She breaks down her income streams, shares her five-year vision for gallery representation, and explains why she wants her son to grow up watching her do work she loves while staying financially stable.
The post Being the Artist I Want My Son to See with Stephanie Brown (248) appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>When Stephanie Brown’s son is old enough to answer “What does your mom do?”, she wants him to see someone building a sustainable life around work they love.
In part two of our conversation, Stephanie gets specific about the day-to-day reality of running an art practice: the money, the decisions, and how motherhood changed everything.
Stephanie is transparent with her income breakdown: 20-25% consulting and speaking, 20% art sales, 20% workshops, and 35-40% grants. Knowing these numbers lets her make better decisions about what to grow and what to let go.
Her current approach includes:
- 5-year goal of being a full-time artist, obtaining gallery representation, and participating in international exhibitions
- Saying no to shows that don’t align with where she’s headed
- Consistent newsletters and direct outreach
- If forced to choose one income stream? Speaking, because it takes the pressure off making sales from her art
When Stephanie became a mother 17 months ago, people expected her to slow down. She accomplished more. Being home put her in more of a creative space, and the new demands made her realize she no longer had time to “goose around.”
She wants her son to see her doing work she loves while being financially stable—not so he’ll become an artist, but so he knows it’s possible to build a life around your passion.
That’s the example she’s setting.
Listen
STEPHANIE’S ACTION FOR YOU
Make a list of the top ten things you’re most scared to do in your art career. Then do the scariest thing on that list.
Maybe it’s reaching out directly to a gallery you admire. Maybe it’s raising your prices. Maybe it’s applying to that prestigious residency you’ve been bookmarking for years. Maybe it’s finally having an honest conversation about money with your partner or family.
The scary thing is usually the thing that will move you forward the most.
Stephanie Brown Quotes
“[A child is a] strain on the finances, that’s for sure. It’s just another thing to pay for. But for my art practice, it’s really pushed me harder.”
“Things that I’ve accomplished [since my pregnancy] is crazy. Like I’ve done so much.”
“I’m feeling my time left more. That’s just the reality of it, because it’s one thing to celebrate your own birthdays, but now you’re celebrating the birthdays of somebody else that depends on you.”
“When he’s old enough to articulate, what does your mom do? What do I want him to say? And I feel like these are the years where I get to hone what it is that he’s gonna end up saying. I wanna be a living, breathing embodiment of that.”
“There’s a freedom, I think, to seeing adults in your life do what they want to do and do what brings them joy and be financially stable.”
“I am more focused on myself. And being more focused on myself has been more fruitful, because I’m spending more time writing newsletters and reflecting and just talking about what I wanna talk about and sharing what I wanna share.”
Related Episodes
These episodes touch on juggling parenthood with an art career.
About Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown is an Atlanta based photographer and interactive installation artist. She is also the host of IN BTWN ARTIST, a podcast about navigating sustainable creative careers. Her conceptual artwork explores how people of African descent construct their identities through social, cultural, and systematic confines.
Stephanie identifies as an interdisciplinary artist interweaving mediums to narrate a greater contextual story rooted in historical research and contributes contemporary perspectives that empower people of African descent to discover themselves and take control of who they choose to be and become.
Follow Stephanie on Instagram: @createdbrown and @stephaniesquared_
The post Being the Artist I Want My Son to See with Stephanie Brown (248) appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>Elizabeth and I talk about how she has done it because she wanted to share her tips with all artist-mothers out there. She is also very honest about the bumps along the road.
The post Proving It’s Possible to be an Artist and Mother with Elizabeth LeMaster (ep. 188) appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>I would not be working anywhere near the field of art if it weren’t for my mom.
I had one of those mothers who enrolled me in every extracurricular from piano to dance to golf to art.
Piano … I did okay and took lessons for years. Dance … Still my favorite performing art and can get lost in it. Golf … I think I lasted 3 holes when we finally got on the actual course. Enough of that.
But art classes? That was my jam. I couldn’t get enough and Mom paid attention. She signed me up for everything she could find. And always encouraged my pursuits without questioning, as so many parents do, where it might lead.
At the same time, Mom had her own interests. She was a professional volunteer who seemed to have her hands in everything.
When I think of all the artist-mothers who give up on their art to focus on children, I am sad. I recall what a blessing it was to have my Mom and her life outside of me as an example. It still inspires me.
Elizabeth LeMaster, my guest for this episode of The Art Biz, has, like so many of us, more to balance than her studio practice and business. She has a family. A young family. A big family. A growing family.
