Start where you Are Now

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Experienced and not so experienced artists alike often ask: where do I start to build success as an artist?  I hear it all the time, “I’m not sure where to start. I need a plan to help me focus.”

You have to start with yourself and where you are today.  And be clear about what you want to create.

First of all let’s define success.  Are we talking about making art that you are proud of, that inspires, and earning money from it?  Yes?  Then you are not just an artist, you’re an entrepreneur.  That’s right!

Own it, even if feels audacious. “I’m an artist and an entrepreneur.” Yes. These two words do belong in the same sentence.

Now understand that you, and you alone, are responsible for your success and your failures. Really. I mean take complete responsibility. When you do that, you’re empowered.  It’s not simply a matter of being discovered or getting the right exposure.  Why wait and hope for that?

And with this premise the next step is to just be honest and evaluate yourself and your present circumstances.

What are you strengths?

Do you have talent?  Do you really have talent?  Do you need more training?

Do you possess the business and marketing skills, the qualities, and the drive of an entrepreneur?

Have you taken the time to define your goals?

Do you have a written plan that you are confident about?

Do you manage your time and your energy effectively?  Why not?   Time is a limited resource, obviously more limited than money.  Managing priorities provides the keys to the kingdom of productivity.

Be honest.  This is tough stuff.  But the truth will set you free.

If you’re an artist.  Proclaim it.  Own it.  I’m a successful artist!

So get real, start with yourself, where you are right now, today.  Can you do this with a balanced perspective?  Do you need some help with this?  Successful people don’t do it alone.  Note all of the people thanked when an artist wins an Emmy or a Grammy.

Ask yourself.  Where am I right now?  Then be bold and ask.  Where do I really want to go?

There is NO Virtue in Poverty

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Of course you know that the tile of this domain is ArtistsWhoTHRIVE and the subtitle, “a community of entrepreneurial creatives.”  Yes.  We are talking about capitalism for creatives.

So if you are an artist who thinks that there’s any virtue in poverty, then you’re in the wrong place.  This all too common and twisted belief is simply just a cop out that too many artists can lean on.  And it feeds a negative and disrespectful cultural sterotype of the “starving artist”.

I say take responsibility for building your success and then you’ll thrive and be in a better position to be your brother’s keeper.

A lot of people, I’m not just picking on a few artists, have highly charged negative and fearful emotions around money and commerce.  They equate money with dishonesty, control, and power.  Money is neutral, it’s just a tool.  Like a hammer you can build something with it or knock someone in the head.

I don’t have the patience, or a license, to council ever-suffering or bitter artists.  And that’s not why I founded ArtistsWhoTHRIVE.  Note the word THRIVE in all caps.  And this is why I maintain a no whining policy.  If you think you must suffer, have at it.  Just please don’t bore me or this community with it because I won’t feed the negative energy or post your comments.

If you have something constructive to say or a real question, then please, do tell.

Now I don’t want to give the impression that I have no compassion because I have suffered in my lifetime. And I’ve helped others who are genuinely suffering when I worked at a shelter for abused women and children and for disaster relief.

The point is, there’s good news!  We are in the midst of a cultural and economic revolution.  The scarcity model of artist representation is dissolving before our eyes with the power of the Internet fueling it.  We see this clearly in the music industry.  American Idol celebrates the old scarcity model that represents only a tiny fraction of formulaic talent.  But the Internet has given us the freedom to fully express ourselves and to reach those who are like us and who want to buy from us.

Do you want to get paid well for doing what you love?  Then you’re going to have to learn, just like I’ve had to. And those who whine less get more done. And in my case, drink more good wine.

Let’s get Real. Do you have talent? Have your found your artistic voice?

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Contestants on American Idol amuse millions when they are absolutely convinced of their talent but they are completely oblivious to their flaws.  We are entertained as they realize that the experienced judges beg to differ.

Frankly, a few artists approach me for coaching and consulting and they just don’t have it.  But taste and style is very personal so it’s not for me alone to judge. And they never follow through on consultations and coaching.

What I emphasize to my artist clients is that the truth will set you free.  Come on, be very honest with yourself about how your work stacks up in your category in the art market.

If you’re overly critical and lacking confidence then you are not performing a clear headed evaluation.  If you haven’t had formal training, you must access credible guidance.

