Blog
Art in 15 Minutes a Day
Virtually all of us tend to scorn small increments of time and “throw away” fifteen minutes here and forty-minutes there, arguing that we are doing so much already that those windfalls need not be used productively. We opt to check our email, surf the Net, play a...
The 20 Traits of an Artist
Imagine that you could “upgrade your personality” and strengthen certain traits that would help you create regularly and deeply and that would help you more effectively meet the challenges of the creative life. What traits would you choose? Here are twenty traits that...
Three Tips for Creating a Body of Work
Galleries often say to an artist, “I want to see a body of work from you.” By this they mean a few things: they want to see a consistent subject matter theme, they want to see visual consistency, and they want to sense that the artist has gone deep and done something...
One New Connection
Let’s say that you want to make one new connection in the service of your career. Maybe it’s with a new gallery owner in town. What’s the best approach, given how anxious the whole thing may make you feel? Here’s a simple, 5-step process for making that connection: 1....
Late Deciding
I was chatting with an exceptionally creative person who introduced me to the phrase “late deciding.” He said of himself that he liked not to rush the “not knowing” part of creating and, rather than coming to conclusions prematurely so as to shut down the experience...
Art and Optimism
As a smart person, you no doubt see through much of life. You see clearly the realities of politics and social structures, the realities of the art world, the realities of health and mortality, and so on. All this excellent reality testing can make a person...
Artists in Distress
ARTISTS IN DISTRESS The pressures of making excellent art, fashioning a successful career, and, as added burdens, keeping up with ever-changing technology and a continually shifting art landscape, are tremendous stressors on an artist’s system. And then there is life,...
Proving the Exception, Part 2
Many artists are producing visual art of one sort or another. It is a straightforward matter of supply and demand that not all of these people will be able to make money from their efforts. It is therefore the case that if you want to be one of the relatively few who...
5 Tips for Proving the Exception
Many artists are producing visual art of one sort or another. It is a straightforward matter of supply and demand that not all of these people will be able to make money from their efforts. It is therefore the case that if you want to be one of the relatively few who...
Meaning Opportunities for Artists
Human beings have meaning needs. They crave the psychological experience of meaning. For artists, one of the places they regularly acquire that experience is through making art. But it is also the case that making art may not provide them with sufficient meaning....
