come that comes through on social media. You know, it's, it's, maybe the most important thing to me is kind of following that where you're you're in. Interests are, and what you're like desperate to paint next?

Rob Rey: 10:04

That is a tough question these days, especially with AI coming out, because the future is so unknown right now for art. But I, you know, hoping that people continue to make art, and it doesn't all just become made by machines. I think a lot of the things that we touched on already, I think are some of the things that really helped me was, you know, getting a part time job so that I still had the energy to work on my work, and living below my needs in a way that allowed me to put more time into my work. Or those, those were the things that I think I very consciously set out to do and allowed me to get where I am, because I have seen a lot of other people who graduated from art school and, you know, ran into difficulties of, you know, they got a part the full time job and just couldn't find the time to keep working on their art or or, you know, unfortunately, the realities sometimes are like they had a health condition that required more money and couldn't live below their means, which is really unfortunate that that's, you know, a problem, but that can be a problem, and So I've been really fortunate to be able to follow the path I have. And yeah, so, but those are the things that allowed me to get where I am. I think I would say, I guess, for advice, also, to paint what you love, as we mentioned, follow your your passions, because you know that's what's going to keep you working. You're going to keep working if you like what you're doing, and that's important. So it took me a long time to figure out how to work, what I what I was interested into art. But, you know, there's a way.

Susan Lyon: 11:53

So there's a way, yeah, and great question, and I'd have to say that it was probably easier for me, and especially back then, because this was the 90s, they're just okay. So one thing, there just wasn't as many artists. I mean, there literally just was not as many artists out there. Secondly, I was living at home when I went to art school, so I didn't have to work. I didn't have to make money. And then I started dating an artist who was already making a living. But it's not easy. It's not like it was just a Cinderella story. So when Scott and I moved in with each other, so right after school, we just lived in an incredibly cheap apartment, we just, you know, and every month was just making enough money to make that month's rent. And Scott would do some commissions, like portrait commissions, but he'd also do fantasy magazine covers, um, and we just lived so cheaply. And that's, you know, it's just just living below your means, just not like getting in above. So you have to worry about money. So Scott was making a living, even though it was just barely, and I was able to, you know, I mean, I have to say I probably didn't make a profit in my art. I never really looked at the the numbers, but I made so little money, so I would sell things that, obviously, this is the 90s, but I would sell things for just hundreds of dollars. You know, I would sell things. I would price things to sell. I mean, I literally, maybe no frame, um, but I had an in, because there were a couple galleries that Scott was in. And Scott got to be in galleries because he was being mentored by Richard Schmid. So there was a little bit of a hand holding. Like, you know, following a mentor is probably one of the easiest ways to get in this this career, because they can kind of lead the way a little bit. So Scott followed Richard. And then when I got with Scott, even though my prices were literally just like 150 or $300 i My money was maybe just for buying groceries. But when did I finally actually make a profit? So I mean, I'm gonna say to like, to where, like, I paid enough for my art supplies and living. I mean, maybe eight to 10 years. So I was subsidized. I was subsidized by Scott to be able to, like, sell paintings, but you but not have to worry about like. I mean, I was selling things so cheap. So that's

Oliver Sin: 14:43

gain a friendship with mentors. You know someone that you trust, have some mentors, because I think their opinion makes a huge difference. Without Xiao Ming Wu, my mentors opinion about four. Points. It would took me a long time to overthink and hesitated to make a right decision or wrong or not, but after something, we'll mention it. You know, foreign is my favorite city in the world. You should take this opportunity. You agree, you decide. How can you say no? You know, to have a priceless opportunity to teach and to leave and to have one month experience in Florence, Italy as an artist, that's that was an amazing experience. It opened my eyes, and I if I didn't go there, I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't inspire my student. I wouldn't tell my student you should go to, if you could afford go to go to see the real world, real art world, in forest in Rome, because they open your eyes. They you know, they open your eyes. You know, you and I've been there. So, you know, that's why sometimes, and it's no substitute from the real experience, the real experience, of course, it costs you some money. It costs you some you know it you have to, you have to pay for your your your opportunity. So, but I hope my student then, you know they, they know how to invest the money the time to gain their, their good experience. So that's something that you know, as an educator, I share my experience with my students so and I appreciate my students. They value my opinion. And you know, of course, I make a lot of you know wrong opinion or mistakes as well, but life is short. You don't know, you learn from your mistakes. Of course, I travel. I make a lot of like, bad experience as an artist, but we learn. We learn from that. We learn from the experience. So I'm, I'm a very, very positive artist. I like to focus on my positive experience that I learned from the positive experience. I also learned from my bad experience as well. Life is short, you know, it everything happened for a reason. So good experience and bad experience, they both teaching me something. It just made me who I am. So of course, we keep changing. We make, we make other voices, or we find another, you know, platform, or, you know, everyday life is full a lot of challenge. So we all have capability to do a lot of different things, but everything is in your hand. It's up to you to pursue your artistic stream, and, you know, make your life more meaningful or memorable for you. You know that is the most important part, because, after all, it's your own life.

