How's Your Summer Season Going? – Part 2

We're back with Part 2 of our summer catch-up. After months of traveling to art fairs on different schedules, Douglas and Will reconnect to compare notes on how the season has unfolded. What starts as a conversation about recent shows—including Madison's Art Fair on the Square—quickly branches into some of the biggest topics artists are talking about this summer.

 We unpack Madison's fortuitous relationship with Epic Systems' renowned art-buying program. If you've ever heard an artist say they had an "epic show," this episode explains why that phrase has become part of the art fair lexicon

The conversation also explores what happens when collectors try to pressure artists into making a deal, practical strategies for handling discounts without devaluing your work, the effects of Canadian wildfire smoke on shows like Ann Arbor, the ever-evolving debate over reproductions, and whether inkjet printers blur the line between hand-crafted and automation.

We wrap up by reflecting on the mentors, friends, collectors, and supporters whose encouragement gave us the confidence to keep creating and build sustainable careers as artists.

Settle in and enjoy Part 2 of How's Your Summer Season Going?

• Evan Reinheimer's new tool for artists https://artshowplus.com/
• Wrapping up our summer art fair season
• Madison Art Fair on the Square and what artists mean by an "epic show"
• When collectors try to bully you into a deal
• Negotiating without devaluing your work
• When—and how—to offer discounts
• The impact of Canadian wildfire smoke on shows like Ann Arbor
• Revisiting the reproduction debate
• How evolving inkjet technology is changing fine art
• The people who gave us the confidence to pursue an art career
• Lessons learned from another summer on the road
• COCONUT GROVE ARTS FESTIVAL https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=14788

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Welcome to The Independent Artist Podcast with your hosts Douglas and Will — the show where we pull back the curtain on the real life of working artists. 

How's Your Summer Season Going? (Part 1 of 2)

After months of traveling on separate schedules, Douglas and Will finally sit down to catch up on how the summer art fair season has really been going.

In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, they discuss the severe storms that have disrupted art fairs and threatened artists' livelihoods, along with the personal life changes that can make it difficult to stay focused while running a creative small business. They swap stories about memorable (and sometimes harrowing) show setups, navigating dangerous weather on the road, getting the call off a waitlist, and what it takes to think fast and go all in when opportunity arrives with almost no notice.

The episode also features a conversation with fellow artist Evan Reinheimer, who shares a practical new tool he's developed to help artists and exhibitors better manage their art fair businesses. https://artshowplus.com/

Whether you're a veteran exhibiting artist, just beginning the festival circuit, or simply curious about what life on the road is really like, this episode offers an honest look at the challenges, surprises, and resilience it takes to build a career in the arts.

Settle in and enjoy the ride.

Topics covered:

• Summer art fairs and festivals
• Storms, weather, and their impact on artists
• Personal challenges behind the scenes
• Waitlist opportunities and last-minute decisions
• Traveling to shows and surviving difficult setups
• Evan Reinheimer's new tool for artists https://artshowplus.com/
• COCONUT GROVE ARTS FESTIVAL https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=14788

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Sponsors
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ZAPPlication https://www.zapplication.org

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Welcome to The Independent Artist Podcast with your hosts Douglas and Will — the show where we pull back the curtain on the real life of working artists. 

Art Fair Bingo: Stories You Can't Make Up

What do threatening storms, celebrity sightings, unsolicited business advice, and tens of thousands of customer interactions have in common? They all happened during our recent whirlwind through some of the country's biggest art events.

In this episode, Douglas and Will unpack the wild, funny, frustrating, and occasionally surreal moments from a stretch that included Main Street Fort Worth, New Orleans Jazz Fest, Southlake, Brookside Art Annual, and Artisphere. From keeping one eye on the radar as storms threatened to upend entire weekends, to navigating the feeling of losing control when circumstances refuse to cooperate, the road delivered no shortage of stories.

Along the way, we talk about the customers who generously offered their suggestions on everything from booth design to business strategy, unexpected celebrity encounters, and the challenge of processing the overwhelming amount of information gathered from thousands of conversations with a constant stream of humanity. What do all of those interactions tell us about the shows, the art, and ourselves?

Pull up a chair as we play a round of Art Fair Bingo and share the stories you simply couldn't make up—even if you tried. Every square on the card got marked during this run.

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ZAPPlication https://www.zapplication.org

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Welcome to The Independent Artist Podcast with your hosts Douglas and Will — the show where we pull back the curtain on the real life of working artists. 

As spring show season ramps up, co-hosts Douglas Sigwarth and Will Armstrong dive into the real-life balancing act of being a working artist on the road. Fresh off a demanding Florida circuit and gearing up for a run of Texas art festivals, they unpack what it takes to juggle family life, studio production, and the nonstop pace of travel.

