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.

Artists Investing in their Businesses

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CIAI was pondering the investment required for my one-on-one artist consulting and coaching services.  Recently it has been suggested to me that the cost of these services are too low for the value that’s provided.  Although every one of my artist clients is different, and so are their results, most artists increase their sales to cover the fee during the time we’re working together.  If they don’t, artists can see clearly how they will increase their sales the near future.

This got me thinking and I decided to examine the current annual cost of the fine art education that I received. I attended the Cleveland Institute of Art, established in 1882, a prestigious member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.  This year the annual tuition is $47,780! The investment for my services? They’re a small fraction of the current annual tuition.

In 1987, the bachelors program I attended required five years.  I can’t imagine taking on that investment of money and time at this point in my life without a clear path to success in mind.  But for those students who have, I wish them the very best.  Because the odds are not good, even with the finest education from a prestigious art school.

Part of the artist dropout is simply unavoidable but tragically much of this is avoidable.  Even the very best art schools do not adequately prepare their graduates for the realities of the art market. If a student wants to become, and remain, a professional artist they’re going to have to make an additional investment.  That is an investment of time, money, and effort in learning and applying business and marketing principles to their art career, or rather, their art “business.”  If there’s no employer involved, we’re talking about a business, not a career.

I’ve said before that I believe that becoming a top artistic talent is much more of a challenge than learning about marketing and the business of art.  Evidence of this abounds.  We see mediocre talent in the art and music industries everyday. What’s happening?  A lot of mediocre does well when it is effectively targeted to a well-defined market.

Besides instruction, just think of what we must invest in art supplies, photography, framing, or show fees, etc.  Now why is it that are we not investing more in our businesses?