Eric Armusik: 17:52

Obviously, you know, we're all confronted with the daily needs of having to provide for ourselves, and eventually, in my case, you know a family of five, so I kind of had to go into the things that I knew that I could make money with at the time to support me. I tried doing something of an artistic situation. I thought would have worked out something would have provided some income, and it didn't. So I had to kind of go into the crutch of my previous profession as a kid, working for my father in construction. So I worked with my dad from the time I was about nine years old, all weekends, all my holidays and everything else. I spent a lot of time doing that, and that's a whole nother story of why I had to do it. Kind of as a kid getting in trouble, did something bad, and basically had to work for my father for about two years for free. But I learned a profession, and it was very helpful for me and and I kind of stress this with a lot of people that I do consultations with and career advice and stuff, is that, you know, take every experience that you have in your life, doesn't matter if you think it's related, and see how that can give you unforeseen advantages in your career. So for me, I was a carpenter. I trimmed out houses, built, you know, did concrete, did roofs, dug ditches. I mean, everything they needed me to do I did, but I learned a lot of things about, you know, working with framing wood and doing finish work, and later on in life, I was able to use that for building custom frames, doing large tabernacle frames, like I'm actually in the process of doing right now for a church. I have two of them I'm doing, but I relied on that for a little while, and then I was able to kind of get into a profession, doing graphic design work for a company, and I had a little bit of experience with it. In college, I was kind of on a job training, so I was able to learn Photoshop and a bunch of other things. And while I was doing my day job, working for this it was a craft company at first, and then a technology company. And I was working for I said, I don't want to do this forever. I want I'm doing this for money now some experience. So I built my business on the outside while I was working. So while I would work all day, I would come home eat dinner, and then I would get in my studio, and I would work like five, six hours or so at night until like two in the morning. And I realized that that sacrifice of sleep was necessary, because even if it was an extra hour or two each day, it was getting me that much farther out. So I got, you know, kind of a parallel career running. You know, I had my thing I had to do for money, and my career was running at the same time. So in a number of years after it, I think it was probably about six, seven years after I really committed myself doing it, I was in a position where I was in a very good job, paying, being paid very well, and I left that job to become a full time artist. And by that time I had both careers running. It was like, you know, stepping off an escalator right into another one. And I was right. It didn't, didn't. There was no hiccups or anything. And I actually that first year, I made more money in the art career that I moved into than where I was working. So that was another, you know, where everybody was telling me you're crazy. What are you going to do? You're going to ruin your life, and you're gonna lose all that, you lose all the benefits of working for a corporation. I couldn't wait to leave. You're right and but I think in the biggest thing, the biggest advice, and I think I wrote a blog years ago for BoldBrush, for this, is, is, I think it was like 1010, reasons or things you should do to leave your job, or whatever it was, but it was really committing myself in the end, and going, if you're going to leave and you're going to your passion is to be in your career. Don't be a model employee. Do what you have to, to get the employee thing done and to satisfy your boss, and be everything else, but be kind of like a wallflower, you know, be somebody who not going to bring a lot of attention to you, because I spent all my time I would, I would take my lunch break sometimes and just go in a car and do marketing. I would be sneaking out to make calls to people to do commissions. I was even painting commissions on the steering wheel of my car in the parking lot. You know, all my friends are like, all the work buddies are like, Hey, come out to, you know, to go out to eat with all of us and be social. I'm like, No, I don't want to be social. I like you guys, but I want, I have this dream, and I have to achieve it. And at the time, I had, you know, two children, and I was watching my daughter every day look at me in the door, the window there, and seeing your dad hate this. I don't want to miss their lives. I want to grow I want them to grow up in front of me. I want to be a good dad. I want to be home my wife. I love being at home. I've still to every day I enjoy a nice hour to Coffee with my wife in the morning because it's the greatest part of my life. You know that all that sacrifice, and all those staying up those hours, and all that, you know, trying to be clandestine at work and do business, yeah, to get it out that that equaled this. And I will never, ever regret any of it. I I love it for everything I ever dreamed about. I'm doing right now, and I want to grow bigger and bigger, and I want to help more people do the same, because I believe it's achievable, but you have to believe it. You can't just go. People can't achieve that dream anymore. It's just not possible. And I'm like, it's more possible than ever right now. In the world we're in, we're all connected. It's not like it was when I got out of college. It's, it's so much better. And this is, this is worth doing. You know,

