Kickstarting your Email Marketing: Why it’s Important and How to do it Right [36]

This week we’re diving into the topic of email and newsletters. For many artists, the thought of sending a regular email is daunting (what do you say? How do you say it?) Others haven’t even collected email addresses in the past. But don’t give up – we hope this will inspire you to crack on AND understand why this can be such a keystone for sharing your art.

Apple podcast

We’re hoping today’s discussion will inspire you to get started and/or to crank up your current efforts! The truth is that email has an important role to play in your marketing mix. Yes, social media is important, but when someone gives you their email address, they are taking a step closer to you – giving you a valuable opportunity to make and keep a connection.

We share tips, discuss areas where we could improve, and invite you to sign up for both our newsletters, so you can experience what happens when you do. All this as well as Bake-Off chat, new studio news and the exciting nature of the creative cycle.

I don’t assume the role of key marketing expert (and I have plenty of things I know I can improve!) but you will see a number of places on this website you can sign up to see more – which one tempted you most? (Most people say they don’t like pop-ups, but I can tell you it works the best!)

Click here for my specific page I mention, just for those clicking over from instagram with more specific wording:
https://alicesheridan.com/see-more/

Let me know in the comments below what one change you will make today for your own artist newsletter.

If you have a question you’d like us to discuss, click here to send it to us

If you are enjoying the podcast this is an easy and inexpensive way to help support it and ensure it continues. The demands of making it each week can be challenging. Your support is allowing us to hire some editing help. If you’d like to help out with a one-time or a monthly donation, you can “buy us a coffee” us at Ko-fi.com

Contribute to the podcast here:

Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio
or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits
“Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

How Finding Your “Why” Can Transform Your Art [35]

Can you explain why you do what you do? This can be an essential stage in establishing your art and helping you move through creative blocks and convey your story.

This week we also touch on ideas around money and Alice has been inspired by two “artist date” trips.

Apple podcast

Today’s discussion was promoted by a book and TED talk by Simon Sinek, both entitled ‘Find Your Why.’  Sinek’s main point is that when you know the purpose of what you are doing, it is so much easier to make the right decisions, achieve good results, and sell it to others.

As artists, we can explore this on several levels – why do I make my art? Why am I making this particular series of paintings? And, at the granular level, why am I making this one specific painting?

Our wide-ranging conversation spans the desire to create things, the need to be seen, the drive to communicate our internal experience, and whether what we are really seeking is love. (Deep stuff!) We also get into how you find your purpose. It isn’t something you can just come up with in 5  minutes. For most of us, it is a gradual process of discovery and it arises from the work we do. We also acknowledge that so much of this changes over time – even if we know our why at this moment, it may well change in future years.

What’s inspired us this week?

I just loved my visit to Kettles Yard House and Exhibition, the house of Jim Ede who had been a curator at the Tate Gallery in London during the 20s and 30s. He was a great supporter of artists and gathered a remarkable collection of artwork and small scuptures.

Jim and his wife Helen converted 3 cottages and displayed the art alongside natural objects with a belief that art should be enjoyed by everyone and held daily ‘open houses’. If you are ever in Cambridge this very special place continues to be free, true to Jim’s vision, (but you need a timed ticket) and is a must-visit. Very special. Also, you will want to go home, declutter and only keep what is personally inspiring, useful or simply beautiful!

Cider Screw and Miro at Kettles Yard House

Also Mentioned: Simon Sinek  TED talk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

https://www.colourtutor.com/

If you have a question you’d like us to discuss, click here to send it to us

If you are enjoying the podcast this is an easy and inexpensive way to help support it and ensure it continues. The demands of making it each week can be challenging. Your support is allowing us to hire some editing help. If you’d like to help out with a one-time or a monthly donation, you can “buy us a coffee” us at Ko-fi.com

Contribute to the podcast here:

Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio
or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits
“Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Working for Hire: What to Consider about Commissions [34]

Are commissions an essential part of being artist? Or do they scare you a little?

Apple podcast

This week’s discussion was sparked by a question we received from a listener. AJ asked this question about commissions:

“I am an up and coming artist with a handful of commission requests. I would love to learn about the professional way to handle commissions. How do you and Alice do this? How much do your charge? What do you do about edits? Should the client pay upfront or give a deposit?”

artist commission easel

The question led us into an interesting debate about how formalised a commission process should be. Alice sets clear parameters and her process has worked very well for her, while Louise has found that any kind of commitment feels heavy. She is therefore taking a much more informal approach (including refusing commissions unless they feel just right). 

We discuss practicalities (pricing, process, deposits etc), share our successes (as well as those that didn’t go so well), and debate the pluses and minuses of allowing client input during the creative process. 

While there is no one-size-fits-all “professional” methodology, the most important thing is for each artist to determine an approach that works for him or her (and make the parameters very clear to the buyer in advance). 

This week we also share some exciting studio news, celebrate the success of a fellow artist, and (literally) get a little bit potty-mouthed (!)

Mentioned: Zandra Stratford’s show at https://afternynegallery.com  (Until Sept 21st 2019) Find Zandra on Instagram @zandrastratford

If you have a question you’d like us to discuss, click here to send it to us

If you are enjoying the podcast this is an easy and inexpensive way to help support it and ensure it continues. The demands of making it each week can be challenging. Your support is allowing us to hire some editing help. If you’d like to help out with a one-time or a monthly donation, you can “buy us a coffee” us at Ko-fi.com

Contribute to the podcast here:

Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio
or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits
“Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Are You Expecting to Hit the Mark Every Time? And is it Wrong to Use a Camera? [33]

Do you feel the need for a “good” result every time you paint? Or hope for a painting that looks good at every stage? This can bring an added stress to making art and limit your ability to experiment.

Apple podcast
Art Juice podcast episode 33 making good art every time - a basketball scoring a goal

In this episode we discuss what might be at the bottom of this, quite natural, desire to feel satisfied and how we can work this into our process. 

We can all struggle with letting go of the need for a “good” result every time we paint – a good result meaning a finished painting or at least once that always looks good at every stage.

We cannot plan future work because all we have is past knowledge and that is too small and restrictive for what we need. Instead we need to follow the nudges of intuition and take a leap of faith that this will be true. Personally this is what making art has taught (is teaching!) me most – how to let go, welcoming the mistakes – errors which become family history, jokes – discovering rather than searching. It’s just where we need to be….

But first Louise has been taking trips out sketching and filming it all for course. Alice has been away in Cantabria, with the usual frenzy of things before a trip. Alice’s Yorkshire workshop is now sold out (if you’d like to hear about more please sign up HERE and mark yourself as an artist so you get any extra event messages).

Cloud Rainbow
Have you ever seen a cloud rainbow like this? No filter or tweaking!

Also, one listener asks “Am I not going to move forward in my art if I keep using my phone?” and we have some ideas of the advantages and disadvantages of using your phone as a recorder and where it may be holding you back.

Mentioned: Kyle Cease podcast interview – creativity and taking that one step (Warning; curse words!)
https://podtail.com/en/podcast/you-made-it-weird-with-pete-holmes/kyle-cease/

If you have a question you’d like us to discuss, click here to send it to us

If you are enjoying the podcast this is an easy and inexpensive way to help support it and ensure it continues. The demands of making it each week can be challenging. Your support is allowing us to hire some editing help. If you’d like to help out with a one-time or a monthly donation, you can “buy us a coffee” us at Ko-fi.com

Contribute to the podcast here:

Follow Alice on Instagram @alicesheridanstudio
or Louise @louisefletcher_art

Credits
“Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License