I cannot tell you how many artists I hear from who are eager to learn more and about making art and making money but they say:

I’ll apply to The Semester after I’ve created a body of work.

OMG! Would you invest enormous amounts of time and energy in creating a product line and then go to business school?

Probably not such a good idea. Right?

Actually, I have mixed feelings about the usefulness of business school and art school. But you get my point.

Do you want to know the real reason why you don’t have a meaningful “body of work?”

Because you don’t know what value your art brings to anyone but yourself.

This is why you are lacking in creative inspiration.

In order to feel a consistent rush of inspiration you must know deep down inside:

1. your why, your creative purpose, this has nothing to do with your art but everything to do with you
2. your mission, the one problem that is really worth solving, this has nothing to do with your art but everything to do with others
3. your how, unique value proposition
4. your who, your target market

If you cannot confidently answer these four questions, you’re never going to create that “body of work.”

You’re going to procrastinate and feel stuck and that is going to leave you feeling like you have lack of focus and confidence.

How do I know? Because I’ve been there and I hear from thousands artists all around the globe who tell me that this is how they’re feeling.

The other key point is this. Selling art sucks. Yes. That’s right. It sucks. If it didn’t, you wouldn’t be ready my blog.

Why? Because you and I both know that neither of us have enough talent.

There’s always going to be another artist who is more gifted.

The keys to the kingdom come by way of creating value above and beyond your art and to selling that. Like these artists.

What’s the point of doing all of this work and invested in supplies to create these “products” if you don’t know why you’re doing it and who you’re doing it for?

If you’re making art for yourself. Cool. That’s a hobby. But if you want to get paid, that is a business.

And in business, no one pays you just to entertain yourself.

Once you can answer the four vital questions above then you can create a meaningful body of work to serve as a “prototype.”

Prototypes allow you to test your value proposition with different target markets. They’re part of research and development, R & D.

If a target market doesn’t buy, you have an opportunity to find out why and improve upon it BEFORE you create an entire “body of work.”

Are you compromising your creativity and integrity with this approach?

Just the opposite! This proven process forces you be more creative, less self-centered, and more productive.

Two things happen when artists can answer the four vital questions above. They become more:

1. Focused
2. Confident

I’ve noticed that the tone of voice changes in these artists.

If you’ve sold you art but you would like to sell more, be honest with yourself. Can you answer the four vital questions above?

To be clear, I’m do not suggest that you apply to enroll in The Semester if you don’t have any experience in making or selling art.

You need evidence that this is something that gives you great joy and you really want more.

And that you want to sell your art bad enough that you’re willing to learn the skills that are required to create an artistic enterprise just like you had to learn the skills to master your creative medium.

If you’ve been holding off applying to enroll in The Semester because you think you need a “body of work,” you’ve got it twisted.

Creating a complete body of work before you can answer the four vital questions above, is broken thinking left over from the scarcity and permission based art establishment.

The art establishment needs you to swallow this notion to justify their existence.

The New Creative Class, knows better.

Personally, there is nothing more inspiring to me than selling my art and seeing my patrons experience the value above and beyond it.

What value do you offer above and beyond your art?

How do you feel when you sell your art?

How do you feel when you don’t sell your art?

“Welcome Gate” pastel on paper, Ann Rea ©

The Golden Gate Bridge is iconic, and it warrants instant recognition.

But have you ever thought of it as a brand? Below, I’ll discuss seven business lessons you can learn from one of the world’s most well-known pieces of architecture.

1.  Keep building your brand

I live less than a mile from one of the world’s most enduring brands, the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s served as the internationally recognized symbol of San Francisco since 1937. In 2005, I fired my lame art representatives and started making art full-time, and selling it myself. I got to keep all the money, but I also had to build my own brand. Never having started a business before, I did not know exactly where to start. Just as artists looked to other artists for inspiration, I looked to the color, passion, and simplicity of established brands for inspiration, such as:

• Tiffany’s, as an example of the enduring power of a brand’s color. We all recognize Tiffany blue boxes. My first website was inspired by Tiffany’s.
• Dolce and Gabbana, two designers who combined their shared passion for Italy and feminine curves to create a distinctive elegant style and a massive following. I remain true to my passion of color inspired by nature.
• Yuko Shimizu’s simple Hello Kitty started with a vinyl coin purse in 1974. When Hello Kitty turned 40 years old in 2014, this cat was doing $7 billion a year, without advertising. I’m always reminding myself that it is the simple ideas that take hold.