Brienne Brown: 23:45

one thing I did, I'm not trying to remember when I did it. I don't remember, but I had started trying to sell and I realized quickly I wasn't very good at selling art, because as an artist, we're taught, I mean, you're taught how to paint you love what you do, you paint what you love, but actually trying to sell your work took something else, and running a business took something else. So I took a community class on business, running a small business, which was actually super helpful for me, because it helped me realize that I'm in the business of selling stuff. So, yeah, I'm a businessman, right? I mean, yes, I'm an artist, but I'm also trying to sell my work. So that was super helpful. The other thing is, just, I kept trying to practice at it. You know, when I go to shows, I go up and talk to people, and a lot of it is just coming down to talking about what you love, which is your work, right? And so the other thing that was key for me was that I finally realized it wasn't my job to get any everybody to like. My work, because that's impossible, right? You're just not going to you can't do that, which is good, because so many people have different tastes. So many people like different things. They connect with different things. So my job was just to paint what really spoke to me, do the best I could, and then find the buyer that would connect with that, you know, and that just helped open up any kind of pressure of like, oh, what should I paint? What will sell, you know, and that kind of things. And it's, it's so tempting to go in that way and think, Oh, wait, what's going to sell? No, connect. Connect with what you're going to connect with paint, what you love, and the buyer, you will find someone that will connect, that you know, you just gotta then find them. That's the hard part, right? Well, one hard part, and that's where the marketing comes in, and understanding your your your your market, so understanding, you know who you're actually trying to sell to, and that is a key thing. So I think the business side is something to learn as an

Shuang Li: 26:07

artist, my suggestion is from my own experience, and I also the time I got lot of advice from the pros that's ahead of me. Well, I think, you know, I would recommend people who you just, if you just get started, start from local and that's your roots. Okay, I live in San Diego County, so the first organization when I moved to here in 2003 so I joined the local watercolor society in 2004 and it till today. So that's your base, and because those kind of society usually provide member shows that's a little bit of lower level. So it's easy to get in, and you can gain the confidence from there. And if you wanted to teach, or if you wanted to be a serious, you know, full time or half time, but you wanted to be serious, then you can first get the signature, signature member level from those local art organizations. And some people got too ambitious, and they start applying the national one. You have to understand that the national level of art organizations open to the world. The you United States, you know, like, I paint a lot of watercolors. So the watercolor the national watercolor society, American watercolor society is one on the West Coast, one on the East Coast. They both open to the entire world. So you are competing with the best artists from everywhere in the globe. So in that case, you have to ask yourself, you know, I am I at that level? Or I'm just throwing my money away, just, you know, try to be part of that. So I would say, Start local, and you will gain the confidence, and you will meet other artists, and you will make a connections. And then, then you will improve as well. Then at some point, when you feel you're, you know, you're improving your work a lot. Then, of course, connected with the National masters. That's a great way to go. So, you know, you can make a oil painters. You there's a oil painters of America, and there's impressionism society, and there they are also named the local, but more national, like California art club I belong to. These are much higher and a lot of times they need a pre qualification. Let's say that California art club if you want to apply the artist membership, I remember I prepared like a seven pages long, writing stuff and a lot of artwork, and then they review, then you can get it so, so one step at a time, and I think that will that not only much more practical, but also help you to gain the confidence in the art world.

Jill Basham: 29:22

Well, I think for us artists too, we sort of are unique, a unique tribe and and so I think that we, you know, I think sticking together and sort of helping each other out however we can is it's a good thing and, and I definitely value my friendships, my artist friendship. So yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's a good thing

