How the Right Studio Improves your Art
My very first studio was my kitchen table in an apt in NYC. Then I moved it into an extra bedroom, which once outgrown, I next moved into the attic space. I remember that space was very hot in the summer and way too cold in the winter. I finally set up a studio in the...
How to Know When Your Art is Done
There is an understandable degree of concern embedded in knowing when our Art is done. Are we possibly overworking our Art? Or equally worrisome, maybe we are not pushing our Art far enough. I often keep going way too long, invariably driving over that endpoint. I...
Three Ways Teaching Will Help Your Art Practice
I remember listening to a talk by Ram Dass – the American spiritual teacher and author of the book “Be Here Now” – speaking about personal happiness. At the end of the talk, a man in the back of the room frustratingly described a whole laundry list of problems, from...
How to Overcome Obstacles in Your Art Career
I just finished a large body of new work. I have a show coming up in 4 days. Invitations were produced. Some paintings have already sold. I really like what I have made. There...
What Everyone who Loves your Art Wants to Know
The more people who know and follow your Art the easier it will be to sell your Art. I used to put a lot of pressure on myself to always make stronger and stronger Art so that this small but growing audience would continue to stay engaged. I thought that the only way...
Make Amazing Color in your Art Practice
Why do some colors look better than others? When purchasing paint at the art store, I used to think that the more expensive colors were somehow better. I reasoned that if I used these colors in my paintings they would magically look great. Unfortunately, over time, I...
How to be Bolder in Your Art Practice
As most of you already know, the lessons learned, the principles at play in the making of Art almost seamlessly transfer to Life. I find that when I am feeling less sure of myself, my art feels somewhat the same. I also see parallels in the business side of making...
Three Stages that lead to Creativity
This week I am teaching an Artlife Workshop on the beautiful Big Sur Coast of California, at a retreat center perched upon the cliffs above the sea. It is called Esalen, a name derived from the Native Americans who originally lived here. There are flowering plants and...
How to Stay More Positive in Your Art Practice
Sometimes we wish for something to happen, but when it finally does, we can feel, oddly, let down. I was reminded of this the other day when I ran into an artist friend who had recently sold several paintings from a new series of work she had developed over the past...
The Simple Business Plan to Sell Your Art
How do you work with the pull between selling and ignoring the art market entirely? This is an interesting question posed last week by one of my readers. I used to spend a great deal of time struggling with this issue. I know how supremely wonderful it feels to sell a...