Today on The Josie Show we’re talking to Andrea Nelson, self described "watercolor artist and maker of things". Andrea has grown a massive social media presence (like, multi-millions) by guiding us on simple and fun projects. She is funny, warm, and invites us on an art adventure with her. In this conversation, we talk about her growth and evolution on social media, the growth of her business, and how she has 800 ideas before breakfast!  If you haven’t already encountered her (and who hasn't???), you are going to fall in love and meet your new art bestie.  

Find Andrea at @andrea.nelson.art on Instagram and TikTok.

Get my guide: 7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers

www.josielewis.com/habits

Listen to Curt and Josie discuss Curt's unlikely discovery of his love of ceramics, his best tips for Instagram, and how he built his business to sell thousands of high end ceramics from Instagram alone!

Check out Curt's work on Instagram

Get my guide: 7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers

www.josielewis.com/habits

Artists struggle a lot with the concept of niching, and I get it. Artists generally are free spirits and do not like the idea that they have to restrict their creative impulses. But in order to sell art and have a successful business, artists need to create a brand identity.  

In this short episode, I play a recording from a workshop where I talked about what niching is actually good for, and when it IS and isn't important.  I also talk about the two Josie Lewis brands, my art channel @josielewisart and my art biz channel, @the_Josie_show

Download my guide

Quickstart to Selling Your Art Online

www.josielewis.com/quickstart

Get my guide: 7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers

www.josielewis.com/habits

Get my guide: 7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers

https://www.josielewis.com/habits

Learn about Art Revenue Coaching 

https://www.josielewis.com/arc

Show Page:

https://www.josielewis.com/the-blog/nuggets

Deb Ouzts has been making small clay figures she calls "Nuggets". Recently, after faithfully posting to Instagram every day about the nuggets for YEARS, her Nuggets went viral!

For the years Deb has been making the nuggets, she has been slowly growing her audience and making decent sales. To be more efficient, she sometimes reposts her Reels videos, and one day she posted on she had already posted 4 times, and it went viral. That video got over 6 million views, and tripled her followers! In this conversation we talk about what that kind of explosive growth looks like on the back end and how she is strategizing her future sales with this influx of new fans.

Check out the viral video and follow Deb on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3vepUzvuu8/

View Deb's Shop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/wildrainbowco/?etsrc=sdt

Get my guide: 7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers

www.josielewis.com/habits

In this artist-to-artist conversation, we get to hear hear from the printmaker Aftyn Shah, the creative force behind the popular Instagram page, @riseandwander.

View Aftyn's Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/riseandwander

Her website

https://www.riseandwander.com/

Key Highlights:

Get my guide: 7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers

www.josielewis.com/habits

Sharra Frank has carved a unique space for herself in the world of art through beadwork and mosaics.  She has created original mosaics for countless public and private projects. She has also been truly ahead of the curve providing digital courses in mosaic back when you needed 30 plugins and coding skills to do it.

Dince most of her customers and fans were on Facebook, she didn’t pursue Instagram, until a video accidentally went viral in 2023.

In this episode, Sharra reveals how she:

I have been observing what successful artists do on Instagram, and I put all my favorite tools in this handy guide, “7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers”.  It’s free.  Get it here. 

See Sharra's work:

https://www.instagram.com/sharrafrank https://www.sharrafrank.com

https://www.josielewis.com/the-blog/sharrafrank

Get my guide: 7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers

www.josielewis.com/habits

Get my guide: 7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers

www.josielewis.com/habits

Simon Bull has experienced many versions of himself over a long, successful career as a painter.  In this wide ranging conversation with Josie, Simon discusses his journey in the art world and the impact of social media on his work. He shares how he has embraced the performance aspect of painting and the power of viral videos in reaching a global audience. Simon also discusses the intersection of his business and social media, highlighting the importance of social proof in the digital age. He talks about his willingness to adapt and change--even at over 60 years old-- in the ever-evolving world of social media and shares his approach to create engaging content.

Takeaways

Embrace the performance aspect of painting to engage and captivate your audience.

Don't be afraid of controversy and negative comments on social media; they can generate engagement and connection with your true fans.

Use social media as a platform to showcase your work and build social proof, which is essential in the digital age.

Simplify your filming process and focus on creating engaging content rather than high production value.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

06:23 The Journey of Becoming an Artist

12:59 The Power of Viral Videos

15:57 The Performance Aspect of Painting

20:12 Embracing the Hate and Controversy

26:53 The Impact of Filming on Art

30:16 The Role of Social Media Platforms

32:15 Simplifying the Filming Process

39:25 The Intersection of Business and Social Media

42:56 Connecting with a Global Audience

44:28 Conclusion and Where to Find Simon Bull

Find Simon: Instagram

https://simonbullart.com/

Find Josie:

@the_josie_show   

@josielewisart 

www.josielewis.com

Get my guide: 7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers

www.josielewis.com/habits

By the end of last year, I was cashed out.  I didn't have anything left and I was exhausted.  I was experiencing all the symptoms of burn out, and I was really not sure what to do next.  Slowly, over the past few months, I've been picking up the pieces and restoring my equilibrium.  In this episode I share:

Get my guide: 7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers

www.josielewis.com/habits

Welcome to this week's podcast. In this episode, I share my personal journey through the grief of losing a child 8 years ago this month and how art helped me heal and find hope again.

I discuss how art and flow were a powerful tool for processing and expressing emotions. I share my personal definition of grief, and talk about how grief changes over time. I also share how my perspective on hope has changed through my journey, and how I now understand that it's not about the events that may occur in my life, but about my ability to choose how to respond and find meaning in any situation.

This episode is for anyone who has experienced loss or is going through a difficult time. It's a reminder that grief is a process, and that there is hope and healing on the other side.

Thanks for listening, and remember that you are not alone.

Visit www.josielewis.com/blog/grief for more show notes and a transcript.

Get my guide: 7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers

www.josielewis.com/habits

Check out my membership Art Revenue Coaching

www.josielewis.com/arc

Get my guide: 7 Habits of Successful Artist Instagrammers

www.josielewis.com/habits