Laura Arango Baier: 29:55

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Stephanie Birdsall: 32:14

okay, first of all, I think galleries are very valid, and the reason I think they're valid is just like a painting. When you walk in, you experience a painting, a sculpture, whatever it is, in person, so you get to actually react to it. And I I actually sell a lot online, and I love online, but when I go into an A gal at a gallery, it is an immersive experience. And a photograph, to me, never completely describes the painting, the edges, the color, it's not really accurate. You can get a good enough feeling for it. The other interesting thing with galleries is that you reach new people you never know. First of all, if we're online, someone's got to be following us or see us through a recommendation or a podcast or this or that. One of my favorite galleries is a loom West in Phillipsburg, Montana. I'm in a still life show there right now. I don't really know anyone from Phillipsburg, Montana. I don't know the people that are going into her gallery now, maybe they'll see me on her website. But I have sold from people who don't to people that don't know me, that walk in and love a painting. I think the paintings need to be in galleries as well, so that they're speaking to the world. I mean, there are emissaries. When my painting goes to Gallery, a little bit of me is going there and they're meeting me. So I think galleries are very valid. And to me, the best galleries work very hard for their clientele, and I do not mind paying them a commission. They're working for it. They're paying the overhead. I think a lot of them used to advertise and print more, but they all have online presences, and I know as a person that I can show you a painting and talk to you about it and potentially educate you enough that you want to buy it that doesn't happen when you just look online. A good gallery person can tell you about the painting, tell you something about the artist, create a romance and a story about it. So I think galleries are valid. I do think there are galleries that are better for us than others, and a lot of that has to do with the type of painting that we're putting out there. You know, for me, to put a snow scene and a beach gallery is unlikely to relate to anyone unless they're, what are they called, snow birds that come down in the winter to someplace you. So I think you have to look at the type of gallery that you're putting your work in. My very first gallery was a Contemporary Gallery, and I put in my, you know, representational, figurative sort of stuff. I didn't sell anything, but I was happy to be in there, so I didn't care, you know, it's just great to be in a gallery, but that was not the right gallery for me, so I advise people to find a gallery that sells work that relates to what they do. I'm not saying that if you do landscapes, you want to be in an all landscape gallery, but you don't want to be a representational landscape painter and go into a crazy Contemporary Gallery, your work's probably gonna look funny, so think about where you're going in. But I also think I've had people go into a gallery. Okay, my one of my other galleries that I've been in a long time that I love is Susan Powell in Madison, Connecticut, and she has my work in the show right now. When I first met Susan, I was in Vermont painting with Putney painters. I was only doing pastels, and she said at the time, it's long time ago, I don't really work with pastels, but I like this painting. I'll take it well. She sold it in two hours because the painting spoke to someone, and it happened to be a good pastel. So you just don't know, but you want to have your gallery believe in you. I think that's the very most important thing. If your gallery owner and sales people connect with what you're doing, they can talk about it for you, they can sell it, but you kind of want them to love you and your work. Yeah, so that's what I would look for.

Raul Campos: 36:46

I always think it's very better to go in person, like with your portfolio. And I mean, some galleries prefer like you to send them an email with your work. I think if they get to know you, but you get introduced by a friend, it's usually easier to go in than just, like, sending them a message in Instagram. I mean, sometimes it works, but I think, like, I've noticed it works better when you get, like, introduced by someone. But what going back to the thing? I think you need your whole image like, very well made like, like your website or portfolio, maybe a, I don't know, a couple of years work, like, have like a lot of voice, but have, like, their work has to have like, some sort of unity, I think that you can see, like, okay, these guys, he's a serious painter. He's not just like this guy just came out of school and wants to be famous, right, right? I think, I mean, but the gallery world is also very strange. Some galleries are just not interesting in anything, and some value galleries are, like, very, very meticulous with how they get artists and so, yeah, but the thing is just going and nesting, sure.

Michael Orwick: 38:03

I mean, one of the early things was just getting galleries all over the place. I found, you know, that a lot of my galleries were in kind of touristy areas. And touristy areas have hot times right during the year, so if you diversify where your galleries are, then you can kind of go, Okay, now it's this season over here. Now it's this season over here. It also allows my ADHD brain to go now I'm painting California. Now I'm painting, you know, Oregon. Now I'm painting, you know, wherever. And so it's fun for me to kind of bounce around and just okay, I'm preparing for this season in this gallery. So that was a part that was kind of early on, kind of like, I'm like, Oh, I discovered the secret, you know, to how to make galleries work, because some of them don't sell for like, five or six months at a time, because it's just so quiet. Then I do sell prints, which has never been a good part of my marketing, but it's nice again, it's just I don't think art should be for only the super rich, God bless them, for buying my big work and working with me so I can do great big works. But at the same time, I think that anybody that appreciates art should be able to have art and so that I also teach one class every week. As you can tell, I'm a bit of a talker, which you know, when you're working by yourself in the studio, can get a little lonely. So it gives me that chance, not only just to hear my own voice, but to hang out with people that have the same or similar interests, you know, and just talk about art. It's amazing that people will want to spend three to four hours a week with me and just talk about my favorite things, you know, and so that's really nice. So I say that I teach because I need to, otherwise I'd explode. I need to be with people. Yeah, I'm a social person and an unsocial job. I. Anti social job. So that's the main things I I'm trying to work with more designers, and work do more hotel projects and like large scale things I really do, like painting big, but it's they pile up pretty quickly here in the studio. If you have a bunch of six foot, seven foot paintings, and you don't have a market for it, so I do like and I'm working more towards finding some of that. Yeah, I do a lot of commissions, which, again, I enjoy. I turn down way more commissions than I take. It has to be something that I would want to paint. I'm to that point, luckily in my career, where it's I don't just paint everything and do anything for money anymore. So, but mostly, I think maybe just because of how I set up my website or whatever, people self edit a lot of times before they get to me like, oh, he doesn't want to paint my grandma. He doesn't want to paint my dog. And, you know, I want to paint your land, the landscapes that you know are of special interest to you, or

