This week’s episode is a coaching call with Artist Academy member Samantha Brown. My favorite question to get from students is, “How do I get mural jobs?” Oh boy, do I have some advice for you!
Samantha is just getting started in her muraling journey, having only painted murals in her home as a trial run. She knows who her target customer is (schools) so we work out a plan to start getting those types of jobs.

Example:
Step 1: Have mural photos to showcase.
Step 2: Pitch a low-cost option to schools in order to get a “yes,” meet face-to-face and pitch ideas.
Step 3: Use the credibility of having already painted for a school to get into more schools.

Listen to hear the tips on how to get started pitching, even with limited examples on the resume!

This week’s episode features artist Chanelle Jefferson. Chanelle is based in rural Nova Scotia where she regularly sells her original canvas paintings and hosts retreats. She is an energy, mind, and emotions practitioner, which she uses to help guide her customers through the process of commissioning a very special and meaningful piece of art. Chanelle uses her skills to extract the right information/emotions/descriptions from customers in order to understand their situations and create a custom piece embodying those emotions.

This interview emphasized the importance of intuitively making business decisions surrounding the things you want to do daily. How you create art and display it and sell it is uniquely your own. Just because I paint murals and come alive doing it, doesn’t mean you will. Chanelle is a great example of someone who is living her life the way only she was meant to do it in the ways that bring her the most joy and fulfillment.

This conversation was a fantastic way to start my day with intention and I hope it will be for you too. Chanelle has such a calmness about her that spilled onto me and soon on to you. Let me know what you think of this week’s episode with Chanelle Jefferson.

This week’s episode features Texas artist Bryan Peterson. This is not your typical business talk but rather a reminder to create the art that makes you happy. Art that evokes emotion within the artist and creates excitement within the process.

We take it back to the basics of drawing/painting because you love it rather than to make a dollar. If the product is great, the customers will buy. But what your version of great is compared to mine is vastly different. It depends on the subject, color, style, meaning, etc..

What you like to create is not what I like to create, and that’s the beauty of it. Your perfect customer is waiting for you to create the perfect thing for you, because it will inevitably be the thing that speaks to them. Listen to this episode for a reminder to find out what art YOU are passionate about creating.

Let me know what you think of this week’s long interview with Bryan Peterson.

This week’s episode is part of a coaching call with Artist Academy member Sheryl Corriveau. She asks me questions that revolve around how to kickstart her mural business to eventually quit her day job and be a full-time creative.

Sheryl was recently trained on how to be an official Bob Ross paint party instructor, which I think is not only really cool but a great way to start bringing in income. We talked about what her ideal week would look like as a blend between muraling and paint party instructing.

I think it’s so important to have a goal in mind that is very specific, and if plans change that’s fine, but start with the goal of how you want to spend your days. Then we can create a plan of action to get you there. If you’d like to sign up for a 1-on-1 with me you can do so within the ArtistAcademy.co. I offer these to members for a small fee at any time. Sometimes it helps to have someone experienced look at your business from the outside and tell you the exact next steps to take.

A mentor can see the future of your business more clearly than you can because they’ve already been where you are and have been through the hurdles to get to that other side. If you’re someone who could use some direction, I highly encourage you to seek out a mentor. Whether it’s me or someone who does the thing you want to do. It can make all the difference and get you to where you want to be faster.

Let me know what you think of this week’s sneak peek into a coaching call with Sheryl Corriveau.

This week’s episode features New York artist ELLE. She’s been featured in a variety of different high-profile brand collaboration projects and has traveled around the world painting murals.

I always give the advice of doing a free mural or two to get practice/photos to advertise later, but ELLE got her start painting, not just for free, but illegally on the streets of New York. She put her art in front of passerby eyes to see and get noticed in order to get jobs. She wasn’t just spray painting her name up on the wall. ELLE practiced to create eye catching art that served as a building block to the career she now has.

I’m so impressed by her and I know you will be too. Let me know what you think of this week’s episode with street artist ELLE.

This week’s episode features sculptor/ceramicist Curt Hammerly. Curt sold and shipped over 5,000 pieces of work this past year at about $100 per item. You do the math, but this dude has the credibility to be giving us all advice on growing a social media following and making sales.

With over 350,000 followers on Instagram, it’s best to listen when he gives tips on audience growth. Lucky for you, he gives plenty of no-bullshit advice in our hour long convo. He also drops the F bomb several times, which I appreciate because things like that help the conversation to not be so stiff. It’s basically putting an emphasis on his point but if you have little ears nearby maybe just use headphones.

Curt sheds some light on the idea that not everyone who has the artistic eye should be a full-time artist. I love the honesty and his reasoning behind this which you’ll hear shortly. He’s right. With making art for a living come so many other things like marketing or social media or whatever you need to do to sell the art you create. If those things are continually giving you a headache, maybe taking on a “real” job is best.

Listen to this week’s episode to hear if those points apply to you. I think you’ll like Curt’s very real advice on what it takes to create for a living and grow your creative business to new heights!

This week’s episode features abstract artist Jenna Kast. This is yet another interview with an artist who has a completely different perspective on creating than I do: she thinks about the art first and the money follows.

I tend to find myself thinking about how I’m going to sell a canvas before I create it, but not Jenna. She spent the early part of her career creating for others so that when she made the switch to running her own business it was all about painting whatever she feels like painting. That happens to be colorful abstract art which is sold through her social media and recent galleries.

Listen to get tips on both of those sales strategies in this week’s episode with Jenna Kast.

‘Tis the season for taxes. Hannah Cole, artist and owner of Sunlight Tax, was kind enough to come on the podcast and answer some of the most common questions like:

How should I file?
When should I hire a tax professional?
What items can I list as an expense/deduction?

Listen to hear answers to these questions and be sure to check out her extremely helpful resources below:

This week’s episode features Ukrainian-born, now New Jersey-based, artist Olga Muzician. About halfway through this interview I realized - we have two very different work styles. Olga has the drive and need for perfection in everything she does. Everything is organized, clean, and as efficient as possible. There is no room for spontaneity or winging it in her work life.

This interview is a great look at the opposite side of a previous solo episode I did where I confessed that I paint up to the value of my customer’s budget. If the customer is happy, I’m happy.

With Olga, if she’s not making her next masterpiece, then she’s not happy. There’s no good enough attitude happening here. Which explains why her project minimum is $3,500. Olga charges her worth and explains what’s included in her process to create a masterpiece every single time.

She also put into words the mental creative process that happens inside my head when trying to think up the next big idea (mockup) for a customer. That brain roller coaster that goes on throughout a couple of days or weeks of extracting that one-of-a-kind idea out of my usually stagnant creative brain for my new hopeful customer. I’ll let her do the explaining, so let me know what you think of this week’s episode with Olga Muzician.

This is what the seasons of my business typically look like:

Winter: Planning, practicing, resting - Do I want to repeat last year or change some things? How can I make this year more enjoyable?

Spring: Experimenting, pitching - Stick to the plan and welcome new, fun opportunities.

Summer: Hustling - Let’s go!

Fall: Slowing, regrouping - Avoid burnout.

Listen to this week’s episode to hear an explanation of each, including the things I’m currently doing in this winter season to prepare for having my most productive/profitable year yet. I also share recommended replacements for all of that negative self-talk new artists often given themselves in the beginning of their art careers. Things like, “I’m not good enough,” or “I’m not where I want to be yet…”

Listen to hear how I personally combat the negativity and replace it with hope! The Series Six Challenge starts SOON! Join us: Artist Academy Challenge1