Thriving Artists Podcast

At the Thrive Together Network, we host an annual retreat for our community where we come together in person to rest, get inspired, and bond. In addition, and especially since this experience is not going to work for everyone every year, we recommend all artists do a personal retreat once or twice a year. In Episode #35 of the Thriving Artist Podcast, How to Plan a Personal Art Retreat, we break down the steps on how to create a retreat experience for yourself that works for your circumstances.

Jamie and Kaylan’s Six Steps to Creating your Own Personal Retreat Are:

Block your Time: Check your schedule for available time. This should be 6 to 48 hours. Pick a day where you can push all the other to-do’s aside or a night or two where you can totally unplug from your normal responsibilities and get away. If you don’t claim the time, it will never happen!

Name What Matters: Think about what you are needing most right now. What sounds MOST nourishing to you?  Is it reconnection with your body or nature? Is it seeing art in person?  List one or two things as a guidepost for yourself as you plan. Remember, not every retreat should be the same, we get to tweak them based on what we are craving during this season. 

Plan Ahead So You Feel Cared For: If you were planning the retreat for a friend, what steps would you take to make them feel special? Do those things for yourself!! Buy your favorite bottle of wine, pack a bag of your favorite snacks, get ready to crack open that book you’ve been dying to read. Pack well and do it when you feel calm and thoughtful about the retreat. 

Do Some Writing and Reflection: We are huge believers in taking stock through quiet moments of writing. We wrote a whole workbook for our community to follow for a YEAR that is full of this stuff! Take time to follow some of the writing prompts from this episode to reflect on your practice. It pays off!

Prioritize Something You “Never Have Time For”: This is the time to do that thing that you just have been putting off. Not a task or to-do, but something for PLEASURE and joy. Just go do it! Make it a part of your plan and be nourished by it. 

Let Go of Expectations and Have a Plan B in Your Pocket: This retreat will not go perfectly. And perfect is not the goal here. The point is to prioritize yourself, take up some space and make the claim that you matter. Come up with a plan B in case your dream retreat scenario doesn’t work out. 

Don’t forget to get signed up for our newsletter so you don’t miss the Artists Summer Toolkit that is going to drop June 12th. It’s a packet of info to help you plan your retreats and get set up for a great summer. Go to www.thrivetogethernetwork.com to sign up. As always, we are here for you, we are cheering you on, and we believe in the work you are doing as thriving artists. 

Today, we are going to chat about the importance of retreats and why we believe they are integral and necessary, not just to us as human beings, but specifically for us as artists. The reasons we discuss are relevant for all types of retreats, and there are so many options depending on where you are in life. You could do a solo retreat, a connection building retreat, a retreat far away or one close by. Regardless of how you choose to retreat, in Episode #34 of the Thriving Artists Podcast, Why Artists need to Retreat, we discuss what they all have in common as a way to build you up as an artist.

Jamie and Kaylan’s 5 Reasons Artists need to Retreat are: Remove yourself from the juggle: We juggle so much in our everyday lives like relationships, caregiving, jobs, bills and meetings. The list can feel endless and fitting all of these into our days like a chaotic puzzle can be exhausting. Retreats offer a break from this juggle, because when you show up to a retreat everything is ready and prepped.

Invest in your nourishment: Retreats offer a specific time to nourish ourselves, to give ourselves the food, fuel, and inspiration we so desperately need. To nourish literally means to give ourselves the substances we need to grow and be healthy. Retreats give us what we need to be healthy as artists as well, such as rest, pleasure, experimentation, exploration, discovery and connection. Experience a new environment: There is something magical when you wake up somewhere different and get into a different landscape. It’s like our sense of awareness and “noticing” is heightened. We are pulled back into the practice of attention, rather than being bored or saturated by what is familiar to us. This helps encourage our creative processing.

Making connections: When you join in retreats you make connections! Experiencing something with new people outside of your comfort zones is one of the most ultimate ways to bond. You form an instant connection and the energy flows in such a nice way. Artists who bond at retreats frequently go on to future collaborations and mutual support.

Resist grind culture: JUST BE. Retreats are a portal to JUST BE. Attending a retreat does not make you lazy. You are investing in your nourishment, making a claim that you deserve to have moments of peace, rest, rejuvenation and re-alignment. You deserve to JUST BE with a group who gets you. 

