Art Juice: A podcast for artists, creatives and art lovers

Marketing is a thorny topic for many artists - viewed as a necessary chore. But what if you approached it in a different way? This week, Louise is flying solo and sharing her experience with, and enthusiasm for, content marketing.  This means promoting yourself and your art by sharing content ... either on social media, on a blog, in videos, or on a podcast.  In this episode, Louise shares her tips for building awareness for your art through content creation. Her tips include documenting rather than creating; telling a coherent story; and engaging your audience rather than talking at them. Along the way, she shares her favourite content marketing gurus, and offers ideas for how to research topics.

Mentioned:

Gary Vee: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCctXZhXmG-kf3tlIXgVZUlw

Copyblogger: https://copyblogger.com/blog/

Seth's Blog: https://seths.blog/

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www.alicesheridan.com

www.louisefletcherart.com

Submit a question at bit.ly/artjuicepodcast

Buy us a coffee at: https://ko-fi.com/artjuice

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Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio

or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits: "Monkeys Spinning Monkeys" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

This week, we’re discussing comfort zones. This is a phrase coined by a business consultant called Alasdair White who described it as: “a psychological state in which things feel familiar to a person, and they are at ease, and in control of their environment, experiencing low levels of anxiety and stress. In this zone, a steady level of performance is possible.”

Other topics this week include the value of community, an unusual approach to painting edges, and a new way of looking at an ‘impossible’ project

Mentioned:

Sign up for our newsletters at:

www.alicesheridan.com

www.louisefletcherart.com

Submit a question at bit.ly/artjuicepodcast

Buy us a coffee at: https://ko-fi.com/artjuice

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Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio

or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits"Monkeys Spinning Monkeys" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

If you are an artist, this is the time of year when you start to hear about CVP, the online 12-week course taught by Nicholas Wilton. (Full name: The Creative Visionary Program). We have both taken this course in the past and Alice now works as a CVP coach. In this extra episode, we discuss our own personal experiences with the program and answer some of the questions that we are most frequently asked. Our discussion covers financial considerations, the logistics of online learning, how much individual guidance you can expect, how much time is needed, and which kinds of artists can most benefit. Does this work for you if you are a beginner? How about a skilled professional? Should you take it if you paint realistically? Or is it just for abstract artists. We cover all this and more in a frank and wide-ranging conversation.

We also invite you to a special Facebook group that we will be hosting for anybody who signs up through our link (bit.ly/cvp2020). Please note we have to check each name with Nick’s team, so please be patient as we admit you into the group. You can find that group by searching Facebook for JUP CVP BUDDIES 2020 or clicking the link below.

Mentioned:

Sign up for CVP via Art Juice at bit.ly/cvp2020

See stories from others who have taken the program here: https://workshop.art2life.com/cvp-2020-inspiration/

Then come and join us in our special Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/JUPbuddies2020CVP/

Sue McNenly on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suemcnenly/?hl=en 

Contact either of us via our websites:

www.alicesheridan.com

www.louisefletcherart.com

or on Instagram:

 @alicesheridanstudio

@louisefletcher_art

Credits: "Monkeys Spinning Monkeys" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Do you find that your painting time is being eaten up by admin and emails and marketing and social media ... not to mention spouses and kids and parents and pets?  Even when we love what we do, it can be stressful to cope with competing demands on our time. This week Alice is fiercely protecting her painting time despite pressure to do other things, while Louise is facing up to her tendency to put others' needs ahead of her own.  We discuss our strategies for managing overwhelm, offer tips for prioritising what matters, and debate whether it has ever been possible for an artist to simply make their art on a full time basis. We also discuss the value of good framing and Alice shares her experience of receiving a very special letter.

