“Extraordinary” in the sense that they’re outside the norm, the “ordinary” of what other people do. In fact, many artists feel called to live their Truth no matter the cost.

Some artists tell me they feel they were born to create.

It’s not unusual for artists to feel that art is their Purpose. It’s what you love doing. And, ideally, it’s how you want to make a living.

THE REALITY OF LIVING OUR TRUTH AND MAKING MONEY FROM IT CAN SEEM DAUNTING. 

Overwhelming. Impossible on some days. Despite hard work, talent, and years of experience, the path to success for many artists is not always clear. 

Success, especially financial success, can seem elusive. 

How do you honor your passion, your creativity, and your calling, when living the life of a successful artist can sometimes feel like a lost cause? 

PICTURE THIS FOR A MOMENT: 

An American woman flees a glamorous job as an art dealer. She sells all of her possessions, and she moves by herself to the middle of nowhere in the south of France. And she speaks no French. 

Eventually, she becomes a successful entrepreneur, artist, and writer. 

She creates an online business program for artists, called the Working Artist Masterclass. She teaches artists how to sell art. And she has since supported thousands of creatives in not just working as an artist but creating an artful life. 

My name is Crista Cloutier. 

I’m here to help you honor your calling. To JUMP toward your dreams. And to make money doing it. 

For me, choosing to work as an artist is “about being bold, taking risks, making work, building a career, finding inspiration, sharing your vision. It’s about owning who you are and the magic that happens when you JUMP into the unknown.”

Take that leap of faith.

LOTS OF ARTISTS ARE OVERWHELMED. 

They’re overwhelmed by ideas. Overwhelmed by options. Overwhelmed by choices. They’re so overwhelmed that they become paralyzed, unable to move or to even trust themselves to take the first step. 

They self-sabotage. 

The life of an artist is never easy. A lot of artists have confidence issues. A lot of artists have time management issues. 

Procrastination is an occupational hazard. Balancing your energy and your time is another problem.

Artists suffer from too many ideas and too many ‘shoulds’. I should be doing this, I should be doing that. I should be on Instagram… I should be having this many followers… I should be making this much money…” 

It’s a lot of comparison stuff. Money is certainly a challenge for a lot of artists too. Making authentic connections is an even big problem.”

I’ve seen it all, and I’ve helped many artists work through their challenges. I lead them to clarity.

BECAUSE BEING CLEAR, CONSCIOUS, AND INTENTIONAL GETS YOU HEARD ABOVE THE NOISE.

Distilling your message, being clear in yourself and in what you’re saying, is critical.  Whether that’s crafting a brand, finding gallery representation, formulating a social media or sales strategy, I walk artists through the dark forest of confusion and questions. 

• How do you build professional contacts?
• How do you get people to join your mailing list? 
• How do you get them to your website in the first place? 
• What do you do with them once you’ve got them? 

Once artists get clear, they feel motivated AND they start taking the right steps toward success. 

Too often artists believe they’re stopped by the world, but the truth is that they’re the ones who are stopping themselves.

DO YOU REALLY NEED WHAT YOU THINK YOU NEED?

I met someone whose lifelong desire was to be a photographer. But he won’t take pictures. Because he doesn’t have the ‘right’ camera. So, he’s still not taking pictures. That’s an artist who’s gotten in his own way. 

I see artists do this all the time. They stop themselves because they think they don’t have the money. They think they don’t have the time. They think they don’t have the talent or the right tools, or permission or credentials. These are all challenges I’ve helped people with.

I give them the map and we take the steps as they follow the road to confidence and success.

A PATH TO YOUR CALLING

My work is my Calling. I want to make the world a more beautiful place by filling it with more artists. 

The art world has opened up. It’s not what it was, even a year ago. Artists can create their own creative career path, which creates their own future.

Welcome to your future. 

The Working Artist Masterclass. And for the next few days only, available at a very special price.  Connect today! 

https://theworkingartist.com

The post How Artists Get Heard Above the Noise appeared first on Art Business News.

According to the TEFAF Art Marketing Report for 2018, over one million people attended the world’s top 20 art fairs last year. And projected sales for this year hover around the $45 billion mark.
That’s 45 BILLION dollars!

So when I tell you that art fairs are the best way I know to sell art, the numbers back me up.

Art fairs and festivals can also help you build audience, create community, and command the attention of gallerists and curators.