By the way, I don’t offer art critiques.  I’m in the business of selling art,  my own, and part time helping select artists sell theirs.  I assume that you’ve passed the talent test and I won’t comment on the quality of your work.

And don’t let one person’s opinion shoot you down.  Look for a pattern in others observations.  I had a design professor in art school that I interned for when I was 20 years old.  He owned a firm that did hand drawn architectural renderings. I respected him and wanted to be like him.  But then he started to say, repeatedly in class and at work, that men could draw better than women.  I was the only woman at the firm and a minority in my art school’s department.  How do you think his sexist comments made me feel?  Do you think it helped me gain confidence and skill?  It absolutely interfered with a very expensive private art education.

Looking back, this was one of several experiences that led to my abandoning my creative career for over one and a half decades. But many of us have experienced serious challenges so I’m less interested in your horror stories and more interested in how you too have overcome them.  Hence the title of this community: ArtistsWhoTHRIVE.    I invite you too share how you discovered your own talent, voice, and confidence.

Confidence and Personal Inner Resources

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OK I admit it. I watch American Idol.  And when I do,  part of my fascination is watching what’s required of these emerging artists.  Many haven’t found their true voice and clearly their skill requires honing.  Obviously it’s about their talent but the underlying story is their ability to weather the very public humiliation and rejection and still keep going.  It’s like being in a Roman Colosseum battling emotion and ego.

Artists engage in their craft because they are passionate about it.  It gets them high, so to speak.  What an artist shares comes from the depths of their heart.  So rejection and criticism can be biting, at the very least.  Of course, we don’t have to put ourselves out there. Except if you want to get paid, you do.  A plumber, a doctor, a financial analyst never has to deal with such deeply personal matters of rejection or acceptance.

And when we place our treasured craft into the world of commerce we are subject to the market’s whims and we have to understand and play by the complex rules of business.  This does sometimes leave me feeling like I maintain a split personality.

But I not only accept this, I embrace it.  The good news is that I’m only trying to win over a very select few, a clearly defined targeted market of art and wine enthusiasts. In fact, I thought that David Mathison, author of “Be the Media” put it well.  He said you really only need a 1000 fans.  This is also a lesson taught by Chris Anderson, author of the “The Long Tail”. Anderson explains the new economics of culture and commerce and “why the future of business is selling less of more.”

Once I read my letter of recommendation from Wayne Thiebaud in 1999, I found one part most flattering, but also the most important thing I always remember is “She has a well-developed confidence and personal inner resources allowing her to use critical confrontation for positive results.”  Without this I think I’d be headed straight for the lions.

Academy of Art University of San Francisco – Ending an Artist’s Career Before it Starts?

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The Academy of Art University of San Francisco was founded in 1929 and it currently has almost 16,000 students enrolled.  The Art Academy is a for-profit (not a dirty word) institution and a Hasbro Monopoly-like landlord of San Francisco.

I’ve hired several eager and capable interns from the Academy of Art and I have to say that I’m concerned that they will, like so many graduates with a fine art degree, never be full time artists.

I’ve got no doubt that they have received capable art instruction or the Academy of Art couldn’t possibly enroll so many students.  However, it puzzled me to learn that the Academy of Art has no admission requirements.  Prospective art students do not have to have “any art experience.”  They don’t even have to show a portfolio of their work.

Can you imagine applying for Julliard and not having to audition?  Images of American Idol come to mind.  We all know that the arts are a tough business so stacking the odds in your favor with the best education available is a minimal strategy.

It also appears that the Academy of Art University pays little to no attention to teaching the business and marketing aspects of selling one’s art.  This is mission critical and this missing piece of education could end an artist’s career before it starts.

Like it or not, art school graduates had better be good at something else besides creativity or they’re not going to make it.

The good news, in my opinion, is that developing a “marketing mindset” is not that difficult nor is it beyond the capability of a reasonably intelligent person.  So why not make business and marketing a cornerstone of the standard curriculum?  One reason?  Because generally professors are academics, not entrepreneurs.  And so there’s no need for them to fuss about unique value propositions and target markets, or even respect these basic business concepts.  But guess what?! A thriving full time artist is an entrepreneur extraordinaire.