This candid conversation explores the often unseen side of an artist’s career—managing responsibilities at home, caring for loved ones, and staying present for family while being pulled into the intense focus required to create and sell work at a high level. It’s a season where the pressure is real, the calendar is full, and keeping all the balls in the air becomes both an art and a challenge.

If you’ve ever struggled to balance your creative ambitions with the people and priorities that matter most, this episode will hit home.

Episode tags:

Art Worth: A Festival at Clearfork- https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=14014

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ZAPPlication https://www.zapplication.org

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Welcome to The Independent Artist Podcast with your hosts Douglas and Will — the show where we pull back the curtain on the real life of working artists. 

Fresh off winning Best in Show at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, Ecuadorian artist Nathalia Toledo Barcia joins us for a deeply moving conversation about culture, soul, and the stories embedded in her work.

Nathalia’s art lives at the intersection of painting and porcelain—where delicate surfaces become artifacts of memory and identity. Drawing from her Ecuadorian heritage, her paintings carry the visual language of her culture while her porcelain forms feel like relics of something timeless, as if they’ve been unearthed from a personal mythology.

In this conversation, Nathalia shares a belief that resonates with many artists: every piece of art carries a piece of the maker’s soul. For her, art isn’t just an object—it’s a manifestation of spirit, a form of nourishment for both the creator and the viewer.

We talk about what it means to create outside the corporate system, to live with the courage—and sometimes the naïveté—of believing that art can sustain a life. Natalia reminds us that artists are constantly evolving, constantly transforming, and that staying open to change is essential to a creative life.

In a world that often measures value in productivity and profit, artists quietly become something else entirely: a form of resistance.

This episode is a reminder that making art is more than a profession—it’s a way of keeping the soul alive.

Episode tags:

Art Worth: A Festival at Clearfork- https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=14014

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Sponsors
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ZAPPlication https://www.zapplication.org

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Welcome to The Independent Artist Podcast with your hosts Douglas and Will — the show where we pull back the curtain on the real life of working artists. 

Visual artists Douglas Sigwarth (https://www.sigwarthglass.com/) and Will Armstrong (http://www.willarmstrongart.com/) co-host and discuss topics affecting working artists.

In this episode, we sit down with Erin Curry (https://erincurryart.storenvy.com/), an artist whose work is deeply informed by both science and lived experience. With a background in biology and a childhood shaped by parents who collected fine art and brought her to art fairs from an early age, Erin’s creative language is grounded in observation, systems, and an intimate understanding of how form, pattern, and meaning emerge over time.

Our conversation moves squarely into the present moment—one marked by political tension, the rise of fascist ideologies, and the ever-present weight of ICE and state power pressing into daily life. Erin speaks candidly about how these forces inevitably seep into the studio, and why making art that responds to now is not only unavoidable, but necessary. This episode is a thoughtful reflection on inherited art worlds, scientific ways of seeing, and the responsibility—and risk—of creating work that bears witness to the time we’re living in.

Episode tags:

Art Worth: A Festival at Clearfork- https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=14014

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VENMO/ username @independentartistpodcast or through PAYPAL.ME by clicking on this link https://paypal.me/independentartistpod?locale.x=en_US

Sponsors
The National Association of Independent Artists (NAIA). http://www.naiaartists.org/membership-account/membership-levels/

ZAPPlication https://www.zapplication.org

Support the show

Welcome to The Independent Artist Podcast with your hosts Douglas and Will — the show where we pull back the curtain on the real life of working artists. 

Visual artists Douglas Sigwarth (https://www.sigwarthglass.com/) and Will Armstrong (http://www.willarmstrongart.com/) co-host and discuss topics affecting working artists.

Switching Gears in '26 is a candid conversation about what it means to keep making work when the ground feels uncertain.

We talk about the influence of legendary glassblowing artist Lino Tagliapietra, the pressure of staying creative during difficult economic and political times, and the strange in-between of waiting for application results for the 2026 season. We also dig into the ongoing tension between making work about something versus creating decorative work—and which of those paths is actually harder to sell. From making the work to finding the audience for it, this episode sits in the space between patience, persistence, and adaptation.

We also look at how tools like ChatGPT and emerging AI technologies are beginning to shape creative thinking, workflow, and decision-making. This is a conversation about recalibration, resilience, and choosing to move forward even when the path isn’t fully visible.

Episode tags:

Sono Lino- documentary about Glass Maestro Lino Tagliapietra https://www.sonolino.com/

Kimball Arts Festival-https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=13821

Sun Valley Arts & Crafts Festival-https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=14057

Art in the High Desert-https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=14073

Art in the Pearl- https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=13832 

Cat Tesla Business of Art- https://www.catteslaworkshops.com/

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ZAPPlication https://www.zapplication.org

Support the show

Welcome to The Independent Artist Podcast with your hosts Douglas and Will — the show where we pull back the curtain on the real life of working artists. Before we dive into today’s conversation, Will and Douglas kick things off by talking about the whirlwind of doing the One of a Kind Show—the highs, the hustle, and what it takes to say yes to an opportunity before it slips away. They reflect on the importance of moving quickly when the window opens, trusting your instincts, and learning to spot the difference between real opportunity and distraction. The intro wraps with a timely reminder for artists: how to recognize and ward off a scam email before it costs you time, money, or peace of mind.