If you’re an artist who’s interested in using this powerful opportunity to build your career, I’ve created these Top 10 Tips for artists wanting to access the powerful reach of art fairs:

1. Put the research first. Preparation is your best friend because when it comes to art fairs, you can’t plan too much.
2. Follow instructions. Artists are known for breaking the rules, but the place to break them is in your work, not in your professional submissions.
3. Get super-organized and create a system to make sure all the details are covered. This will make the difference between a fair experience that’s fluid and focused, and a fair experience that’s frantic and confusing.
4. Pay attention to your brand when you exhibit. All of your materials should be created with your brand in mind, even down to the details. It’s all about consistency and authenticity.
5. Don’t overhang your booth! Art fairs are overwhelming enough. The booths that stand out and are the most inviting are the booths that allow viewers — and the artwork — the space to breathe.
6. Art fairs are an excellent investment, but think long term. Don’t invest everything you have in one art fair, there are too many variables outside of your control. So plan for success, but keep your feet on the ground and manage your expectations.
7. Promote your booth before and during the fair. Be sure to let people know exactly where to find you. Share your excitement with your audience!
8. Be sure to follow up on your leads because the best sales often happen after the fair.
9. Stay positive, even when things don’t appear to be going your way. Your energy affects everything.
10. Remember that art fairs are a powerful way to build relationships – both with an audience and with other artists. Be sure to put your best smile on and engage!

You don’t have to be an exhibitor to get the benefits of a fair. It’s also important to see what other artists are doing, what galleries are showing, and finding work that inspires you.

So even if you don’t have any plans to exhibit in an art fair yourself, I urge you to visit art fairs whenever you get the opportunity. You’ll always find something to learn, someone to meet, and something to see.

Learn more about art fairs and festivals at The Working Artist website. The Art Fair Essentials program is an online workshop that will fast track your success. Honestly, there is nothing else like it on the market. For more information: click here.

The post The Top 10 Tips for Art Fair Success appeared first on Art Business News.

Artists are endlessly curious. But in life, we spend a lot of our time running away from questions. We want to know everything right now. Yet it’s only by following the questions that we find where the true answers lie.

Artists are often the victims of too many ideas, or what may seem like too many answers.

By applying critical thinking and asking the right questions, we are better able to clarify our ideas and see how they best complement one another. This is where life begins to work with us and reveal its magic. When that happens, the struggle disappears.

In a world where everything can be googled, questions are more important than ever—because the most important answers aren’t found online, but rather within.

When I first started to realize that I needed to make some changes in my life, I began asking myself each day, “What do I really, really want?”

I asked it all the time. And I listened deeply, without censoring my initial responses, for what came up.

To each answer, I would ask, “Why?”

To each problem or setback, I would ask, “How can I make the most of this?”

Choosing to embrace the questions instead of scrambling for answers is the essence of the journey toward real creativity. Don’t be afraid to ask big questions, for the bigger they are, the deeper you will go.

The crystal ball into your future lies in your own hands. Just ask.

The post Artist Tip: Learn to Love the Questions appeared first on Art Business News.

As a young man, he’d had an opportunity to show his portfolio to an established and highly celebrated photographer whom he admired deeply. This famous photographer took one look at his work and pronounced, “Boring.”

My teacher later told me this was a gift, that the photographer had been right and that his talents were better served as a historian and enthusiast of the medium. But that story always unsettled me.

Later, I met the photographer and we, too, became close friends. I showed him my work, but felt that he never really looked at it before dismissing it. And dismiss it he did, advising me to become an art historian instead. My teacher agreed.

I tried it their way, but I could never shake the feeling that I’d been sold a bum rap.

I later opened a gallery and started selling the work of this esteemed photographer. It was the first time I’d ever felt that he approved of me. (Probably because—no joke—he said, “This is the first time I’ve ever approved of you.”) When I told him I missed making my own work, he waved me off, saying, “You’ve finally found success. This is what you were meant to do.”

He didn’t understand when I decided to quit and settle in London in order to devote myself to photography, my personal writing, and working with other artists. I proudly showed him some of my stories and images, but he dismissed them without even looking. “That’s not my sort of thing,” he’d say.

And when I launched The Working Artist and sent him the videos I’d created, he responded, “You were more interesting when you were selling art.”

As an artist, I understand that not everyone will like my stuff, and I challenge myself not to take it personally. But it’s especially difficult when that someone is a friend whom I value and an artist I respect.

At first, his response to my work made me quit. Later, it made me try harder. Now, it just makes me sigh. But never again will his opinion or anyone else’s make me stop.
Because I’ve got work to do.

The post Don’t Let Others’ Opinions Keep You from Doing the Work You’re Meant to Do appeared first on Art Business News.

