In this episode, Tom and Peter venture outside (well, metaphorically at least) as they are talking all about painting the great outdoors, en plein-air, with the renowned British painter, Haidee-Jo Summers.

Haidee-Jo Summers is famed for her paintings full of light, colour and all painted from life. As well as being an author of the internationally popular book Vibrant Oils, Haidee-Jo is a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Society of Marine Artists, is an editorial consultant for The Artist Magazine and has won multiple awards and prizes for her paintings. 

In this episode, Haidee-Jo talks about her background, her training, how she began painting with oils and en plein-air. She discusses what she believes it is that makes painting outside so special, how to go about it and talks about her brand-new book, Plein Air Painting with Oils.  

In this episode, Peter and Tom talk about the challenges they have both faced over the past two years, due to the pandemic and how they have changed their artistic businesses and continue to transition to this “new-normal” way of working.

Back in the spring of 2020, both Peter and Tom were hit hard when Covid hit the UK, losing a large proportion of their income in a very short space of time. With this uncertainty and lack of security, their creativity fell completely flat! 

They move on to reflecting on how, once the initial “damage control” period was over, and the initial shock subsided, it was a change of mindset which helped them to decide on what was most important to them and how they could continue working as an Artist.

This week’s takeaway…challenges or problems will inevitably come  your way as an Artist, but it’s how you face them that matters; thinking creatively, looking at a problem in a different way, being flexible, identifying new ways of working which can be welcome additional, income streams, will all help your business to become stronger and more resilient in the long run. 

In this first episode of Season 3, Peter introduces his new co-host, Tom Shepherd.
Tom has been a previous guest on the podcast and after a re-introduction to Tom and his work, in this episode, he and Peter discuss what they think it means to be a “working artist”.
Both Tom and Peter are proud to call themselves working artists and discuss some of the dilemmas which can occur – such as decisions when creativity and financial matters seem to pull you in different directions.
Tom concludes by introducing some of the things the pair will be discussing during the rest of this season – transitioning out of covid, risk taking, more listeners’ questions, demystifying mailing lists, social media and… the slightly controversial, but very interesting, topic of NFT’s!

After nearly 2 years and over 100 episodes of Ask an Artist Laura is leaving to concentrate on other aspects of her work: Making Art, teaching and making videos.  Ask an artist will continue with Peter and a new co-host in the new year, along with a new sound engineer - since the talents of Mr B will be required elsewhere.

in our listener questions today Peter and Laura give their view  on testing new materials, confidence and self doubt and on self publishing a book of your work

In this episode of Ask an Artist Laura and Peter are talking to Tom Knowles Jackson: Potter, Gallerist, Director of 'The Clay Loft' an open access clay studio maker-space and business consultant. Tom excels at all of these things and this interview is full of fascinating insights 

We all try to do our best, but sometimes things go wrong.  How you deal with mistakes and problems is just as important as the work you produce.  Laura and Peter have both had their share of things to deal with: work that has not gone to plan, or deliveries that have gone astray.  Whether the issue is artistic or business you still have to deal with it and doing that well can turn a problem into a benefit

In this episode Laura and Peter give their views on a tricky copyright problem, on the value of good book keeping and a splendid idea to combine a life class with a visit to the local pub

Many professional artists take on residencies as a way to learn new skills, develop ideas, collaborate with other artists or to create a specific outcome.  Laura and Peter have both done this and today's episode looks at their personal experiences and at some of the things you need to consider if you fancy applying for a residency somewhere - or creating your own.

As a printmaker Laura has quite definite views on giclee prints, but only because they create confusion over what 'print' means.  Peter is a painter and though he does not routinely make giclees to sell he has produced some as extra copies of portraits for clients.  Whether or not you include them in your artistic business they do create some dilemmas and some moral responsibilities for the artist.