There are many different ways to develop your career as an artist, exhibitions, art fairs, social media and so on. Another possible avenue is through entering competitions.  Winning or being placed can mean prizes, inclusion in exhibitions and certainly some kudos.  Is it all good?  listen to Peter and Laura talking about their experiences in the competitive world of art

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Making art for an artist is very rarely enough to get you to the point where you are selling art.  Nearly everyone in the creative sphere will also need to communicate too and in this week's podcast Laura and Peter discuss how writing is an important skill that is well worth learning.  Both of them write for magazines, both have written books, both write for their social media - they are both earning some of their living from writing and through writing they both benefit in a myriad of other ways

So much of the on-line presence of a creative person these days is through social media, its immediacy and the way that you can gauge the reaction so quickly make it a very powerful tool, but what about websites? Should you have one of those too?  Peter and Laura believe that you should and in this episode they talk about why having a carefully considered, curated website will help to promote you in a different way to your audience

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A career as an artist is not always all about making art, for some people it is also about making artists, teaching your skills to others so that they can make art too.  It isn't for everyone, some see it as a chore and if that's the case then better to steer clear of it because you are unlikely to be a good teacher.  However teaching can be immensely rewarding, financially, emotionally and in terms of what you as a teacher may learn from your students and from the process of unpicking your practice to teach it.  Both Peter and Laura teach, having included it in their businesses for many years, alongside making art,  both enjoy the challenge it brings.  Today they talk about their experiences and how making teaching a part of your business can be more than just an additional revenue stream.

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Most artists will have some relationship with colour, wether it be ink, paint, pencil or paper.  The colours you choose are important for many reasons, for their colour for one, but also for their longevity, their intensity, their opacity, their sheen, their ability to work on top or underneath other colours - I'm really only scratching the surface of the subject. Today's guest lives and breaths colour, he is managing director of Cranfield Colour who make printing inks for intaglio and relief printers including the very popular Caligo range of 'safe-wash' inks which are oil-based but can be washed up with water and a little soap!  Cranfield Colour also make oil-paints for the professional market.  Michael talks to Laura and Peter about some of the science, and why choosing your materials well is so important.

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You have produced a collection of artworks and the time has come for you to start selling them to the public.  How do you decide where to pitch your pricing?  Too low and you may not cover your costs, or you may be seen as too cheap and therefore not worth even looking at! Too high and you just won't find people prepared to pay.  Peter and Laura talk in this episode about how the pricing of your work needs to develop over time, how you can approach the initial pricing based on what your peers are doing and also how a consistent policy on pricing will help you to avoid awkward situations.

Most artists want to get their work on the walls of a gallery, at least until someone buys it!  How do you get your work into a gallery?  What should the relationship be between you and your gallery?  Are there tings that you must never do when dealing with a gallery - and are there things that the gallery should not be doing?  In our second podcast interviewing Nick Bentley owner of Bils and Rye Gallery in Kirkbymoorside in North Yorkshire, Peter and Laura talk about how the relationship should work, how you might approach a gallery and gives some frank advice on things you should avoid.

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Social media can be a huge benefit to any creative person wanting to promote what they do, but it needs to be used intelligently and it should be the artist using it as a tool, rather than being an end in itself.  In this Podcast Laura and Peter talk about their own experiences with Social Media and how it has helped them to further their careers and businesses.

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Originality in art is certainly to be admired, you don't want to be seen to be  derivative, but it is also important to have a recognisable style so that, in time, people can look at your work and see it as being yours.  In this episode Peter and Laura talk about finding your own voice as an artist, developing ideas and techniques in a way that is recognisably your own.

All artists will experience critcism, it goes with the territory.  Tastes differ so much that making art can only ever appeal to a segment of the audience, so sometimes people will tell you that they do not like what you do.  Peter and Laura talk in this episode about how to deal with this criticism, both to protect yourself and to put it into perspective.

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