2.  Create a strong first and last impression

My live/work studio looks out directly across the Pacific Ocean. In the dark of late night and very early morning, I watch luxury cruise liners coming and going under the bridge. Every passenger’s first and last impression of San Francisco is a fleeting, glowing glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge under the inky night sky.

Art galleries don’t offer a very warm first impression, and representatives want to keep collectors and artists at a distance. Art galleries are stiff, cold, and intimidating. Why is everyone whispering? I do my best to build a warm and authentic personal connection with my collectors.

3.  Solve important problems

The Golden Gate Bridge solves a problem worth solving. It links San Francisco to Marin County. Without it, I would have a very long drive to wine country. The problem, or opportunity, that I observed was that despite the fact that our travel memories are often our most cherished, the only things readily available to remember them by in Napa Valley are tacky souvenirs and scenes of Tuscan vineyards. I set out to offer a meaningful quality alternative with my original oil paintings created in and of local vineyards, and exclusive edition fine art reproductions.

4.  Create highly functional beauty

Bottom line—design is vital because it communicates value. Not only is the bridge highly functional, it is classically beautiful, like the very best user interfaces and branding. I love design—in art school I actually majored in industrial design and minored in graphic design. I was a horrible painter in art school; I learned how to paint later. I’m keen on design because it is creative problem solving of the highest aesthetic order.

5.  Remain flexible

Entrepreneurs can meet unpredictable challenges best when we remain flexible. The Golden Gate Bridge has expansion joints so that it can bend under the pressure of earthquakes.

When I first started my business, I painted wineries’ vineyards, sold them the reproductions at wholesale, and they hosted me at wine tastings where I sold the original oil paintings. Initially, it was a good plan. I received national press including features on HGTV and in Fortune and the Wine Enthusiast magazines.

ut my foundation was rocked. A very big winery had me complete 100 paintings of their five Sonoma vineyards, and then they decided not to bother to host me at wine tastings. I had a lot of inventory and no productive sales channel to sell it. I had way too many eggs in one basket. Then another reputable winery did the same thing. I had written contracts with both of them but I could not afford the legal fight. This earthquake and aftershock sent me into a financial tailspin. Once I steadied myself I focused my attention on private commissions, and found that not only would collectors pay me upfront, they were more pleasant and easier to work with.

6. Anchor yourself in the bedrock

The entrepreneur must dream, yet be grounded and practical to thrive. The graceful design of the Golden Gate Bridge draws your eyes from the ocean up toward the California sky. This structure may reach toward the heavens, but it is made of steel and it is firmly anchored into the earth, into 100-feet of solid bedrock.

When I announced that I was moving to one of the most expensive cities in the nation to paint for a living, for the first time, a number of people thought that I was as high as the Golden Gate Bridge. But I knew that my practical corporate gig was sucking my soul, and that is not very practical. So I established a specific goal to sell over $100K of my art in 2005. Then I wrote and maintained a project plan to do it. My practical business skills came in handy, and I exceeded my goal.

7. An entrepreneur is an artist

oseph Strauss, the main architect of the Golden Gate Bridge, was not only an ambitious engineer, he also happened to be a poet. Reminding me of my friend Dr. Elliot McGucken’s wisdom (nicknamed Dr. E by hip hop-mogul Russell Simons and Dr. Dre): “Every artist is an entrepreneur and every entrepreneur is an artist.” Highly successful entrepreneurs are natural creative problem-solvers. Every business, and every artist, must solve a problem to succeed.

THERE ARE BIG PROBLEMS WITH A LOT OF ART:

• Art galleries are disconnected from the artist—they’re flat, cold, and frankly, they’re boring.
• Art is mostly experienced as decor, or like background music, where the artist remains generally anonymous and the viewer has no relatable or meaningful context to help them connect with the art or the artist.
• Many travelers want to buy art to celebrate their memories, but what’s available to them as art is mostly unrefined and cheap souvenirs.

I SOLVE THIS PROBLEM BY:

• My collectors actually enjoy buying directly from the artist over art galleries. And I take full advantage of that by building a relationship with my collectors.
• I deliberately invite people into my creative process with the intention of providing a meaningful context and making my work relatable.
• Travelers are seeking local flavor. My art is inspired by my adopted home. Each piece is an authentic reflection of a place and a moment in time.

These are some of the lessons that I have learned, but I’ll be the first to admit, I’m still learning.

Listen to my interview with Alex Blumberg of NPRs “This American Life” and “Planet Money.”

This week I was in Creative Live’s San Francisco recording studios as a student and not an instructor.

I enrolled in a storytelling course for podcasters taught by Alex Blumberg.