How do you find time for working on your art when you have 6 kids under the age of 8? 
Elizabeth and I talk about how she has done it because she wanted to share her tips with all artist-mothers out there. She is also very honest about the bumps along the road.
Here’s my special Mothers’ Day conversation with Elizabeth LeMaster.
Listen
Highlights
06:12 Selling her art through a focused audience and relatively small subscriber base
10:06 Adapting art practices around motherhood
15:44 Strategic systems for productivity
19:51 Embracing the artist’s life while parenting
36:28 Elizabeth’s Artisan Christmas magazine
40:32 Elizabeth’s future plans
Join me!
Not as consistent with nurturing your list as Elizabeth is?
I’d love to you create and implement the networking part of your marketing plan in a new training season: Essentials for Cultivating Connections and Collectors.
We start by making you a plan in Your People Plan and then roll right into implementing that plan.
Mentioned
Artisan Christmas magazine
Photo Tip
If taking photos isn't easy, it isn't going to happen. Choose your branding to include the colors of your favorite sweater or house dress so that when things happen, you can prop up your phone and snap it. Crop out what you don't like. Lighting matters more. This is while we were turning our garage into a bedroom. Dropcloths on the floor, drywall and shelving leaning against the walls, but it was where I was. Plunk the kitchen sink plant on the top of the lumber stack, and voila! Do with what you've got.
Elizabeth LeMaster Quotes
“I don’t actually paint during nap time very often anymore, because if I can get everybody asleep or quiet, that’s gold.”
“When you have more than three children all of that for me came crashing down. I couldn’t juggle all of that until I completely rebuilt all of my systems.”
“Children are such a blessing and it’s such a joy to be able to take these kids and get on their eye level and say, ‘How do I want them to respond as an adult and teach them how to be good adults.’ ”
“If your priority is your kids, then make a no painting zone.”
”If I don’t get enough painting, I’m grouchy.”
“I consistently get in time on the business every single day, but I’m consistently making art every week.”
“People on Instagram, if you’re missing, they don’t notice. If you’re missing off your newsletter, my people notice.”
“Don’t give up on your God-given gifts and abilities because that’s where you will find that refilling and refueling that will do for you so much more than scrolling and Netflixing and all those other things where we go to be amused.”
Related Episodes
These episodes feature artists who discuss balancing parenthood with their work.
About My Guest
Elizabeth LeMaster works in both watercolor and oil to paint the beauty and light in roses and motherhood. Her #1 goal is to encourage mothers. She has sold online, in the Goddard Center art gallery, at artist led pop-ups, and at local arts and crafts shows. She is also the editor of the Artisan Christmas magazine and grows the peonies and roses you see in her paintings.
Follow her on Instagram @lemasterartistique
The post Proving It’s Possible to be an Artist and Mother with Elizabeth LeMaster (ep. 188) appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>To My Mom . . . Who is forgiven for not taking me to museums because she didn't want me to misbehave in public. (She was probably right.)
The post An Appreciation of Mothers and of My Mom appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>Here’s to the mothers who are artists.
And to the mothers who raise healthy, informed artists who make the world a better place.
To My Mom
Who had almost no interest in or contact with art, but who nurtured it in me (and her father).
Who encouraged me when I drew that first cardinal and blue jay in oil pastels and thought they were masterpieces.
Who signed me up for oil painting lessons when I was about 8 years old.
Who found every extracurricular art lesson available in Oklahoma City and paid for me to go.
Who framed my art, gave it as gifts, and even kept that ratty ashtray on the end table long after smoking was acceptable or mushrooms as decoration were fashionable.
Who hung my paintings, stored my large life drawings, and stuck dried flowers in that coiled vase that had an accident in the kiln.
Who still argues with me when I tell her it’s okay to get rid of some of that stuff now. She knows I’d plan a bonfire if she gave it to me.
(Update 2024: She finally let me throw out the life drawings from undergrad.)
Who didn’t flinch when I declared an art history major.
Who stuck by me when I went to grad school for, again, art history.
Who traveled to Eastern Tennessee with me so I could write a review of a show; to Lawrence, Kansas so I could see a dance performance; to Houston with me to visit the Rothko Chapel; and to Ohio to listen to a keynote I gave to an artist group.
Who threw a 30th birthday party for me at an art gallery, invited 100 of my closest and lifelong friends, and who installed 30 years of my art, with Dad’s help, throughout the space.
Who attended all of the openings for the exhibitions I curated at the museum.
