A Tip to Bring Your Art Plans Into Focus

It's still the height of summer here so naturally October feels like a loooong time away. In fact, the end of October is *only three months* away.

This means I've got some serious decision making to do with my Halloween costume. And more importantly, I know that by the time October closes, it'll feel like the holiday season is in full swing and dragging me down the tinsel-laden street.

Have you ever felt surprised and swept up by how fast the holidays got here?  

If yes, I've got a helpful thought for you. In speaking with a few artists recently, I noticed it was helpful for them to think about what they wanted to have done by October. What was calling to them to really get done between now and then, over the course of just three months? 

Thinking of it this way brought things into clear focus. Each artist said they wanted to do very specific things like having a show, making more art, start using their mailing list, and making long overdue website updates. 

So, let's pretend it's the end of October. --Pumpkins are carved. Candy wrappers are finding their way into your sofa cushions.-- And when that last day of October rolls around on the calendar, what would you like to say you accomplished between now and then? 

What's most important to you? What would you like to have done in 3 months?

Let me know in the comments. I'd love to hear what surfaces when you bring your next 3 months into focus.  

Cheers,
Kate

Not Enough Art Inventory?

Imagine what it would look like if a gallerist has just emailed you to schedule a studio visit. You’re excited about the opportunity to connect with them and to show them your work. The prospect of having an exhibition could mean getting press and selling your work. That would feel great to have your work seen by a larger audience, right? 

But if the thought of them actually visiting sends you into a small panic, keep reading.

I’ve noticed that after the elated feeling dissipates, a second, less helpful thought comes up for most artists in this situation: fear. Feeling afraid that you don’t have enough work to show a gallerist can cause you to inadvertently sabotage yourself by pushing off that meeting or finding ways to seriously delay it and then never reschedule it. The same concept holds true for connecting with designers or hosting an open studio, too. It’s easy to be scared to commit to doing those actions or events that would create exhibitions or sales because you’re worried that you don’t have enough art already made.   

The problem is that it feels like you need to have a ton of art made and available in your studio right now, before you reach out to a gallery, interior designer or before you sign up to do an open studio event. In reality, you don’t need a ton of new work before approaching these kinds of studio visits. This is for a few reasons. 

First, you have time on your side. Many galleries do their programming 1-2 years in advance. So if they like your work and want to show it, you’ll likely have time to create more before an exhibition. And they’ll be happy to debut your newest body of work.

Look around your studio and take stock of what you can share with them. I bet you can probably make a little new art before the studio visit or have work-in-progress to show. This paired with the finished pieces and documentation that you have on hand will be enough to have the kind of conversation you need with a gallerist, curator or interior designer to decide if your work is right for them. 

You also may feel like you’re “over” that last body of work that you made that’s kicking around your studio in a box somewhere. You can still feel good about sharing your previous work because while that body of art may be old to you but it’s still very new to your studio visitors. Remind yourself that your work can always be discovered and appreciated, no matter how long ago you made it. 

As an antidote to this feeling, I encourage you to think about how energizing and exciting it felt when you were working on that body of work. That will help you to tap into that feeling and radiate it when you talk about it. 

You don’t need to let that feeling that you don’t have enough art created stop you from reaching out to galleries, designers, submitting proposals or hosting an open studio. You need samples of your body of work and documentation of past work. If all of your newest work is in an exhibition right now, you can share photos of it. 
 
The upshot is that you can set those opportunities in motion without having all the work made in advance of them. I know I’ve felt this way and so have many of my clients. It can be an almost an automatic reaction because we want to show our best and newest work that we’re most excited about. This feeling totally makes sense, right? 

If you’ve ever felt like this, too, say “hello” in the comments to raise your hand in sharing this experience and in intimately understanding the artist’s brain when it comes to feeling like you don’t have enough work.

Cheers,
Kate

Tips to Complete Your Next Art Project

How’s your current project coming along? Are you feeling great about it? Or is it feeling more like a chore? Maybe there’s a dose of dread in there because you know you’ll have to do some difficult or un-fun things to complete it. 