Mentioned

Juiced Up Buddies group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/juicedupbuddies/

RWS Contemporary 2020: https://www.royalwatercoloursociety.co.uk/exhibitions/36-rws-contemporary-watercolour-competition/overview/

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www.alicesheridan.com

www.louisefletcherart.com

Submit a question at bit.ly/artjuicepodcast

Buy us a coffee at: https://ko-fi.com/artjuice

Follow us on Instagram:

Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio

or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits:

This week's episode was inspired by a question from an artist who wrote: "I can draw well, and I paint in watercolour and acrylics but my style is all over the place. How can I find a style and settle on it?" We discuss whether you need to settle on a specific style, or whether it's OK to have multiple strings to your bow. Perhaps this varies depending on your goals for your art. We also share our own individual journeys,  and debate whether there are concrete steps you can take to find your own style. An artist's style, we agree, is the result of many different choices (subject matter, media, process, and decisions about colour and design and value among many other things). But it is also something that evolves - and that is perhaps never fully defined. After all, many of the "greats" changed styles multiple times as they explored different ideas or different ways of making their work. Most of, we both feel that your style is something that comes through doing rather than thinking - you must make work and in the process of making that work, you find your style.

This is also one with giggles over builders, a few tears and even disagreements over confectionery!

Mentioned

Join the free Art2Life online workshop HERE: https://www.louisefletcherart.com/for-artists/art2life/

Lesley Birch: https://www.lesleybirchartist.com/

Alice Sheridan - Canopy: https://alicesheridan.com/landscape-unlocked/

Laura Horn Art podcast: https://www.laurahornart.com/thepodcast

Sign up for our newsletters at:

www.alicesheridan.com

www.louisefletcherart.com

Submit a question at bit.ly/artjuicepodcast

Buy us a coffee at: https://ko-fi.com/artjuice

Follow us on Instagram:

Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio

or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits"Monkeys Spinning Monkeys" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

This week's chat was inspired by Michael Neill's book "Creating the Impossible." The book, which is subtitled "A 90 Day Program to Get Your Dreams Out of Your Head and into the World," argues that we can accomplish more than we ever imagined without the constant stress and pressure associated with high achievement and asks "what if creating what you want to see in the world isn’t dependent on believing in yourself, or even believing that it’s possible?" In other words, if we get out of our own way, and stop telling ourselves something isn't possible, new possibilities and opportunities start to reveal themselves. In this episode, we discuss the idea of the mind as a "virtual reality generator" and explore what happens when we change the way we are thinking. If we allowed for the possibility that our wildest dreams might be attainable, how would we act differently? And what might unfold as a result?

We also celebrate reaching dizzy heights on the Apple podcast charts and share our excitement about letting loose and making some bold moves on works-in-progress.

Mentioned: Michael Neill Creating the Impossible: https://www.michaelneill.org/ctibook/

Sign up for our newsletters at:

www.alicesheridan.com

www.louisefletcherart.com

Submit a question at bit.ly/artjuicepodcast

Buy us a coffee at: https://ko-fi.com/artjuice

Follow us on Instagram:

Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio

or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits"Monkeys Spinning Monkeys" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Louise is flying solo as Alice prepares for an art fair. Many artists dread the idea of marketing, but this week, Louise shares her belief that marketing doesn't have to feel pushy or unpleasant. With content marketing, it can be as simple as  letting people know what you're up to. In this episode, she shares the lessons she learned from corporate marketing including why documenting is so much easier than creating, how storytelling can attract your ideal art buyers, and why engagement is so important for your success.   But this is not just an episode about the theory of marketing - there are also practical tips and strategies to help you think how you could use these ideas in a way that feels good to you.

Mentioned

Seth Godin: https://seths.blog/

Gary Vee: https://www.youtube.com/user/GaryVaynerchuk/videos?view=0&sort=p&shelf_id=11

Copyblogger: https://copyblogger.com/blog/

Sign up for our newsletters at:

www.alicesheridan.com

www.louisefletcherart.com

Submit a question at bit.ly/artjuicepodcast

Buy us a coffee at: https://ko-fi.com/artjuice

Follow us on Instagram:

Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio

or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits"Monkeys Spinning Monkeys" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

This week American artist Nicholas Wilton returns to discuss the question: "what do you wish you had known 10 years ago?" Our discussion ranges from materials and brushes, to deeper more personal realisations, including tough lessons about authenticity, the need to find your own process, and the importance of relaxing into who are you really are.