I’ve been listening to Alex for a decade and a half on “This American Life.” So when he chose to interview me, it was a bit surreal.

This disembodied voice was now embodied six inches away from me, holding a microphone, as we reviewed the most significant events in my life.

Examining turning points in my life, while being recorded in front of a worldwide audience, was not something I ever expected to do.

It felt like a life-review it’s said that we experience just after we die and just before we vanish back into stardust.

It was cathartic, therapeutic, and a complete affirmation of why I am so compelled to help other artists.

Down load and listen to this first generation American’s life as an artist.

Maybe you can relate?

If so, please share how. Leave a comment below and share with two friends.

Many artists dream of making their living from their art full time.

And they pine to be free of a boss or a “Team Leader.”

I get that. The last “Team Leader” I had was nick-named “Snotty Scotty.”

I did not dub him this. He earned this title all on his own from his long-standing colleagues, who wanted me to take his place.

Why? Because he was often dropping the ball.

He was a vector of evil that made it impossible for me to even think of returning to another corporate cubicle after I quit.

So in a way, he was actually an angel.

But guess what? Even though I have my own business, I still have a boss.

“I have met the enemy and sometimes she is me.”

Why? Because my boss:

• Doesn’t give me enough praise
• She barely lets me take a day off
• She will not give me a pay raise. She goes on and on about how we must invest profits back in the company. Jeez!

Why am I sharing this story?

Because I’m currently mentoring a self-employed jewelry designer from Canada who realized that not only does she have a crappy boss (herself), she’s got an unproductive employee (herself.)

Why? Her employee:

• often doesn’t show up to work
• comes and goes and she pleases
• treats her job as a hobby

The boss (herself) can’t fire her employee (herself).

Because if her boss looses her key employee, the company will fold.

Clearly it’s time to heal these working relationships to create a more productive work environment.

My recommendation was that her boss give her employee more praise and constructive feedback.

And that her employee get off her ass and stop taking her job for granted!

Clearly, they need to build mutual respect.

In her weekly mentoring update, she reported that she had done just that and had a much more productive work-week. She said,

“I now realize that daily praises work!!

They boost me to take extra steps!

So now I will continue with writing/creating praises for myself for my business to be my best cheerleader!!!”

-Denise Parenteau

Whether you are a full-time or a part-time artist:

• What kind of a boss are you?
• Would others want to work for you?
• What kind of an employee are you?
• What would your boss write in your annual review?
• Would others hire you?

Let us know in the comments below.

The truth will set you free!

Many artists see making art and selling art as separate and conflicting endeavors.

But making art and selling art are not in conflict.

They are part of a complete creative cycle, a positive feedback loop.

How do I know?

First, I know that creating innovative marketing strategies is just as creative as oil painting; I’m just using different mediums. And I LOVE both.

So much so that I create marketing strategies for other artists.

Marketing is about ideas and messaging.

Isn’t that what art is all about? It’s this the essence of art?

If you are an artist who has found someone to take care of all of the marketing and selling mumbo jumbo, good for you.

But mark my words; it’s only a matter of time before you fall out of favor with the art establishment.

Why? Because they have their own interests and you may or may not continue to support those interests.

And so for that reason, the art establishment does not owe us any apologies.

Why is making art and selling art part of a complete creative cycle?

Because art needs an audience.

Think about it. What if a talented pastry chef made amazing, locally sourced, organic creations? But no one ever tasted them.

That would leave the pastry chef feeling not so inspired or affirmed.

Plus, the pastry chef spent all that money on ingredients and kitchen supplies and has no way to recover the cost of goods.

How much are you spending on art supplies? Have you added it up? Are you generating a profit? How much?

Should all art be sold? Of course not!

Not all pastry should be sold either. That’s why chefs have test kitchens.

Should you think about selling art before or while you are making art? Of course not!

Does an attorney think about selling their services while they are preparing for a case?

No. They must focus on the task and hand.

There is nothing more inspiring to me as an artist than getting paid for what I joyfully make.

Selling my art ignites my creativity and affirms my talent.

My experience of artists who suggest that there is a conflict in making art and selling art, is that they are just not selling much art.

So they make up this story about their creative integrity and “selling out” and they stay stuck in frustration.

Here’s the thing. There is no mandate to sell your art.

Making art, in and of itself, is a very worthy pursuit and it doesn’t mean you should make a business of it.

But if you want to sell art, it will only happen if you are completely free of conflict about it.

And why should you feel conflicted? Every artist I know loves to selling their art.

Do you feel conflicted? Let’s hear it. The truth will set you free. Leave your comments here.