Who dug weeds at the museum when our budget was so small that we couldn’t afford groundskeepers.
Who is forgiven for not taking me to museums as a child because she didn’t want me to misbehave in public. (She was probably right.)
Who worried for me when I quit my museum job, sold my belongings, packed up a U-Haul, and moved to Denver.
Here’s to you, Mom.
And to all of the other amazing mothers who will read this. You have a huge job just being a responsible parent. I commend you for also nurturing your life as an artist.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Related Content
These episodes of The Art Biz focus on artists who are balancing their art with their roles as parents.
This post was first published May 11, 2014 and has been updated with original comments intact.
The post An Appreciation of Mothers and of My Mom appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>We discuss how she leans on her artist community, structuring her days into pockets of time around her baby's schedule, and how she overcame the mindset that her art needed to be affordable.
The post Raising Prices on Your Art, Valuing Community, and Balancing Motherhood with Bri Larson (166) appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>There are only a few things that break my heart more than seeing an artist give up her career when she has children. And it is usually a her.
My sadness isn’t just for the artists who gave up a part of themselves, but for their children who never saw their parent, usually mother, following their dream.
Bri Larson is my guest for this episode of The Art Biz. We discuss:
- The value of her artist community—how they have supported her growth as an artist and, equally important, her journey into motherhood.
- How she has been able to maintain a studio practice with a baby, including how she structures her days around the baby’s schedule.
- Why having pockets of time rather than a blank schedule makes her more productive.
- Her decision to raise her prices and how she overcame the mindset that her art needed to be affordable.
- Her #1 piece of advice for would-be artist-parents.
a concept that I think many of us are familiar with but might not label it as such. Listen
Mentioned
Bri Larson Quotes
“I was still stuck in that mindset that a pot had to be affordable.”
“If I wanted to continue being an artist, I had to raise those prices.”
“It’s really important for me to prove that I can do this as my income and show my daughter that you can also do something creative and make money.”
“I am the sole caregiver because my art business gives me that flexibility where I can care for my child and do my art.”
“We’re doing it as a family, we’re doing it as play, we’re doing it as an activity to bond together, and so that kind of also frees me up to do that art and to keep going.”
“I was almost too afraid to get focused on the art and actually do the things that I find interesting.”
“I don’t really want to give Meta more money.”
Related Episodes
My guests in these episodes bring up parenthood and how they juggle family responsibilities with their art.
About My Guest
Bri Larson earned her BFA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, majoring in ceramics and minoring in painting. In 2018 she moved from Minnesota to Rhode Island to start a two year residency at The Steel Yard in Providence, RI. Being among blacksmiths, welders, jewelers and potters was transformative for her work.
Her studio is currently located at the Nicholson File Artist Community, in Providence, RI along with a small home studio she uses for short periods of time while her baby sleeps. Her work is an invitation for people to build connections and celebrate the objects and themes that reflect the things we all love.
Follow her on Instagram @brilarsonart
The post Raising Prices on Your Art, Valuing Community, and Balancing Motherhood with Bri Larson (166) appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>In this episode of The Art Biz, Kelly shares her income sources, which are dominated by sales of commissions, followed distantly by releases of small paintings.
The post She knows exactly how much her art income will be every month with Kelly Pelfrey (162) appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>Lately, I’ve been diving into money on The Art Biz.
As much as I do NOT want to talk about money, I know it’s necessary. I also know it’s more necessary for some artists to make money from their work than for others.
If you’re lucky enough to have outside support for your art business—even if it’s from a day job—count your blessings. Because the pressure on the work is real when you don’t have that extra source of income, which is why I will continue to bring up the topic of money.
Let’s continue the conversation in this episode.
Kelly Pelfrey’s goal in 2020 was to replace her $50,000 teaching salary, but she quadrupled that. Her income has allowed her husband to leave his job to focus on his doctorate, feel comfortable about taking maternity leave, and save for college for her children.
Kelly shares her income sources, which are dominated by sales of commissions, followed distantly by releases of small paintings. She also sells art for TV screens, has a monthly print release, and a coffee table book.
[ Procedures for Art Commissions with Sema Martin ]
Kelly obviously has the pulse of her best collectors. Her work is strong for sure, but I also believe that people are buying into Kelly’s joy and optimism. When you hear her and detect that in her voice, I think you’ll know what I mean.
Listen
Mentioned
- Kelly’s Guides for artists
- Kelly’s “TV art”
- Palmetto Publishing
- Teil Duncan’s book, The Color Teil
Kelly Pelfrey Quotes
“I had all this work and I just decided to think about and want it to be something that points people to beauty, that brings people joy—like a book. You open it, take a deep breath and you just can flip through a couple of pages, enjoy art.”