Seriously, as an artist, you are putting the most personal and vulnerable parts of yourself forward. Everybody has an opinion on your work and thinks they know better—and it’s easy to listen to them.

It’s certainly much easier than keeping the faith.

I know a photographer who recently showed his work to an editor. The editor advised the poor photographer to become a plumber!

He was devastated. Nevermind that he’s shot covers for nearly every fashion magazine and newspaper in London. Nevermind his education, years of apprenticeship, and gallery shows in the art world. One thoughtless comment brought him to his knees.

And we are all vulnerable.

Here’s what you can do to increase your self-confidence as an artist:

Every day, before you work on your business—the stuff that you really don’t like doing, those marketing tasks that you always put off, the tasks you wish someone else would do for you—take a minute to do this ritual.

Connect with that part of yourself that makes the art. Connect with your creativity, that part of you that flows. Find that voice within that insists you simply MUST be an artist.

From here, this place of your greatest strength and truest self, write down five reasons why you will succeed. It doesn’t matter if they’re simple or complex.

Once you’ve got them down, create an affirmation: “I am _____.” Not “I want _____,” not “I wish _____,” not “Please, God help me to _____,” but “I am.” And finish that sentence any way you wish.

I am an exhibiting artist who sells work consistently. I am building a collector base. I am having a solo exhibition. I am respected for my artwork.

Doesn’t that make you feel more ready to undertake your seemingly impossible marketing tasks? Just that one small step can make a huge difference.

Now get out there and make it happen!

The post Becoming a More Confident Artist appeared first on Art Business News.

He had played lead guitar and sang. It was the 1980s, and he worked hard, touring the country and gaining a small following. But he never broke through.

When he turned 30, he got a chance to play one of the biggest music festivals in Great Britain. His brother ran the festival and had secured a spot for him. But it was too late— he’d already made a deal with himself.

“It’s ridiculous,” he told himself, “to keep following this dream into your thirties. The music business is too hard. If it hasn’t happened now, it’s never going to happen.” So he decided to go out with a bang, making the festival his last gig. He’d never play on stage again.

It’s been almost 30 years now. He’s found success in the business world instead, though his heart hasn’t been in it. He recently went to see his brother, whom he hadn’t visited since the show. He first met up with some old friends who asked him why he’d quit. Why did he quit playing music just when he’d broken through?

“What do you mean?” he asked.

They told him, “The show you played at the festival got rave reviews.”

He asked his brother if this was true, and his brother pulled out a tattered old music magazine, opening it up to a two-page spread announcing the singer that had stolen the show. They’d called him the one to watch, the best thing to come out of the festival.

Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked his brother.

“I was jealous.”

Never, ever, let go of your dreams. They belong to you for a reason.

The post The Artist Who Gave Away His Dream appeared first on Art Business News.

Respect the process and give yourself permission to take time for your work. Schedule it—or, better yet, make it a part of your daily routine.

Each day I take an hour or so to have a conversation with my work.

I live nomadically, all over the world. When I’m in Arizona, I ride my bike; when I’m in the countryside, I ramble through forests; and when I’m in London and New York, I walk to museums.

It doesn’t matter where I go—the destination is always the same: inside myself. This space, this precious time by myself, allows me to connect with my thoughts on a deeper level. This is where I think through my ideas: making connections, solving problems, understanding bigger pictures.

This is my real work, and this is my workspace.

Just because reading books and blogs, visiting museums, and taking long solitary walks looks like more fun than other people’s jobs doesn’t mean that it’s not part of your work.

You’ve sacrificed a lot to be an artist. Don’t deny yourself this.

And it’s a revolution. A call to arms. As the world moves away from quiet contemplation, someone must lead the way back. This is what art does.

By taking this time to think—or to simply be—you can change the world.

The post Connect With Your Ideas appeared first on Art Business News.

I once lived in a town with lots of artists but no community. Everyone worked in their own frustrated little bubble. I tried to begin a monthly get-together, somewhere we could each share what we were doing.

But there was strong pushback. “I don’t want to meet with other artists, because someone might steal my ideas,” one artist complained.

“You paint kittens,” I sighed. “I doubt your work is going to change the course of art history. And no idea is completely original; ideas are for sharing.”

Other artists are the only ones who will know how you can overcome a technical challenge, where you can find the materials you need, and what you are going on about when you talk about your work incessantly.

Other artists will fill your shows because they’re the only ones who understand how much effort you’ve put into them. Other artists are your best resource for information as well as inspiration.

So consider joining an arts community. Contribute your knowledge and be as generous as you possibly can, always resisting that urge to hold back.

