Welcome to season five, episode 17 of The Abundant Artist, the show that dispels the myth of “the starving artist” and shares how you can live an abundant life as an artist and make a living from your talent one interview at a time.
“Ever since I stopped trying to sell, I make art people actually want.” — Catherine Rains
Full-time artist, Catherine Rains, joins the podcast today to share her incredible journey to making a living from her work, her artistic insights and life philosophies, and the biggest lessons she has learned throughout her career. Self-described as an intuitive mixed media collage artist and spiritual seeker, Catherine creates abstract collages using her intuition and mixed media to inspire, heal, and awaken.
In this episode, Catherine highlights important lessons on failure, perseverance, consistency, and the importance of showing up. She lends her insights on what you can do to better understand yourself as an artist, lean into your strengths, and how not to let your brain hold you back from creating the art you are meant to create in this world. Catherine also touches on how she became more connected to her purpose through The Abundant Artist, how she re-transitioned into becoming a full-time artist (after stepping away for nearly a decade), her general artistic process when it comes to creating new pieces, and how she markets her art online.
This is a not-to-miss episode full of wisdom and valuable insights from Catherine Rains! Be sure to tune in.
Catherine is offering COLLAGE JOY, a mixed media master course, starting January 23. You can learn more about this comprehensive 7-week course for mastering mixed media collage and purchase access in this link*. Anyone who uses this link, will receive the early bird price $247 for COLLAGE JOY, which is good through Friday (January 13). Then the price will go up to $277, which is still cheaper than full retail of $349. Plus as soon as you sign up, you’ll have instant access to the first half of Week 1 lessons so you can fully prepare before the official start date. The doors for COLLAGE JOY close on January 22 until 2024.
In this episode:
[:30] Cory welcomes Catherine Rains to the podcast!
[1:47] Reminiscing on the start of The Abundant Artist podcast in 2015
[2:42] Catherine brings listeners back to 2015 and shares her story of transitioning from her day job to pursuing her artistic passions.
[8:44] How failure bred success for Catherine’s business.
[10:00] How Catherine’s following has grown since staying consistent and crafting a free course.
[12:16] About Catherine’s career with the Myers-Brigg company.
[13:27] The value in knowing your personality type (and taking a personality quiz such as the Myers-Brigg Type Indicator).
[14:55] Catherine discusses Cory’s personality type and strengths.
[17:29] Where Catherine’s passion lies and her ultimate goal with her art.
[19:00] What Catherine did before her full-time job with Myers-Brigg.
[20:55] Catherine shares her experience traveling around the world with two fifty-pound suitcases in the name of art.
[23:33] How Catherine’s time doing art and traveling has continued to benefit her in her art career.
[25:10] Going back to 2020, Catherine shares her experience of releasing her best collection that didn’t sell, and the biggest lessons that she learned.
[31:22] How to not let your brain work against you when you’re creating art.
[36:58] Catherine’s 10-minute rule.
[37:36] Why Catherine wasn’t “showing up” until her friend prompted her.
[38:38] The magic in creating art you actually want to create rather than creating to sell.
[41:41] How ‘showing up’ and being consistent helped Catherine sell more pieces.
[44:11] What Catherine means when she says, “When someone buys my art, they’re not just buying my art.”
[45:35] Why you don’t need a huge audience to make a living; the concept behind 1000 true fans.
[50:11] Catherine’s advice to young artists looking to go full-time.
Resources mentioned:
Catherine Rains’ Website
Catherine Rains’ Instagram
Kelly Rae Roberts’ interview on The Abundant Artist
Myers-Brigg
60 Songs That Explain the 90s Podcast
The Art of Effortless Living (Taoist Documentary)
1000 True Fans: Use Kevin Kelly’s Simple Idea to Earn A Living Doing What You Love, by Kevin Kelly
Betty Franks Art
Ira Glass Quote
About the guest:
For the past 25 years, Catherine has created sacred art for the purpose of inspiring herself and others to awaken to who we were meant to be. An interesting truth about this dream: it was an accident. Until age 33, Catherine had never thought of herself as an artist. Her artistic calling started as she gently followed what made her feel most alive and connected. Beginning as a hobby, collage evolved into Catherine’s greatest joy, and eventually her life’s calling. After spending most of her adult life as a corporate trainer, Catherine realized her dream of creating art full time in 2018, which recently evolved into teaching collage online in 2022.
(*Affiliate link)
Leave a Reply