If you ever feel this way, I want to encourage you to make the outcome of your project better. Make it more FUN! 

What if when you finished that next project you felt ridiculously giddy? What would that look like?

It could be your next sculpture, your next series or that website update you’ve been meaning to do. No matter what it is that’s currently on your to-do list, think about how it could feel lighter and more fun to do. 

Ask yourself, what can you do to make your project feel ~AMAZING~ when it’s done? If you’re not sure, think about it. Give it a clear ending that you love so you can celebrate knowing that you’ve done a great job with it. 

I encourage you to do this because I know that if the end goal is exciting to you, it will feel totally worth it to do the project. And it will fuel you in so many ways. 

What’s at stake if you don’t feel great about the completion of your painting, sculpture or gallery letter? 

For starters, if it’s not exciting, you may never complete the project. That great idea will never see the light of day. Your brain will tell yourself, “Why finish it if it doesn't really matter to me if it’s completed?” 

And because having a clear vision for your project means that you’ll be more able to make it through the difficult parts or the super mundane parts because you know the END will be worth it. If you’ve ever written an art grant, you know how this feels. 

So, strengthen your commitment to your project, whatever it may be, by making it more enticing to your brain. You’ll be able to look toward that ending and get excited about it. I call this creating a “giddy vision” because it makes you feel that way. 

What can you do to add a little more giddy to your current art project? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear. 

Cheers,

Kate

What Can Your Collector Afford?

Have you ever said, “They won’t pay that for my art”? I know I’ve thought it about a million times. And most artists I know circle back to that thought a lot. It feels really true, right? Like it’s for sure. But, here’s the thing. 

We don’t know. 

We have now way of truly knowing if someone can or can’t pay the prices we set for our art. This is because we have absolutely NO IDEA of a buyer’s personal finances. Or how important art is to them. It can feel really certain that we do, but in reality, we don’t know. 

Usually when this thought is passing through our minds, filling it with doubt about our prices, it’s self-generated. There may not even be a person standing there in front of you saying they can’t afford a painting of yours. It’s like this statement springs to life and starts hopping around in our brains when we start thinking about selling our work. 

It’s our job as artists and creatives to stay out of our collector’s wallet. We can’t manage their money. Only they can decide if they can afford and want your art. 

Something that can be done to help quiet this nagging thought is to do your homework and make sure that you feel 100% confident in your prices. When you do, you can stand tall in the prices you ask for because you understand why your art is priced the way it is. This is a great tool to hush your brain when it starts to think about your buyer’s financial abilities and budget—which is something you have zero control over.  

If you haven't validated your prices in a while, grab a copy of The Number One Way to Price Your Art here and work through the worksheet. It’s a free guide to know the number one way to confidently price your art to ensure you're making money. 

Let me know your questions and thoughts about this in the comments. I’m curious if you’ve caught yourself thinking “they can’t afford it.”

Cheering you on to make selling your work easier,

Kate

You’re Not Your Best Collector - Stop Pricing Your Art This Way

This week I had a conversation with an immensely creative friend who was feeling a lot of resistance to asking for the amount her work is truly worth. Part of her could see that it was worth raising the price to be in alignment with the market, and part of her was like, no way! 

After talking it through, she had an ah-ha moment. I realized that her ah-ha moment is also a concept that artists often miss when it comes to figuring out how to price their art. This thought keeps your prices below market value which isn’t good for anyone. It’s sneaky. And so subtle that I had to share it in case it’s helpful to you, too.

As an artist, you know how to make a piece of art, whether it’s a painting, a sculpture, a photo or art in some other medium. So when you put prices on your work, they can feel too high because you wouldn't pay that for it. 

The reason you wouldn’t pay that price for it is because you have the skills, expertise and experience to make it yourself. You don’t value the painting, the photograph or the sculpture in the same way that someone else does. This is because you know how to make it yourself. 