Your arts community is the best place to practice karma. The art gods smile favorably on those who give to other artists.

The post Other Artists Are Your Best Friends appeared first on Art Business News.

But I was moving and shaking, baby! I needed to be on that phone. I couldn’t be disconnected! My phone defined my life.
I recently read a study suggesting that our iPhones have become extensions of ourselves. When separated from them, we get anxious; our heart rates increase, our blood pressure soars, and we get all antsy.

That was me.

But I finally did disconnect when I left the art world and moved to France to focus on my creativity. There, I still found it difficult to stop checking my phone, but I soon realized it kept giving me the same answer: radio silence.

For someone who’d made a living from talking to people, it was strange to find myself with no one to talk to. But my days of wheeling and dealing with gallerists and collectors were over. And without the phone at my ear, I was forced for the first time to listen to my own thoughts.

Eventually, I would hang up my phone and learn to embrace the peace of living alone in the French countryside. And this is how I fell in love with the sound of silence.

Today, with my return to civilization, people expect me to be married to my phone again. They get alarmed when it takes me a few days to notice a text or check my messages. I constantly leave my phone at home and don’t even notice.

I understand that it’s time for me to connect now. I have responsibilities and decisions and deadlines. We live in a dangerous world and phones can help us stay safe. But my feelings about the telephone have remained on hold. I can’t bring myself to start jumping at its ring again, or allow it to sabotage my attention.

We don’t define artists by their tools, for tools are only there to serve the message. Art is communication. And real communication comes from the heart.

That’s the only call I want to answer.

The post Can You Hear Me Now? appeared first on Art Business News.

Ah good exposure! The two words that should make every artist cringe.

I get it. Trust me, I still do things for good exposure. And I find it just as difficult to pay my bills with exposure as you do. Exposure is a tricky thing. We all want it, but we don’t want to give ourselves away in the process of getting it. So should artists do things for exposure?

Well, it depends. If you want to get eyes on work and the venue’s appropriate, then why not? Just make sure that the work is going to be taken care of, that all of the relevant information is available, and that you have a clear under standing of terms should something sell.

And dare to look deeper. Is there anything else in that situation that might benefit you?
Something other than money?

• Do you have books that could be sold or calendars or small prints?
• Could your bio be added to the business’ website with a link to your own?
• Could the organization promote you on their social media channels?
• Perhaps if it’s for an event, you can ask for the attendees’ names so that can build your mailing list? (with their permission, of course)

I’ve hung artists’ work at coffee shops, restaurants, and doctors’ offices a few times. I always made sure to go the extra mile. I formed relationships with the staff and educated them about the art. I even promised them a small private kickback should they make the sale. I held an Opening Party, and always made it a point to have my meetings at that location.
If the work was going to be more of a permanent display, or if I didn’t see a whole lot of art buyers going through the space, I suggested a trade instead. The venue could own the work and in exchange I received credit towards their goods and services. Win! Win!
But I digress. Because this particular artist wrote that the exposure she was promised was lacking. She was given certain assurances that were not delivered. How, she asked, could she complain without sounding difficult?
Ah! The fear of sounding difficult! Funny thing about difficult. I’ve worked with hundreds of artists in my career. And some of them were what you might call difficult.
But there’s two different types of difficult.

• There’s the egotistical, pain-in-the-ass difficult. This is the artist who leaves hergood manners at home and acts as if everyone else is an indentured servant.
• And then there’s the artist who’s not afraid to be an advocate for her work. She respects herself and takes her job seriously, always maintaining the highest standards.

Do you see the difference?
I’ll tell you what I told the artist who wrote me with her quandary: when you speak up for yourself, when you push back, no matter how nicely you do it, there’s always a chance you’ll be labeled difficult. Because for some reason, those who don’t take their work seriously are easily threatened by those of us who do. It’s easy for them to label us as “difficult.” But that’s the risk we take.
In my experience, the most successful artists are successful because they’re adamant about protecting their work. They bring 110% to the job and their standards are high.
So how do you protect yourself without getting a bad reputation? It’s like this:

• You’re always professional and courteous, never angry nor defensive nor accusatory. You meet deadlines, budgets and you exceed expectations.
• You value what you do and value those who help you do it.
• You stop taking on projects where it’s not specified – in writing – exactly what you expect in return. And you advocate for your work when you feel it’s in a compromising situation. I wonder what would happen if we replaced the word difficult with the word strong?

Because when it comes to your work and your career, being strong will get you where you want to go every time.
And that is nothing to be afraid of.

The post Do you show your art for “Good Exposure?” appeared first on Art Business News.