Karen Blackwood: 41:04

I think the best avenue is definitely social media. You know, if I'm honest, and my galleries, I have one local that I've gotten lot of students who've seen my work there. You know, buyers from the gallery, I would say social media, though, got me. The gallery gets me, you know. I mean, so that I think has been my biggest thing. And I joined the American society, marine artist. And I think the museum tours gets my work seen in different parts of the country. And, you know, that's a cool thing. But, yeah, I would say social media is, is, what a tool, you know, for an artist, I think it's a, it's almost, you almost say, ah, do we really need galleries? Because we can do it on social media, but I do get a lot from my galleries that I couldn't get on social media because they're the ones that work for you. There are, you know, a handful of galleries that are just gold, you know. And you, you know the difference between a gallery that's working for you and a gallery you know that just, you know, hangs your work, but they're not putting that extra work in for you. And I think they still earn their, you know, their percentage. It's like, I think in the old days, galleries used to be the ones that got you, the magazine articles got you, you know, known, and got your name out there. I think social media does that now, but good gallery is still a sales source and builds. They are wonderful at building collectors, and I love there's one gallery I can visit more often, and they are so good at engaging young collectors, which I love seeing that because just gives me chills. The thought that you know young people are showing an interest in collecting original work. Because for a while I worried that, oh my god, the poster thing that we see sometimes in decorating, or, you know, that we're going to lose that love of original work. But no, I'm seeing a lot of young collectors, you know, really show an interest and understand the difference between what a poster would do in your place versus a piece of original work, the kind of life that's in that work. There's an energy. Well, hopefully, yeah, artists are trying to put that energy into the work. So I think it's nice that young collectors are, you know, they're I think the future is good for artists. I think we're good

Oliver Sin: 44:08

so we are artists. We all need extra income. We all need to learn how to sell our artwork, promote our artwork. And I find it, I have been using social media, I think, more than eight years, seven years in the beginning of the Instagram, and, of course, I was embarrassed. So I asked my TA, I asked her, can you show me how to use the Instagram? I was embarrassed, you know, I it's not easy. You know, I'm not into technology. I'm sure you heard that all the time. So, and then I asked her, can you show me how to use a social media? So anyway, and that she showed me how to use social media. And I know how to use social media well, and I know. How to Do not let the social media to use me, because before the social media, you know, introduced to to this world, I was a garage artist. So I was a struggle artist that no one knows about me. No one wanted to buy my artwork. So I would like to tell your audience, thank you for social media. Without the social media, I won't have an opportunity here to be interviewed by you, Laura. And I think that social media open all of us up to the whole world, and I you can able to sell artwork on social media, but my strategy is, I'm not trying to show I'm very, very desperate. So I am lucky that I'm a very, very passionate artist. I don't have to worry about selling my artwork. But of course, I had, you know, I had, then I I've learned how to sell my artwork at the workshop by attending my teacher's workshop, because I don't know. I didn't know I can able to sell demo, sell drawing at the workshop. You know, it's a reasonable price. So that is a one way. If I didn't attend my teacher's workshop, then I don't know. I thought that, oh, workshop, you can sell original artwork as an extremely reasonable price to your students. Yes. So every time I teach a workshop, I will bring you know, like, 10 to 12 original artwork to show the students who are attending the workshop. And then they, if they're interested, they can buy in a reasonable price, but that's something that you learn by attending the Workshop No one's going to teach you. You can go to Google, like, how to become a successful artist. You know, it's that's No, you know, perfect answer. That's no model answer. So you need to learn. And, you know, use social media, I find out that people will approach me with social media and ask me, like, oh, is this artwork available for sale? You know, they will contact me. But I don't usually like to put a price there, because I'm not a, you know, I'm not I'm lucky enough, you know, I'm not a desperately to need to sell my artwork at this moment, but I was a garage artist. Garage artist. That means, you know, I stay in a garage. No one knows all of her sin. No one care about my artwork. However, thank you for Instagram, social media. It opened myself up to the world and people knows about me, and so Time Magazine find me from social media. So they offer me, and I did two Time magazine cover for them. Again, they find me through social media. That's the fact. And the book. I also have the book behind me right here, the book editor find me for social media, and also have my DVD. All those opportunity came from social media. So and I think you need to first of all allow yourself, open up, yourself, open yourself, and let the world knows who you are and see what you can offer. And of course, you know, you can able to I think the communication, have a network, has an art community. I think this is very, very is very, very important for any of the artists to have, you know, hang out with the artist friend, have an art community. And communication is the key if you're going to lock yourself in the garage, no one's gonna lock at your garage door and say, Oh, let me help you. No, this is your job. You need to go out. And I heard that all the time, but that is not my personality. Oliver, I am very, very shy, but sometimes you have to ask yourself, yes, we all have that shyness. We all are shy personality. But if you want something, you need to go out. You need to show people that I'm very, very hungry. I need to sell this artwork, go to the museum, you know, go to, you know, go to places, and go to the bookstore. And you have absolutely no idea how many times I got people to ask me, oh, you know, I like to sketch at the coffee shop. And people see idea that some simple sketch, they will come by and say, Are you an artist? Yes. How can I help you? Yes, I'm an artist. You know, after the simple talk, they will ask you, Oh, can you join my granddaughter? You know, here's a picture. I think you know, that's how you you explore yourself out there at a coffee shop or at the museum. You do a little sketch talk like an artist at Lion artist, and you have absolutely no idea you know your your. Action, you know, you're doing a doodle sketch in front of John Singer Sargent painting at the Boston MFA. And then someone is actual, you know, it happens to me. People are poetry like, Are you an artist? I'm looking for an artist who do a portrait for my grand, grandma, grandpa, and that helps, you know, I say, Sure, this is my business card. Always have the business card ready and promote and portray an image of yourself to the audience. You're an artist, so of course, you can able to negotiate the price with them.