If you’d like more information on how to attend our Thrive Together Network retreat in Black Mountain, North Carolina the weekend of June 3rd, 2023, we would LOVE to have you! Head to www.thrivetogethernetwork.com/retreat 

You might not have thought of it this way, but buying art can help your art career and help you thrive as an artist! Purchasing work by other artists can leave you feeling inspired, empowered and feeling good that you have put your money where your mouth is by living your values. When you bring art into your home, it tells a story about who you are, and in 

Episode #33 of the Thriving Artist Podcast, Why Artists Should Buy Art, we discuss how it can feed you as an artist, bringing about so many good things that support you and your career!

Jamie and Kaylan’s 5 Reasons Why Artists Should Buy Art:

Walk the Walk: If we are going to ask other people to value our work and buy it then we need to do the same. We need to value art enough to spend our hard earned art dollars on it as well, and there are many ways to do this in an affordable way. 

Study buyer behavior: When we buy art we get the opportunity to be on the other end of the transaction and consider why we are buying the work and what made the purchase happen. Then we can use the experience to better position ourselves to make our own sales happen.

Experience a customer journey: When artists buy art, we get to see what the experience is like from purchase to delivery. We can use this experience to make our customer journey even better. This firsthand look at the communication the artist should give the buyer and how to guide the buyer through the customer journey helps us improve our own practices.

Build confidence: Seeing the power of original artwork in your own home will help you be confident as you go out to sell your own work. When you spend your money on artwork, it reminds you that the art is a true gift for the collector.

Support your community: Putting your money into what you love and where your values are does only good things. This will always come back to you in good ways!

We hope you will find a way to celebrating and supporting other artists by having their work in your in my home. We want to support you in your art career as well! Join our community, the Thrive Together Network, at www.thrivetogethernetwork.com.

All of us can have those feelings of doubt creep in when we start sharing our work or talking about ourselves as artists! At Thrive Together Network we believe we can be confident in our art practices and speak about our work with certainty. Episode #32 of the Thriving Artist Podcast, 5 Tips for Speaking More Boldly About Your Art, we go over 5 tips to put aside your second guessing and fearlessly own your artist identity.

 Jamie and Kaylan’s 5 Tips for Speaking More Boldly About Your Art are:

 Call Yourself an Artist: Claiming your artist identity is just something you have to put into practice, even when you aren’t feeling it! Choose to believe it… YOU are an artist. Accept it, know it, proclaim it, and it will help you be more confident and speak more boldly about your art! Have a Pitch: When someone asks you what you do, it’s totally ok to have a rehearsed response ready! Be ready to say, “I am an artist and I make work about this, this or that…”, when you meet someone in the elevator or at the park. 

Make it Relatable:  After you have shared your simple answer to “what do you do”, think of a way to make it relatable to whoever you are talking to so they can engage. Pulling someone into your art by asking them to relate to it at the end with the question turns topics of your work into an engaging conversation. State What You’re Proud Of: When you are talking about your work, literally use the prompt “I’m really proud of….______”. It’s a great way to boost your confidence while you are speaking, and to own your accomplishments.

Write, Reflect, and Practice: Do some writing. Read your artist statement occasionally. Don’t just write it once, stick it on your website and never look at it again. Reflect on the writing you do and practice saying it outloud in different ways. It helps when it’s time to speak to people about your work!

Head to thrivetogethernetwork.com to learn more about the Thrive Together Network resources that help build your confidence as an artist such as the Thriving Artist Map and our live Art & Tea sessions. As always, we are here for you, we are cheering you on, and we believe in the work you are doing as thriving artists. 

By the end of March, many of us at the Thrive Together Network are working on our solo and group art shows that are happening in May 2023 for the Taking Up Space Initiative. To support this amazing work we have recorded 2 other episodes all about putting on your own art show: 

Episode #23, How to Put on Your Own Art Show in 5 months and Episode #29, How to Get People To Come to Your Art Show. Today, in Episode #31 of the Thriving Artist Podcast, The Checklist You Need for Every Art Show, Jamie tackles the final details you need to do to get ready for your opening once the work is on the walls.

Jamie’s Checklist You Need for Every Art Show Is:

Plan for Future You: One of our favorite ways of self-care is caring for a future version of yourself. Earlier in the week try to plan ahead as much as you can for "You on Exhibition Night". This could mean picking out an outfit in advance, finding a babysitter, or tackling meal plans ahead of time.

Prepare for Conversations: Try practicing your responses to the comments you may receive on the night of the exhibition. It will greatly help with those butterflies and insecurities that could rise up in the moment! Work on being able to confidently describe your show in 2 or 3 sentences. 