Today’s episode is titled “Am I the Artist, or Am I the Art?”—and it’s a deep, unfiltered conversation with mixed media artist Elissa Brown  (http://www.thefreckledarmy.com/p/mina-page.html)

Elissa is a storyteller first, even when the story begins with crippling anxiety, sweating through her shirt, and stepping straight into the void. In her work, she creates entire worlds—layered, constructed realities that blur the line between facade and truth, between an impenetrable exterior and what’s breaking underneath. She openly embraces the unreliable narrator, questioning whether we ever fully control the stories we tell about ourselves.

We talk about the commonality of the banal, the necessity of invention, and why, sometimes, if you can’t teach, you have to do. We talk about choosing your hard, about becoming a better version of yourself, even though you know full well it doesn’t say “asshole” on the check.

This is a conversation about identity, anxiety, and the uncomfortable honesty of making art from necessity rather than comfort. Elissa’s work isn’t just something you look at—it’s a place you step into. And once you’re there, the question becomes unavoidable: where does the artist end, and the art begin?

Visual artists Douglas Sigwarth (https://www.sigwarthglass.com/) and Will Armstrong (http://www.willarmstrongart.com/) co-host and discuss topics affecting working artists.

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Sponsors
The National Association of Independent Artists (NAIA). http://www.naiaartists.org/membership-account/membership-levels/

ZAPPlication https://www.zapplication.org

Music  "Walking" by Oliver Lear
Business inquiries at [email protected]

Support the show

Welcome to The Independent Artist Podcast with your hosts Douglas and Will — the show where we pull back the curtain on the real life of working artists. In the intro of this episode, we’re talking about what it means to recharge your creative batteries after a long, exhausting season of art shows.

We’ll share how we find inspiration and motivation when burnout creeps in, and tell a story about serendipity — one of those unexpected moments that reminds us why we chose this path in the first place.

Guest: Janine DeCresenzo (https://www.janinedecresenzojewelry.com)

What do you do when everything you’ve worked for is suddenly gone? In this episode, we sit down with jeweler Janine DeCresenzo , who faced every artist’s nightmare — the theft of her entire inventory after a show. Janine opens up about the emotional and professional impact of that moment, and how she found the strength to rebuild her career from the ground up.

This is a raw, insightful conversation about resilience, vulnerability, and recovery. Janine shares the concrete steps she took to move forward, the support systems that helped her heal, and practical advice for other jewelers to protect themselves before disaster strikes.

If you’ve ever faced loss, setback, or the fear of starting over — this episode will remind you that it’s possible to pick up the pieces and create something even stronger.

Whether you’re packing up from your last show or just trying to find your spark again, this conversation is all about slowing down, refocusing, and reconnecting with what drives your art.

Visual artists Douglas Sigwarth (https://www.sigwarthglass.com/) and Will Armstrong (http://www.willarmstrongart.com/) co-host and discuss topics affecting working artists.

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VENMO/ username @independentartistpodcast or through PAYPAL.ME by clicking on this link https://paypal.me/independentartistpod?locale.x=en_US

Sponsors
The National Association of Independent Artists (NAIA). http://www.naiaartists.org/membership-account/membership-levels/
ZAPPlication https://www.zapplication.org

Music  "Walking" by Oliver Lear
Business inquiries at [email protected]

Support the show

Working Artists! You are not alone! Listen to these entertaining and inspirational podcast conversations with working artists.

When the art show season wraps up, the podcast season renews! Back on their mics, Will and Douglas catch up over topics from this year's art fairs. Somehow, these guys incorporate the following topics together into a conversation that only art fair artists can: Booth shots, food poisoning, reproductions, Plaza Art Fair, artist "collaborators," taxes, Devo, tricky installs, personal style, incestuous art collections, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and being an "Art Cop."

Visual artists Douglas Sigwarth (https://www.sigwarthglass.com/) and Will Armstrong (http://www.willarmstrongart.com/) co-host and discuss topics affecting working artists.

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Email [email protected]

PLEASE RATE US AND REVIEW US.......... and SUBSCRIBE to the pod on your favorite streaming app.

SUPPORT THE SHOW
VENMO/ username @independentartistpodcast or through PAYPAL.ME by clicking on this link https://paypal.me/independentartistpod?locale.x=en_US

Sponsors
The National Association of Independent Artists (NAIA). http://www.naiaartists.org/membership-account/membership-levels/
ZAPPlication https://www.zapplication.org

Music  "Walking" by Oliver Lear
Business inquiries at [email protected]

Support the show