Joseph Gyurcsak: 50:34

You have to develop friendship. You have to have a gallery that really believes in you. Don't just try to be in a gallery where you say, Please, can I get in your gallery? That's the wrong position to go in. You need to be in places where they say, Yeah, I believe in this work, and because if they believe in it, they're going to sell it. Because they at the end of the day, when somebody walks in the gallery, remember The Gallerist or the gallery director? Those are the people that are going to speak about you. So they have to know you. They have to believe you. You have to develop a relationship. You only need one good gallery. You don't need a 1020, of them. I mean, I know some artists have that, but really you have to have that sincere relationship connection to sometimes the galleries don't share who the collectors that bought it. Sometimes they do. That depends on the relationship and how that goes. But if you do have a collector that buys from you, straight up direct, because I sell things on Instagram or, you know, through my website, or if somebody comes around and says, I bought this from the gallery, always make sure that you send out some sort of Thank you. And that's really a good thing, like, Thank you for supporting me and my fam. We send out a note like a card, and it says, Thank you for supporting me and my fam, my journey, my family, this and that. People have to know how much that means that you know you invested in me and gave me. I used to make a joke, but I, and people would think, I'm really seriously. Say, Yeah, I don't sell. Pain this month, my my wife said I can't paint anymore, really, oh my god yes, I need to sell, you know. But aside from all the joking, yes, you're supporting somebody's journey, you know. And you know, back in the day, if you read the old art books, they would have like what you call a sponsor, like somebody sponsoring you to be an artist. Well, yeah, artists need to make money like everybody else. So when you find those people that do support, you let them know, you know how much that means just a little note to them or something to keep them in the loop. I'm not that great on my website for doing the newsletters, but I when I just finished a workshop in Belgium, the artists really said, I said, I don't want to bug people all the time with a newsletter this. Say, well, even if you do it four times a year. So I'm actually going to do that based on the feedback I got from this workshop. I'm going to try to do a newsletter every quarter, at least. Because I think I didn't realize that they were telling me they want to hear what I'm doing. So I'm like, okay, yeah, I'm going to do it. We're going to do it, yeah, so there's a goal right there that I'm going to do that I haven't been doing. You know, make adjustments everything we were talking about. You hear something, hey, that's to your advantage. If people are giving you feedback and it's positive, you have to do something, right?

Warren Chang: 54:00

Well, you know, I'm pretty much established now, so I don't really feel like I really have to to do anything, to be honest. But in terms of, I mean, I think having a website is probably the single most important thing to have, because people find me. I don't know how they do, like yourself even, but people find me, and I don't know how they find me, but they and sometimes they're coming from, you know, Paris, or from Russia, or from, you know, Portugal. I mean, I don't know how this happens, but without that website, it wouldn't happen. So the website is where they discover you, and they learn more about you, and they see your work. I haven't sold work through the website very frequently, but it does actually happen as well. So websites, you can sell work direct, and now I think a lot of art galleries are getting savvy to that, and they're starting to rely more and more, especially since the pandemic, more and more, on online sales. Yeah, so it's just part of, you know, keeping up with the times and how things of technology has sort of taken over. But social media, I guess that's something else. I do participate in Facebook frequently, but not so much Instagram. I don't really know whether you really get any real opportunities through social media. I'm sure you do, but I'm doubtful in some ways, because it's a little bit of an illusion. I think you think that people are, you know, watching or looking but I guess there's probably just a small percentage of people that are actually participating. And I don't put as much weight on social media as I do having a website.

