The intro is a little low-quality this time around since my Internet was so slow when we were recording on Google Hangouts.
1:30 – The Great Clutter Bust starts October 1st! If you want some help organizing your studio, closet or computer files, check it out at Melissadinwiddie.com/great-clutterbust/
3:00 – Introducing Lisa Call, fiber artist based in Colorado, USA.
3:45 – What is the difference between artists who don’t “look” like professional artists, yet are making and selling amazing art all of the time, and the artists who look like artists who never produce or sell anything?
8:30 – Lisa is an independently educated artist. She talks about the difference between the journey of becoming an artist, and the focus of the professional artist
9:45 – Melissa and Lisa talk about the difference between being a dilettante and an artist who moves through natural progressions in their art. Moving in a new direction as an artist is important – just don’t get distracted.
17:00 – what having a strong series does for your financial success as an artist
20:00 – how to find ideas that are rich enough that you can create a series from them
25:00 – why writing is important to your career as a visual artist, and how to go beyond writing about the technique and learning to talk about your art on a deeper level
33:00 – we need your reviews! Please leave us a review and we might read your review on the podcast.
Hi All
Wow,I enjoyed the video of the three of you chatting.
It was an encouraging and informative interview with Lisa Call. Thank you for sharing it!
As a textile artist myself, trying to remain authentic and focussed is the hardest part. I see painters using paint to sell their artwork, seemingly selling a ‘painting’ more easily than a piece of not so popular media art, that of a ‘textile’ piece of artwork. So I often feel discouraged.
My series is focussed on getting my message across about the cruel animal farming food industry, whereby my focus is on ‘chickens’ because I happen to know them, as I’ve been a keeper of rescued ex-battery farmed hens for some years. I create my pictures of hens in up-cycled textiles to also raise awareness for the environment. My colourful artwork is produced in a subtle, humorous way. Not causing any offensive by what they visually see but gently nudging a process of thought to raise awareness for the cruelty that goes on behind the scenes in the meat and dairy process in the production for food. If all abattoirs where glass then there would be more plant based eaters.
Whilst also using old preloved textiles to encourage a less wasteleful lifestyle and to reduce my own personal carbon footprint, limits me more and is a challeng as I will not buy anything new, as this in my minds eye defeats the object of my series. But then this competes with more popular and current trends that the viewer expects to see when looking for a piece of art for the home.
How to sell my art with its provocative message is the challenging part. When I was fortunate enough to have a gallery space I sold to those who ‘listened’ and could visually see and loved my ethical message. At the moment I’m trying to sell online and to direct traffic to my website but it is so much harder.
If you have any thoughts about how I could focus on selling my actual pictures I would be delighted to hear from you.
Trying to remain true to myself I want to create more of the same, that is my chicken focussed pictures but as they are harder to sell online without a walk in gallery and myself there to market them in person I was thinking of going off track and have had thought to perhaps create flowers or something more appealing with less of an emotive story. But this would not be me reamaining authentic to myself nor to my gorgeous chickens, to whom I’m a ‘voice’ and their spokesperson.
In the meantime I’ve stopped ‘creating’ as my framed art picture stock is filling my house and I need to sell what I have before making more.
Can you please offer any thoughts to give me a ‘leg-up’?
Thank you again for the sound advice and experiences that I found extremely interesting in the video.
Best wishes
Jane x
Hi all, I just stumbled upon this page (probably 3 years later) but I find it so so inspiring. This is specially useful when I’m at my early stage of embarking into the journey of being an artist (would not use the word ‘professional’ yet). I particularly love the very practical tips that you share, validated my doubts (glad to hear that I’m not alone) and mostly Lisa, I have been writing a lot and from your messaging, it validated that I am doing just about the right thing in embarking on this journey. Thank you all for sharing.
I enjoyed reading these stories of creating art and how to sell it. I too struggle as a budding artist, trying to find my own style and voice through water colour. I find the medium challenging and provocative in solving problems to convey my vision of a subject. I am constantly trying to develop my skills but sometimes feel overwhelmed with subject matter. I like the idea of having a focus or theme for a number of painting rather than being all over the place. I need to give that more thought. Trying to get others to view my work is difficult and I’m not sure what it takes to get my work into a gallery. I have posted on instagram but not sure how one buys something off instagram. I need to find more information inorder to develop a plan.