Pick an Exhibition Event Mantra:  We easily let nerves, insecurities or persistent perfectionism get in the way from remaining present and confident in our accomplishments. Choose a mantra to help you stay grounded on the night of the event. Examples are: “My work is worthy of this exhibition.” or “I belong here.”

We can’t wait to see the exhibitions our community puts together for the Taking Up Space Initiative in 2023, and as always we are here for you, cheering you on and we believe in the work you are doing as thriving artists! Join us at www.thrivetogethernetwork.com

Today on the podcast we are talking about confidence, which is something almost every artist has to work on throughout their careers. Join us for Episode #30 of the Thriving Artists, Podcast, 5 Strategies to Have More Confidence in Your Art as we tackle how to approach this challenge! This topic is so important, especially in the age of Instagram where we see the curated version of everyone’s studio practice. It can be hard to navigate the ups and downs of being an artist when there is so much great art out in the world readily available at our fingertips.

At the Thrive Together Network, we believe there is room for everyone, but sometimes we can become intimidated and it gets hard to be confident when we see such amazing things all around us!

Jamie and Kaylan’s 5 Strategies to Have More Confidence in Your Art are:

Travel back in time: Use your own story as an example of growth and inspiration, and this will help you start to see how far you’ve come. Faming your work in the context of everything you have already accomplished will grow your confidence. We tend to always look outwards with social media, so this is a great way to ground and center inwards. 

Write about your work: Take the time to think about your work and what you are saying with your practice so that you will be able to then speak about it and share your work confidently. Taking time to work through your concepts and ideas helps you remember why you make what you make and why it is important.

Know where you fit in the cannon: Know your historical influences and the other artists that have influenced your work. This is the story of where you came from as an artist. By mentally putting yourself alongside these art heroes, you will build your confidence in the value of what you are doing.

Get feedback: Self doubt and insecurity thrive in isolation. This is when your inner critic takes over! Building confidence is about you in relationship with others. Engage with other artists to build them up and allow them to do the same for you. Join a community online or locally and start to connect and receive feedback!

Keep going: Nothing builds the confidence muscle like time! Show up again and again and again. Continue to keep learning and improving. Practice a growth mindset that focuses on all the improvements you are making by continuing to show up.As always we are here for you, cheering you on and we believe in the work you are doing as thriving artists! Join us at www.thrivetogethernetwork.com

In Episode #29 of the Thriving Artists, Podcast, How to Get People To Come to Your Art Show we discuss small actions that have a huge impact on attendance at your exhibitions.

We have hosted a number of art shows on our own and it is a lot of hard work, but getting people there is so important. We use the phrase “the final 5%” when we talk about this type of work. You’ve made the art, found a venue, and have generally done so much, but the last few tasks are so important for success. These are “the final 5%”. By taking these steps to make sure you have good attendance at your exhibit, you are going to get the most you can out of all your hard work.

Jamie and Kaylan’s 4 Tips for how to get people to come to your art show are:

Tell people a lot of times: When we say a lot…we mean a lot. It’s important to start sharing early and start prepping your audience for what they can expect to see. Don’t feel like you are annoying people if you do multiple posts on social media, not everyone will see every post.

Tell people in a lot of different ways: Have a plan for when you send our newsletters, post on socia media, send out a press release and drop off flyers in different places. Get organzied to get the word out and have multiple ways to spread your message!

Tell people everything they need to know: Include the address, time, date and any other important information in your communication. These simple details can be so easily forgotten when you are busy trying to get everything done for your show. We want there to be no barriers for attending your event!

Invite people in personal ways…and tell them to bring a friend: Sending personal emails and messages to people you want at your show goes a long way. Feeling personally invited to something gives the invitation more weight and people are more invested in going to that event. 

For all of our Taking. Up. Space. 2023 artists this is such a good reminder to get sharing and get people excited about your upcoming show!!

It’s easy to get distracted by shiny new things or follow a fad that is supposed to bring you success, but we believe the keys to success as an artist are found in some very basic principles that build longevity and bring wins over time. In Episode #28 of Thriving Artist, Podcast, 5 Things Successful Artists Do we are sharing some of these foundational practices. We have seen these practices time and time again with the hundreds of artists we have worked with. 

Jamie and Kaylan’s list of 5 Things Successful Artists Do:

Commit to creating  - Artists who are successful in their work and career all have a certain level of commitment.These artists figure out what they can commit to during the season of life they are in and they really go for it. They make their art as big of a priority as they can and develop habits and routines that create growth for their careers.  Develop an art language or art voice - The most successful artists are the ones who have really dug in deep and figured out their artistic language. This can mean many different things, but it means knowing what you make and why you make it and having a visual vocabulary that is strong, succinct and recognizable.