Elizabeth Robbins: 55:44

You know, things have changed drastically because of social media and the internet and but I think it's really important now, if you're going to try and get into galleries, is to present yourself as a professional, even if maybe you're not quite there. I think it's important to present yourself as a professional. My My husband used to say, he says, Be a duck. And I say, What the heck does that mean? Be a duck. He says, calm on the surface and professional on the surface, but paddling, paddling like hell underneath, and so. So as you're, you know, as you're trying to get into galleries, I think it's important to have a professional website. I think it's important to have professional business cards, a professional pamphlet, a professional portfolio. You need to portray that sense that you are a professional and not you don't even have to be doing it full time, but you need to at least give that sense that you are taking yourself seriously, so that that gallery will take you seriously. You can't just be a Sunday painter, let's say and and think that you're going to be selling in galleries. It's, it's a professional business relationship. It's, it's symbiotic. You know, they can't sell art without us, and we can't sell art without them. And and both sides need to run it like a business, and you need to run your art career like a business. And unfortunately, a lot of artists, you know, they're so right brain that they they don't have the left side. And some people are fortunate that they have a spouse that, you know, runs that part of the business for them. I was fortunate that I got my dad's left side of my brain, of his brain, and my mom's right side of the brain. So I have both the artistic and the and the business sense, but it is really important to be professional, at least look professional on the surface, even if you're paddling like hell underneath.

Poppy Balser: 57:54

I got my Faso website in early 2010 and the reason why I did was honestly because of the fine art views newsletter, which had been had been going for quite a while, it's and it was delivered into my in my email box, I think it was every day for years and years. It was every day. And mostly it was useful stuff to artists. But every now and then the useful stuff for the artist was discussing how to have a website, how to build a website, what, you know, what sort of website you need to have? What's what's useful on a website, all this stuff. And, you know, they were, they were, they were general information which was useful. But it also was Fine Art Studio online, saying, this is, you know, this is how we do our websites, and this is why we think it's important for artists. And it totally worked. And just so I bought the product from the newsletter. And so I got my website early 2010 and almost immediately started a newsletter with 11 people, which was my brother, my sister, my mother, my father, and about five or six other people. And I was not super regular in sending it at the beginning, but I would, you know, when somebody said, Oh, I like your I like your work, how do I find out more? I'd be like, I have a newsletter. I send it out. Do you want to go on my list? So I added people gradually over time. So I started with 11. But then I then I reached out to people that I had sort of like a, you know, any sort of relationship with, where I thought they they might be interested in the fact that I'm now painting. So I invited them to join my list. And then I probably had 50 or 60 people over the years, I've found different ways to draw people to my my to my website, and to sign up for the newsletter, and I see that as the most important tool, honestly, in my artist business, outside of working with galleries, having the website, having the newsletter, that is the big. Biggest tool that I have that drives, drives people to come see what I'm doing, and some of them buy paintings. You've mentioned social media. And the problem with social media is what we put on social media, we don't own that. We don't own the connections that we make through social media. You know, I left, I left Twitter. Not going to call it x, I left Twitter months ago, a few months ago. And one of the things I miss the most is, you know, there's this one British artist who I only ever found, her posting her stuff on Twitter. And you know, when I went to our website. At the time, when I was leaving, there was nothing on her website. I was like, Oh man, how am I going to figure out, you know, what she's paying because I just love her work so much. Since then, I've gone back to her website, and she does have stuff on her website now, which is great. But you know, she was putting her stuff on Twitter, and if I wasn't on Twitter, I didn't see her stuff, and I, none of us want to be in that situation where people can't find us, but our website, we own our website. We own what we put on it. We're responsible for what's on there. We control what's on there. We control what people see. If somebody comes to our website, they don't have to go through an algorithm of, you know, what's popular, they're going to see what I, as the artist, put on my website, because that's what I want them to see, though. That's why I'm focused on the newsletter and and even my when I post, I have never sold much on social media. I don't know why. I just it just never seemed to work for me. So rather than try and chase those sales, I would just post stuff and say, hey, you know this is, this is my painting. If you want to learn more, go to my website. There's a newsletter sign up page, that thing on the bottom of every page of my website. And occasionally on social media, I say, hey, you know, if you like this stuff, I have a newsletter sign up. I do that like every few months. And so, you know that helped guide people there. I did some activities to help expand my list. Let's see. So in in 2012 I decided to do a daily painting experiment, and I my kids were still kind of little, so I couldn't, I couldn't do it for like, years on end. So I said, Okay, you know, two months before Christmas, I'm going to do 60 paintings in 60 days, and I'm going to charge $60 for them. And so I ran an ad in the local paper, and I probably put it on social media that I was doing this, but the only way to get to find out about the painting was to be on my newsletter list because I emailed out the pictures every I do my painting, and I'd email it out through my newsletter every day, and if they did, if it didn't sell the first day, the price would go up like it went up to my normal price. So I don't remember the numbers, because it was a long time ago, but I had a huge growth in my newsletter list from that, because people would tell their friends, oh, my god, I just bought this painting for 60 bucks. And you know, this is how you find out, sign up for her newsletter. And that worked. I did that for three years, four, three or four anyways, and it was, it was very successful. I also went to a local trade show and put up a little booth with some of my paintings and some note cards, and I had a draw for a painting, and anybody that wanted to, you know, the entry form said, sign up for my emails and get a chance to win this painting. So they would write their email address on the little paper. And I went home with 150 papers, and I entered them all in my system as as new subscribers. So there's all sorts of stuff you can do to get more names on your list.

