Blog

Need some inspiration? Check out the following! Alice Neel: “I had what it takes to make a good artist: sensitivity and tremendous willpower.” Pierre-Auguste Renoir: “Be a good craftsman; it won't stop you from being a genius.” Luciano Pavarotti: “People think I am...

Many of my artist clients struggle with their website presence. Their difficulties fall mainly into the following eight areas: 1. Artist Statement. Most artists have a lot of trouble creating their artist statement. Sometimes they never land on language that they...

Deciding to be an artist isn’t a one-time decision. Somewhere along the line in life you make that formal decision, maybe in college when you decide to be a painting major rather than a business major. But when you graduate, you have to make that decision again,...

My clients in the arts regularly complain that they don’t trust themselves. By this they mean many different things: that they don’t trust that they can do good work; that they don’t trust that they can perform under fire; that they don’t trust their own decisions or...

Last week I described how your first task with respect to teaching an art class, writing class, or music class is deciding where you will hold it. This week let’s look at your next task: what will you teach? There may be many things you know. Let’s be a little silly...

Let’s say that you’re an artist, writer, musician or other creative or performing artist who’s been thinking about teaching a class so as to provide yourself with an additional revenue stream—and also because you think you might enjoy it. How would you begin? Here’s...

This week I want to introduce you to the following habit: the habit of quick meaning repair. Every day we’re bombarded by small (and sometimes large) threats to our experience of life as meaningful. Maybe you submit your slides to a gallery and get a particularly...

Here’s an emotional wellness tip that may really serve you—whether you’re an artist or not! Say that a feature of your original personality is that you’re prone to sadness. At one time it was assumed that a full quarter of human beings were born “melancholic.” Whether...

This week (April 7 – 9) I’m hosting a completely free virtual conference on emotional healing. I’ve conducted more than a dozen video interviews with some top folks – Alex Lickerman on the undefeated mind, the poet Mark Nepo on healing and presence, Melanie Greenberg...

Are you worried that you may be repeating yourself in your art and not moving forward? Indeed, a creativity coaching client recently said to me, “I just painted something I really like. But it looks an awful lot like something I painted years ago. Is that a problem?...