Have a Strong Network - Support cannot be underrated. Not only do fellow artists validate your identity as an artist, they appreciate your work and join in supporting you around the challenges of figuring out your art career. A strong and diverse network is crucial to keeping you going in your practice. 

Consistent Self Promotion -  Putting yourself out there and sharing your work in a consistent way creates trust between you and your audience. This promotion builds momentum for your career. Some of the most successful artists are ones sharing their work without feeling ashamed and without apology.

Despite any doubt, do the work anyway -  Commit, move forward and do not let your doubts get in your way! We really believe that everything else will follow if you prioritize your work and do it even when you feel uncertain or full of doubt. 

Head to thrivetogethernetwork.com to learn how we can support you as you build and grow your foundation as an artist! As always, we are here for you, we are cheering you on, and we believe in the work you are doing as thriving artists. 

In the last episode, we talked about 4 relationships every artist needs, and in this episode Kaylan tackles how to network and actually build those relationships in ways that are sustainable. So, go back and listen to Episode #26 if you missed it and then dive in to Episode #27 of Thriving Artists, Podcast, 5 Sustainable Strategies for Networking. Networking is hard work and can be time consuming. Having a plan to develop your network means you are intentional, you are motivated, and you are invested in your career and the art careers of others! 

Kaylan’s 5 sustainable strategies for networking are:

Identify your relationship layers- Take the 4 layers of relationships we outlined in episode #26. Who are the people in those categories? Write down their names! If you have even one person in each category, that’s great!

Target the gaps- Find places those relationship layers feel a little thin. Maybe you have many people in your audience but could use some close art friends in your inner circle. Maybe you have lots of close friends and artist mentors and peers but you need some art professional connections. 

Pick a time frame and time amount- Make time for networking and consider it part of your work. Pick a time frame, this is when you will network and for how long. You probably naturally already have some networking built into your life. This could be a monthly studio date with a friend or a crit crew meeting through TTN. It all counts!

Share consistent content- Share consistent content and share that content consistently across all layers of your network. Did a museum acquire a new work of yours? That’s something to share! Spread the news to your close friends, your mentors and peers, your followers and your professional contacts.

Identify your outlets- Identify your outlets for each layer of your network, this means asking how you best communicate with each layer. For your close friends, you may use text messages. Maybe for peers, you use the Thrive together Network. It might be best to communicate with your audience and followers through Instagram or a newsletter. For professional connections it might be email or a postcard.

Head to thrivetogethernetwork.com to download your Artists Networking Toolkit and join us for the FREE SESSION of Art & Tea on Tuesday March 14th where we are going to be working all this out together. 

Today we are chatting about relationships!! Relationships in the art world can sometimes feel tricky, but we really need other artists, arts professionals, and people in our communities to support our work. No artist thrives in total isolation. In Episode #26 of Thriving Artist, Podcast, 4 Relationships Every Artist Needs, we break down the different types of relationships you need to to have a well-rounded and supportive community for your studio practice.

Jamie and Kaylan’s 4 Relationships Every Artist Needs are:

Your closest art friends: These are people in your closest orbit. They just “get it”. You can text them last minute, ask any question, or get quick feedback on your work.

Your mentors and peers: Right outside of your inner circle are peers and mentors. We need quite a large number of peers in order to feel supported as an artist. These relationships can range from acquaintances to closer friends. You need to have artists in your community who support your work.

Your audience and collectors: This is the third layer of relationships. These are the people who follow you on social media accounts and comment, like, and share your work. They buy your art and hang it in their homes, and they generally follow along with what you are doing. These people may or may not be artists, but they certainly are art-appreciators, and we need people like this in our lives to support our careers! 

Your professional connections: This is the last layer. These are folks like gallery owners, curators, people who run podcasts or have other platforms. They work in the press or at publications. These are people who can do the work of sharing, supporting and giving opportunities to an artist that can really take your career to the next level. 

If you want to dive more into understanding the relationships in your life as an artist, we have a FREE GIFT for you called The Artist’s Networking Toolkit. Included are worksheets and activities, plus 2 free sessions of our popular Art & Tea weekly network programming on this topic! These are “open house” style sessions where you don’t have to be a member but you can join us to check it out! These two sessions are on March 14th and March 21st, 2023 at 1:00pm EASTERN or 10am PACIFIC. 

Head to our website thrivetogethernetwork.com to find out more, download Your Artists Networking Toolkit and find the Zoom links to the corresponding open house sessions in our Instagram link in bio.