Tag Archives: Art Biz Success

One Thing Leads to Another

Alyson Stanfield  >  Beyond the Studio podcast  >  Andrew Simonet  >  Artists U  >  Making Your Life as an Artist

A huge thank you to Alyson Stanfield of Art Biz Success, who recently put out a call to her Facebook connections for recommendations of podcasts and audio books, and then shared the link to the responses with her newsletter subscribers. I felt like I’d won the lottery in unearthing this treasure trove of new (to me) artist-recommended podcasts to listen to and to learn from while I work. After subscribing to about a dozen(!) of them, I struck gold with the very first episode I heard.

Artists Amanda Adams and Nicole Mueller state that their mission for their podcast, Beyond the Studio, is to help figure out the business of being an artist by “div(ing) deep into the work that happens beyond the studio”. I went back to the beginning of their archives and listened to their inaugural bookclub episode with Andrew Simonet. Simonet was a moderately successful (his words, not mine) choreographer and theater director for more than 2 decades and has transitioned into becoming an author as well. He knows something about the challenges of creative work.

Pennsylvania Peach

Pennsylvania Peach ©2019 Elizabeth Fram, Ink and colored pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches     Like colors seem to have a way of seeking each other out. The cover of this recent issue of Art & Antiques magazine could have been designed to pair with this peach at its peak ripeness and the cheerful summer napkin that kept its juice off my chin as soon as this drawing was finished.

Along the way, he founded Artists U which is based in Philadelphia and is “an incubator for changing the working conditions of artists”. The goal of Artists U is to help artists build a sustainable life and practice. I encourage you to go to the site to read more about them, and then, without delay, download the free book and workbook Making Your Life as an Artist. I don’t care what discipline you work in, this is one of the best, short reads/resources for moving forward with your work that I have come across to date.

One thing definitely leads to another, and the generosity of information-sharing lifts us all.
So with that in mind…pass it on!

❖

That First Peony © 2007 Elizabeth Fram, Textile collage, 22 x 50 inches

This week My First Peony made its way back from it’s 3+ year stint at the US Embassy in Riga, Latvia, where it was part of the Art in Embassies program. It came back in perfect condition, wrapped exactly as instructed (an occurrence that, unfortunately, rarely happens when work returns from venues far and wide). I feel privileged, especially at this point in history, to be a part of a program that values artwork for its ambassadorial capacity.
If only this piece could talk…

Don’t Forget to Check Your Rearview

Well here we are again, sandwiched between the holidays with December promising to be just as hectic as usual, but definitely in a good way. My plan for the next three weeks, in addition to trying to wrap up unfinished work, is to set aside a serious chunk of time, albeit in small segments, to map out my studio goals for 2018 and to reassess the ups and downs of 2017.

AQS Article

One of my goals for 2017 was to reach a wider audience through further publication. While the avenues that I actively approached didn’t pan out, this particular opportunity tapped me on the shoulder unexpectedly. It goes to show you never know.  You can read the full feature here

In past years there has been no lack of objectives to reach for, but I know my efforts will be so much more efficient moving forward if I thoughtfully map out a plan now rather than, as has been my habit, hurriedly cobbling together a fuzzy outline of goals during the first week of January.

Every six weeks or so I meet up with three other artists for an informal discussion group. Our topics vary widely but usually hinge on an issue that is relative to all, yet which one of us is grappling with specifically. Because of the variety of experience we each bring to the table, the resulting conversation satisfyingly tends to be wider-reaching than might be expected and is fruitful for each of us in separate ways.

AQS Cover

For those of you who may be interested in seeing more, Art Quilting Studio is a semi-annual compendium of visual inspiration. It can be purchased on newsstands, via their website, or even from Amazon.

Appropriately enough, our most recent conversation surrounded productivity in terms of goals and scheduling — on both a micro and a macro level. One aspect that was interesting to discover, although the way we do it differs by individual, is each of us has a system in place for tracking accomplishments throughout the year.

It is so easy to become swept up in the next big project once the previous venture is finished. Unless one makes an effort to record it, that victory can get lost in the shuffle. And celebrating our wins is important fuel for propelling us forward, don’t you think?

AQS Detail

Quiet Moment, detail, magazine image      ©2017 Elizabeth Fram

Alyson Stanfield, of Art Biz Success, is a huge advocate of setting aside time to close-out each year by reviewing the ups and downs of the previous twelve months. Doing so makes the road ahead both clearer and more directed. Her annual Year-End Review for Artists is a great place to start; she poses some of the hard questions we should all be asking ourselves each December in order to make the most of the following  January and beyond.

Now is the time to revisit and acknowledge all you’ve accomplished this past year and to decide how you will mark your achievements in 2018.
…And don’t forget to give yourself a pat on the back for your hard work!

Follow Up__________________________________________________________________________________________________

After last week’s discussion I cleaned my drawing/fountain pens following these easy instructions. I hadn’t noticed any problems before doing this, but I can tell now that it was a worthwhile tune-up.