“I have no regrets, but I would encourage any artist that thought about [making a book] to look at making sure that it will be profitable. You don’t want 500 books sitting in your house reminding you of your poor decisions.”
“I typically advertise about seven spots [for commissions] per month…. I also will add in 1-3 spots for designers who reach out to me asking me to create a piece for their clients so that they don’t have to book out that far in advance. They are the ones I’ll make an exception for and slide them into my schedule where I have room.”
“Steady growth and learning what works, slowly increasing pricing, matching demand. So not doing big price increases that the demand wasn’t there for, but slowly increasing.”
“Everyone is their own boss of their inbox. They’re happy to unsubscribe but they need to.”
About My Guest
Kelly Pelfrey graduated with a BFA from the University of South Carolina in 2003. She was a lifelong resident of the Palmetto State until 2022, when she started a new adventure in Kalispell, Montana with her family.
Kelly continues to highlight the beauty of the southern landscape, its hospitality and deep sense of home in her still life and interior works, as well as create commissions for collectors throughout the United States and Canada.
Follow her on Instagram @kellypelfreyart
Watch
Prefer video to audio? Check out our conversation here.
The post She knows exactly how much her art income will be every month with Kelly Pelfrey (162) appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>Shannon Amidon has created a residency especially for, but not limited to, artists who might be parents or caretakers and can’t commit to the month or longer that some residencies require.
We discuss what she looks for in attendees, the mistakes artists make when applying, and more.
The post The Art Biz ep. 151: Running an Artist Residency Alongside a Studio Practice with Shannon Amidon appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>Artist residencies, in whatever form they take, are invaluable to an artist’s growth.
But there are barriers to doing residencies—primarily the time commitment and cost.
In this episode of The Art Biz, I talk with Shannon Amidon, an artist who has created a residency especially for, but not limited to, artists who might be parents or caretakers and can’t commit to the month or longer that some residencies require.
In my research on artist residencies, I have discovered how helpful it is when the residency involves some kind of travel, during which you are slowly transitioning away from your daily life and toward a different mental and physical space that opens up your creativity. The longer the travel, the better.
It’s also a plus when the residency environment contrasts with your familiar surroundings.
Shannon’s residency is The Verdancy Project, and while it’s easy driving distance from Portland, Oregon, it’s far enough out that you step into a new world. It’s for artists who want to be close to nature. As you will hear, it provides an experience distinctly different from the one most artists are used to.
We discuss:
- How The Verdancy Project is set up
- What the facilities are like
- What she looks for in her artists
- Some of the mistakes artists make on their applications
- How she learned the nuts and bolts of managing an artist residency
Shannon also reveals how she manages to run the residency while maintaining the commitment to her studio practice.
Listen
Mentioned and Related
Shannon Amidon Quotes
“It’s very important to have a focus on the kind of artists that you want to, host.”
“It’s been really wonderful to see the property and this experience through the eyes of a different discipline.”
“Artists need time to contemplate and gestate and plant seeds.”
“Artists have lives where we have to take care of families, work, pay the bills, do all of this stuff, and it’s all competing with our art practice.”
“I’m always encouraging people to try at least one [artist residency] because you really discover a lot about yourself, your practice, the way you work.”
“I’m really more interested in quality over quantity, so I really wanna keep being able to serve artists in the best way possible.”
About My Guest
Shannon Amidon is a professional visual artist and the founder and director of The Verdancy Project, a multidisciplinary community-oriented art experiment with a mission of fostering curiosity and inspiring environmental stewardship. In her art career spanning 20 years, Shannon has been featured in many solo and group exhibitions worldwide, curated group exhibits, garnered press, received several grants and fellowships, and participated in artist residencies all over the world, focusing on both art-making and ecological research. She often collaborates with other artists, scientists, activists, and researchers.
Follow on Instagram: @shannonamidon and @theverdancyproject
The post The Art Biz ep. 151: Running an Artist Residency Alongside a Studio Practice with Shannon Amidon appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>We discuss the genesis of this body of work (It’s a great story!), how Sara Lee focuses on the long game, how she keeps her ideas, and how she balances motherhood with her studio practice.
The post The Art Biz ep. 131: Injecting Personal Narrative into Your Art with Sara Lee Hughes appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>I’m a huge fan of the photographer Sally Mann who, in the documentary about her work titled What Remains, said that it never occurred to her to look outside of her home, family, and immediate vicinity to find inspiration.