We also discuss our experiences as teachers and the lessons we have watched our students learn and Nick shares a particularly challenging experience he had as an emerging artist. It is always inspiring to discover that all artists experience the same highs and lows and that we make many of the same mistakes. As you listen to this conversation, it will become apparent that you are never alone ... your struggles are the same as ours, your triumphs feel the same as ours ... we are all on the same path and we can all offer a helping hand to anyone who is behind us.

Finally, we share our plans to do just that by building a supportive community in a Facebook pop-up group. You won't want to miss this!

Mentioned:

Art2Life free workshop: https://bit.ly/art2life2020

Juiced Up Workshop Buddies 2020 (Facebook group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/juicedupbuddies/

Sign up for our newsletters at:

www.alicesheridan.com

www.louisefletcherart.com

Submit a question at bit.ly/artjuicepodcast

Buy us a coffee at: https://ko-fi.com/artjuice

Follow us on Instagram:

Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio

or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits

This is our one-year anniversary. When we started the podcast, it felt like quite a risk ... neither of us had any idea how to make a podcast and we had to figure it all out on the fly. Reflecting back on the last year sparked a discussion about courage inspired by the Brene Brown book "Daring Greatly."  The title for her book came from this Teddy Roosevelt quote: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”  We discuss the role of vulnerability in connecting with our audiences, the importance of allowing ourselves to be imperfect, and the need to act even when you are terrified. 

We also respond to a question from Susan, who wrote: "There is a hilarious song by Morrissey called 'We Hate it When Our Friends Become Successful' and I am wondering if you have lost any friends along the way. Do you notice some people just getting standoffish, angry or acting differently the more you succeed?"

Mentioned:

Sign up for Free Art2Life workshop

Brene Brown TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjNtWRBdXws

Caroline Goyder ‘Find Your Voice’ book - available for pre-order: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Find-Your-Voice-Confidence-Situation/dp/1785042831

Caroline in action with some tips for speaking with confidence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0325A8-_A4

Sign up for our newsletters at:

www.alicesheridan.com

www.louisefletcherart.com

Submit a question at bit.ly/artjuicepodcast

Buy us a coffee at: https://ko-fi.com/artjuice

Follow us on Instagram:

Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio

or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits

At one time or another, most of us have considered giving up making our art. In this episode, we share our own experiences and discuss why this feeling arises. Perhaps we have ambitions that exceed our current skill level and this leads to disappointment with the results. Sometimes, we are not creating what we really want to create, leading to boredom and burn-out. It is also common for people to become discouraged when they lack a support system and even when they have a spouse or partner who actively discourages their art-making. The conversation leads us to conclude that all these issues can be addressed - we can find support elsewhere, we can improve our skills through education and practice, and we can start to make art that we really love instead of just doing the same old thing.

This week we also tackle the topic of returning after a break and offer our different perspectives on how to get back into your work after the holidays.

Mentioned

Find out about Alice's Connected Artist Club and join the interest list here: https://alicesheridan.com/artists/

Link to louise’s Flickr album of self portraits https://www.flickr.com/photos/63799511@N05/albums/72157663186899771

Link to studio tidy post How to Kon Mari Your Studio

See Alice's sketchbook progress page HERE

Nour the artist/Ocado delivery driver!

Sign up for our newsletters at:

www.alicesheridan.com

www.louisefletcherart.com

Submit a question at bit.ly/artjuicepodcast

Buy us a coffee at: https://ko-fi.com/artjuice

Follow us on Instagram:

Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio

or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits