What “game” are you playing in your art business and in life? Artist-writer-speaker Jason Kotecki makes the point that you have a unique game plan to follow—one that can’t be compared to another artist or online personality. In a conversation with host Alyson Stanfield, Jason shares his experience of overcoming comparison and jealousy, emphasizing …

host: Alyson Stanfield It might help (but isn’t necessary) to start this episode by listening to episode 189, which is an encore of a 2019 interview I did with Ali Cavanaugh when she was making big changes in her work life. In this episode, Ali and I catch up with all that has transpired in the last 5 years. We discuss: Her booming Patreon communit…

host: Alyson Stanfield In 2014, Ali Cavanaugh had 11 galleries representing her work throughout the U.S. and even overseas. It was all she could do to paint fast enough to supply these galleries with new work. What a great problem to have! But it was still a problem. Then she started asking for it to be returned to her. She was rethinking her art a…

host: Alyson Stanfield Elizabeth LeMaster, my guest for this episode of The Art Biz, has, like so many of us, more to balance than her studio practice and business. She has a family. A young family. A big family. A growing family. How do you find time for working on your art when you have 6 kids under the age of 8? 😳 Elizabeth and I talk about how …

host: Alyson Stanfield My utter bliss is to help artists make business systems that streamline their lives so they can spend more time in the studio. So when Skip Hill said he needed a system for following up with his collectors and important relationships, I knew I wanted to help. In this encore episode of The Art Biz, I walk Skip through the step…

host: Alyson Stanfield I want to talk about something that I think gets in the way of how you think about what a successful art business is or can be. I want to help you reframe your daily decisions, actions, and results (or lack thereof)—to embrace the volatility of an artist life. To understand that there will be highs and lows, and that just com…

host: Alyson Stanfield Some artists are fine working by themselves in their studios. Other artists need to move their art beyond the studio walls and into the public in order to be fulfilled. My guest for this episode is Marilyn Fontaine, a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in East London. Her work is spiritual with a strong foothold in …

Host: Alyson B. Stanfield For so long, I asked artists Why they make art. Some artists have a Why. For other artists, being asked why they make art is unfruitful—even debilitating. They feel unworthy if they can’t come up with a good Why. A better strategy is to focus on the people who will be viewing, talking about, and living with your art. How d…

Host: Alyson B. Stanfield In this episode of The Art Biz I talk with Lori Sokoluk and Susan Purney Mark, who met in my coaching group many years ago and started a collaboration during the pandemic. When I teach about collaboration, I’m usually talking about an exhibition or event. Lori and Susan took it to the next level and collaborated on the art…

Host: Alyson B. Stanfield Your list is something unique to you and your career. No one has this same list. No one makes art like you do; no one knows the same people as you do; and no one has the exact vision that you have. Nobody! Your list is almost worthless to anyone else, yet it’s invaluable to you. It is the primary tool you use to share your…

Host: Alyson Stanfield, Art Biz Success My guest is Janice Mason Steeves, author of Bloom: On Becoming An Artist Later in Life. Which, as I say in our interview, is “a lovely mix of insights from a questionnaire, gentle guidance from someone who teaches and leads artist workshops all over the world, and wisdom from academics, professionals, and spi…

I believe in the power of daily affirmations. I first used them a number of years ago to increase my income and it worked. I increased my income 40% that year. And while I am not now as dedicated to reciting them daily, I know should be! I attribute the majority of my success back then to these affirmations. What possessed me to stop? 🤷‍♀️ I do not…

If you’re like a lot of the artist-clients that I work with at Art Biz Success, you would love someone to help you with social media. Or your website. Or maybe anything else to help lighten the load. Having any kind of help sounds like a dream. It may seem like an impossible dream. You might be looking for someone like my guest for this episode of …

In this episode, I have something a little different for you. I want to share a tool I found a number of years ago that helps me in life and in my business. And it’s helped many of my clients. It’s a life map, of sorts, called Human Design. Jahje Ives is an artist and a Human Design coach and guide. While I have worked with Human Design guides in t…

Two things are clear when it comes to pricing your art. 1️⃣ It’s a struggle for most artists. 2️⃣ There’s a good chance that your prices are too low. There are 5 reasons to raise your prices: 🔸 You’ve done the math and realized you aren’t paying yourself. 🔸 Your pricing has become uneven over time. 🔸 The cost of your materials has increased. 🔸 You …

I like to say that your art isn’t complete until someone else experiences it. Until you’re standing in front of it and talking about it with people who are interested. In real life. Digital-only viewing doesn’t count. Every person who sees your work brings themselves and their background to your work—adding new layers of meaning to your original in…

So many artists are down on their galleries and considering leaving them. There are absolutely many reasons not to stick with your gallery, but that’s a different episode. I wanted to share the story of an artist who is thrilled with her gallery. My guest for this episode is Evita Tezeno—an artist who has grand ambitions for herself. Not content wi…

Your artist website is your portfolio these days. It’s usually the first place people go to get a full picture of you and your art. They might initially find you on Instagram and scroll through the images there, but when their interest is piqued and they want to know more, they’ll click that almighty link in your bio. Your website is the 1 piece of…

This episode isn’t for artists who want to dabble and keep art as a hobby. I so respect your desire to enter and exit the studio whenever you feel like it, but this isn’t for you. This isn’t even for artists who want to set up a side hustle of selling art here and there to make some extra cash. Again, I respect the fact that you want or need to do …

My guest for this episode of The Art Biz is Kamal X. Kamal recently released his book, Black Astronaut, which is a collection of photographs he started after the murder of George Floyd. It was, as you recall, the height of Covid and like many, Kamal was hesitant to travel and be in crowds. But, as he said, he knew he had to risk it all because the …

Carol MacConnell has built a strong business foundation over her long art career. I was particularly interested in talking with her about how she works with interior designers. You’ll hear us discuss: Carol’s income streams, 30% of which comes from working with interior designers and the vast majority through open studio events. How she, as an arti…

As we learned when diagramming sentences in 4th grade, verbs are where the action is. No verb, no action. The first iteration of my newsletter for artists back in 2002 included a specific art business action at the end of each issue. My book, I’d Rather Be in the Studio, is broken down into 16 “actions” rather than chapters. I’m all about action, b…

In this episode I talk with David Sandum who was driven to take up art personally and then professionally after being hospitalized with depression in 2001. His journey through depression led him to the works of Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch—finding solace and a deep connection with their expression of raw emotions. We discuss how art continues …

In this episode of The Art Biz I talk with Nanci Hersh about an exhibition she organized with 25 artists from multiple states and countries. The show used the central theme of tears to explore empathy, compassion, and understanding within a sacred space—a metaphorical chapel. She says, as artists “we are so fortunate that we can use our art to make…

Dare you have a sale of your art? I acknowledge that having a sale of original work might be unpalatable. It feels as if you are cheapening the work you put so much effort into. I get it. In just the last episode of The Art Biz (#166), I talked with Bri Larson about the mindset around raising prices and why it was important to do so. In this episod…