So many artists feel they need to travel. To find exotic locations. Never exploring what is right in front of them or what they encounter in their daily lives.
This results in missed opportunities to make art that is uniquely your own.
In this episode of The Art Biz I talk with Sara Lee Hughes who is deep into a body of narrative paintings with recognizable imagery that is steeped in her personal story—going so far as to include her self-portraits in many of them. (As in the many faces of Sara Lee in the painting above.)
I wanted to ask Sara Lee about making work with her life experience at its core, and, honestly, the market for art that is so personal. The bottom line: Will art sell when it’s focused on the artist’s personal narrative?
Sara Lee says her ultimate intention is that she gets under your skin. That, when viewing her paintings, you start to question your actions and might even find yourself reflecting on the encounter weeks later.
We discuss the genesis of this body of work (It’s a great story!), how she is looking at her art in terms of the long game rather than seeking quick gratification, how she keeps her ideas, and how she has created a discipline that balances motherhood with her studio practice.
Listen to the Podcast
Highlights
- Waiting, Father Daughter Dance, and other paintings inspired by Sara Lee’s life. (1:55)
- The family letters that have helped Sara Lee navigate her true self. (6:57)
- Sara Lee’s 12-ft superhero cape and what it represents. (9:05)
- Painting from experiences results in sincerity. (11:15)
- Asking yourself questions can lead to your next inspiration. (14:55)
- Sara Lee’s decision to use her own face in her paintings. (18:19)
- The value of painting the part of your history that isn’t talked about. (21:32)
- There are parts of your story that anyone can relate to. (25:17)
- Using a list—rather than a sketchbook—to keep your ideas. (27:04)
- Does personal work sell? (30:20)
- Sara Lee’s approach to her art business, her schedule, and balancing motherhood. (32:39)
Sara Lee Hughes Quotes
- “These tossed-off sketches are seeds for the work that I’ve done in the last five years.”
- “When I paint from my own experience, there’s a sincerity in my paintings.”
- “All of my work is my personal experience, so who better to use than myself?”
- “My intention is to resonate with you through the works that have inspired me to be an artist.”
About My Guest
Sara Lee Hughes is a narrative painter living and working in Lockhart, Texas. Her representational narratives are influenced by growing up in the south during the 1970s and 80s with divorced parents and operate as metaphors for discovery, other-ness, identity, connection, balance and truth. As a body of work, they highlight moments, memories, and ideas that mark a journey of navigation through the differences between her gay father, straight mother and the socio-cultural norms of the era and those proceeding.
In her work she is most interested in exploring and sharing the connection she had with her father before his death of AIDS, the profound guidance it had on her life, and how this personal experience fits into our country’s broader social and cultural heritage.
Sara Lee studied classical drawing and painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she earned a certificate in painting and printmaking. She earned her MFA in painting from Pratt Institute.
Follow her on Instagram @sara.lee.hughes
The post The Art Biz ep. 131: Injecting Personal Narrative into Your Art with Sara Lee Hughes appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>Now she wants more. She knows there is more than posting and looking for sales online, so she has stepped back and reassessed. She’s ready for a brave step.
In this episode of The Art Biz, we talk about how she's approaching her business these days, how her Instagram strategy has evolved, and how she is preparing for her upcoming solo show.
The post The Art Biz ep. 119: Growing Beyond Being an Instagram Artist with Sara Schroeder appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>Or just felt icky or incomplete about the whole process?
In this episode (#119) of The Art Biz podcast I talk with Sara Schroeder.
Back in 2018 Sara was just getting into the groove of working in the studio again. She decided to start posting the work to Instagram, and followers began responding to it instantly. Within a year she had 10,000 followers. A few months later, there were 20,000.
Now she has more than 70,000 followers.
It was quick success. And a little unexpected.
You’ll hear the creative way Sara overcame the fear of selling and what she wishes she had known to do differently while in the throes of that success.
For more than a year, Sara has been using tools like journaling and the Enneagram to discover more about herself and explore where she wants her work to go.
Now she wants more. She knows there is more than posting and looking for sales online, so she has stepped back and reassessed. She’s ready for a brave step.
You’ll hear Sara mention the solo show she has scheduled. This is part of a challenge I issue to students in my seasonal programs because I believe that exhibiting in person and by yourself builds your courage muscles and professional chops.
We also discuss why her Instagram strategy has changed and what her new approach is for Instagram and marketing in general.