Michelle Dunaway: 1:03:45

Just the other night, I was out just marvel. I mean, we, I live in New Mexico, and we have, you know, it's called the Land of Enchantment, because we have the most incredible skies and sunsets. And I was, I ran out, actually, in my pajamas, because the sun's not setting till, like, almost nine o'clock, you know. And so, like, ran out, jumped in my car, went to the field near my house, and just was photographing and just taking in the sky. Because, you know, in all my years, I was like, I've never seen the sky exactly like this before. I've never seen colors exactly like this before, and it's just new. And I feel like that's actually a segue. I know you wanted to ask me about that certain quote of geniuses childhood recovered at will by bold layer, which is one of my favorite quotes, segues into that because I think as artists and just human beings, it's, it's part of our job, in a way, to see things as new every day and not become desensitized to life. And I think that's one of the reasons I love that quote, and it's hung in my studio for, you know, very long time, is that when I was starting out, I was a preschool teacher, and then I was doing art in the evenings, and I loved spending time with the kids, and I would just, you know, I was not an accredited teacher, so I was the break person. I took the kids out to recess. I did art with them. I did things while the teachers took their breaks. And so I was with all age groups, from age three to age 13 and through this preschool and elementary school. And what I marveled at is that children even in the same playground, even in the same environment that they'd go out into every day, they saw everything as new. They every day was something new to discover. And it just showed me that that's, that's what that means to be as little children. You know, spiritually, it's also that quote geniuses childhood recovered at will, is that at will we we bring forth that discovery, that ability to look at things as if for the first time, and we put it into our art, you know. Oh, and that's, that is where our genius lies. Because, you know, sometimes after art school, we get in the, I think everybody that's probably listening to this is, you know, been in this situation as I know I have, and I'm sure you have where you're like, I have this idea of something I want to paint, but I haven't really seen that done before, so it's probably not a good idea. And it's like, no, it's your you have a unique set of sensitivities, and that idea is coming to you because it's meant to come through you in a painting. And I think we have to be so attuned to that. And that's like that right there, to me is the bridge from becoming a student to a professional, although I feel like we're always students in the way of like we should always be learning, like Michelangelo said, like in his 70s, I'm still learning, you know, but going into, you know the professional realm where you are painting your ideas and your sensitivities, and you're trying to share that with the world, and you're not just copying, right? And you're expressing and that's like a subtle difference. But you know someone who's in that stage, and what I wish someone had told me, because it took me a while to figure that out. Was just at that stage when you have the skill is just go back to noticing what catches your breath, what makes you pause and and stop in a moment in life and go, Wow, that's that's visually beautiful, or this is a moment I want to capture and paint, and I know sometimes I'll even be with friends or other artists, where they may not be responding to the same thing I'm responding to, but we have to become very sensitive and aware of those moments that we respond to, and that's kind of giving you clues as to Maybe what your future paintings will be.

Jill Basham: 1:07:41

I would say, hold on to what made you want to do it in the first place, and keep the excitement and passion for what you're doing. And don't it can be a very you can get very serious about stepping into a career in the arts, but I think you also need to remind yourself that you're doing this because of the joy that it brings you and to paint what you love. Okay?