Others are willing to pay more for your work than you’re willing to pay because they don't have the skills and knowledge to make the piece of art you just made. They can appreciate your work but they can’t replicate it themselves. In other words...

YOU ARE NOT YOUR IDEAL BUYER. 

When pricing art, it’s easy to think about what you’d pay for it but in real life, it’s not a helpful pricing method. This is because you wouldn’t buy your own work because you don’t have to. You have the skills to make it instead. 

Here’s an example to help demonstrate this concept….

You love bread. The ingredients to make bread are simple and you probably have them on hand in your kitchen. You have the Tartine recipe book so you have directions to make an amazing loaf of bread. But every time you’ve tried it, it doesn’t taste or look nearly as good as the loaf you buy from the store. And it’s nowhere near the level of that artisan loaf from the farmers market that tastes amazing. 

So, you’re happy to buy a loaf of bread for double or triple what it costs to make because you don't have the skills or expertise to make the same quality of bread yourself, even if you have all the ingredients. 

The baker on the other hand is less willing to buy bread because the baker knows how to make a great loaf and is always making great loaves every day. The baker is not their own ideal customer. 

Knowing that you are not your ideal buyer can expand your willingness to raise your prices. Especially if you’re an artist who’s always being told that “you should charge more for that.” It may be time to level up to what others, who see the value in your work, are willing to pay for it. 

What do you think? Have you found yourself considering what you’d pay for your own work as a pricing strategy? Let me know in the comments. I’m curious if this thought has influenced your pricing.

Cheers,

Kate

Not Making Right Now? A Trick to Jump Start Things

How are you doing this week? Are you starting to feel pulled to make art again? Or to make more art? 

I feel like my tendency to become frozen and take no action during stressful times is coming to an end. In part due to scheduling some making time with friends over a Zoom call. Creating in a group setting always helps to jump start my maker brain. 

I’m also regularly moving my mind from thinking about what I don’t have and what I can’t do right now to more helpful thoughts. Instead, I’m focusing on what I can do. 

When I ask myself that, I always have an answer that’s more than what I need. It’s great because I shift my approach around whatever I’m doing at that moment. Whether it’s making art or cooking dinner, thinking about what I can do lightens my mindset, and removes pressure to do something with nothing. It makes everything feel easier, lighter and less burdened. 

This is in part because it promotes a happier approach versus bringing all the negative thoughts that our brain sends at us when we’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

Want to try it out? 

First, what’s something that you’re thinking you don’t have or can’t do right now?

Now that you’ve got that one thing in mind, ask yourself this question:

What CAN I do with regard to this? 

It might take a moment to get to something you can do that feels good to you so keep going past your first answer. Dig a little more and see what you can think of that feels like a better, more positive thought. One that supports you instead of draining you. 

A recent thought I had was that I only had black, white and pink paint and that I couldn't get other colors for a while. I thought this would crush the project I was working on. 

But after asking what can I do that’s more helpful than moping about what I can’t do, I found a lot of other viable possibilities like I can paint with watercolors where I have a full palette of colors instead of acrylics where I have only three colors. And I can harness the variety of colors from magazines and other paper ephemera - and that idea was even more exciting than my original project! 

Easily, in a matter of moments, my brain shifted to a more positive and even enthusiastic state of being. 

Give the above thought process a try and let me know in the comments what you discovered that you CAN do. I can't wait to hear what comes up for you!

With much gratitude,

Kate

Wings Are a Constraint That Make it Possible to Fly

This quote is great because it gets at the essence of how working within constraints can be very positive. 

“Wings are a constraint that make it possible to fly.” - Robert Bringhurst

I’ve never thought of it as a constraint to have wings. Have you? I’ve always thought of it as a positive thing that allows more freedom. That’s why we have a whole host of mythological beasts with wings on them, right? To us, we tend to see having wings as a superpower. 

But here, this creative, Robert Bringhurst, is saying that wings are a constraint, a limitation. I found this really fascinating. It points out the contradiction in my usual response that constraints normally bring negative results, not positive ones.

Wings are an unchangeable condition that happen as a result of a set of evolutionary constraints that we usually view as a sign of freedom. In other words, we view it as a positive outcome. 

I mention this because it’s our thought about wings that decides if they mean freedom or not. 

What if we took the same view of our current shelter-in-place situation? What if we were all unfurling our “wings” (aka: the results of working within our current constraints) and seeing them as our superpowers? What if we found we could do all kinds of amazing, badassery as a result of living through the limitations of this COVID-19 time? 

Could there be some silver linings to the coronavirus situation? 

After reading this quote, I see how wings are a constraint of sorts. Albeit a really cool one. 

What feels like a negative constraint right now that might have an interesting or even positive outcome for you? 

Similar to the constraints of wings that make it possible to fly, can you find a way to see how some of the actions you’re taking right now, might have positive results? 

This thought process is a helpful exercise to stay positive in your work, even if you're currently feeling squeezed by the situation. I’m curious what you think about this. Let me know your thoughts on this  in the comments.

Cheers,

Kate

Still Reeling From Holidays?

Are you still reeling from all the holiday goings-on? Maybe you’re waiting for children and partners to return to school and work so you can get back into your groove and really plan for the new year. And to kick your creativity into drive. 

If this is you, I want to say, hang in there. There’s plenty of time and opportunity to do what you want in 2020. You can still have an amazing creative year, filled with all the things you want, even if it takes a little longer to decide what those things are.

I feel like the holidays are tricky because my mind thinks “I’ve got all this time off” but in reality, I’m working a lot on all the holiday stuff like dinners, cards, shopping, wrapping, dealing with family dynamics, etc. 

For me, now that everyone’s schedules are getting back to the usual, I’m going to look at my work and map out what I’d like to do this year with it. 

• What shows have I committed to? 

• What kind of art would I like to make? 

• What worked last year and what didn’t? 

• How do I want to feel about my creative practice this year? 

You might be asking yourself similar questions. I’d love to know, what’s the first thing you plan to do to get back into your creative work now that the holidays are over? Assess? Plan? Dive into making? Or something else? Let me know in the comments. 

In fact, I hosted a Facebook Live session to talk about these things. Watch the replay here to think about your own planning and how you can lean into what we want from your creative work.  

What it is:

• Free

• A conversation to get you thinking about what you want over the next year and how to get there

• A way to get thinking about your creative career that excites you!

• A chance to get your questions answered during the live Q&A.

What it isn’t:

• A giant commitment to do a ton of work

Let me know how you’re approaching your creative plans in the comments. Are they flexible?

Cheers,

Kate

Your Key To Not Feeling Sales-y

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you're heading into a season where selling what you make might be your focus. Especially if you’re planning to do an in-person pop-up market or your own open studio event. 

Does this kind of thing make you a little nervous? 

Or feel like you’re being pushy because you’re asking people to buy your work? 

If you ever get a twinge of that yucky feeling, I want you to keep reading. What I’m about to share might help to ease that icky-sales-feeling. I know it did for me. 

When you’re out there at a booth or under that festival canopy, keep in mind that your audience is there for the express purpose of checking-out your work to see if it’s a fit for their needs right now. 

By showing up to your event, they’ve raised their hand to say, “I want to know more”.

They’ve put themselves into that room with you because they’re interested in learning what you’ve made and how you can help them find the perfect gift or something special for themselves. They’re interested in buying what you make. 

And because of that, by selling you’re work, you're helping them. If someone views buying your work as helpful, then that doesn’t feel sales-y or yucky right? 

So, your mission is to step up and feel proud to sell what you’re making because there are people who are looking for exactly what you’re making. They’re putting themselves in the same room with you to find you. You can help them out, right?  

I know you’ve got this. Does reframing how you think about sales in this way help? Let me know your thoughts and questions in the comments. 

Cheers,

Kate