Highlights
- “I fell in love with making art all over again.” (2:00)
- The value of finding a dedicated space for your art. (7:11)
©Sara Schroeder, Pulp and Panel Poesie no. 53 of 100. Watercolor, hand painted collage, acrylic on 140 lb cold-pressed paper, mounted on cradled wood panel, 10 x 10 x .75 inches. - The difference between Sara’s maximum and minimal art. (10:18)
- Sara’s Instagram took off and the success quickly became overwhelming. (12:20)
- When app demands take over making artwork. (18:55)
- The evolution of Sara’s work since pulling back from Instagram. (24:07)
- The process of self discovery through journaling, meditating, and the Enneagram. (28:01)
- Details of Sara’s latest 100-piece collection. (32:00)
- How Sara would have handled her initial success and systems differently. (34:49)
- Sara’s modified Instagram presence and increased in-person collaborations. (39:47)
- Sara’s typical work week and why she starts work at 11am. (46:32)
Mentioned
- Lisa Congdon’s illustration classes
- Andy J. Pizza
- Art:21
- Enneagram
- Natalie Goldberg’s Freewriting
- Artist Planning Sessions
Sara Schroeder Quotes
- “I fell in love with making art all over again.”
- “I was stuck in this pattern of making a lot of less expensive artwork.”
- “I was spending so much time on Instagram that I wasn’t spending much time in the studio making the artwork.”
- “I felt I was being controlled by the app instead of doing what I felt like I needed to spend my time doing.”
- “I’ve given myself time to do things that are important to me rather than scrolling on my phone.”
About My Guest
Sara Schroeder is an abstract painter living and working in Miami, Florida. Her work is gestural, bright, and lively, and addresses the interplay between spiritual and corporeal worlds. Often, a grounding force is represented as well as rhythmic patterns of human existence. Sara finds conversations between our humanity and spirituality endlessly fascinating and uses multiple mediums and the emotive power of color to give visual form to this dialogue.
Follow Sara on Instagram: @saraschroederart
The post The Art Biz ep. 119: Growing Beyond Being an Instagram Artist with Sara Schroeder appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>But there's another kind of cleaning out that is even more important.
It's the purging of commitments we made at a previous point in our lives. Maybe we really needed them at the time. Or perhaps we agreed to them out of fear. Whatever it was, we've been hanging on to them long past their expiration date.
In this episode of the Art Biz Podcast, I talk with Lea K. Tawd about the obligations she eliminated in 2020 that allowed her to dive deeper into her creativity and step into her business more fully.
We discuss the book she wrote, how she structures her days as a mom with a 6-year-old who has to show up for the virtual classroom, and how she quickly replaced the income from an outside source she had been holding on to out of fear.
The post The Art Biz ep. 84: Money Mindset Breakthrough Secrets with Lea K. Tawd appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>But there’s another kind of cleaning out that is even more important.
It’s the purging of commitments we made at a previous point in our lives. Maybe we really needed them at the time. Or perhaps we agreed to them out of fear. Whatever it was, we’ve been hanging on to them long past their expiration date.
In this episode of the Art Biz Podcast, I talk with Lea K. Tawd about the obligations she eliminated in 2020 that allowed her to dive deeper into her creativity and step into her business more fully.
We discuss the book she wrote, how she structures her days as a mom with a 6-year-old who has to show up for the virtual classroom, and how she quickly replaced the income from an outside source she had been holding on to out of fear.
Music by Wildermiss.
Highlights
-
Creativity Unstuck by Lea K. Tawd. Lea K. Tawd shares her journey in art, motherhood, and self-care. (1:57)
- Getting back on track when you’re feeling off-center. (6:02)
- Lea recounts the various income streams of her pre-pandemic artwork. (11:10)
- What happens when you stop doing the work that you are afraid to let go of? (14:40)
- How to clean out old obligations in order to turn your ideas into an income stream. (17:44)
- Creating spaces, rituals, and schedules that will increase your energy. (21:19)
- Lea shares the ways that increasing her focus has also increased her income. (23:50)
- Advice for letting go of an income stream that you don’t love. (27:58)
- How to overcome a big, scary thing so that you can do the work you want to do most. (29:26)
- Cultivating the relationships that will support you through the hardest times. (33:17)
- Lea shares what is currently holding her attention in the studio. (34:27)
Mentioned
Lea’s Art & Reiki practice
Printful to create and sell products online
Creativity Unstuck: A Toolbox for Making More Art by Lea K. Tawd
Lea K. Tawd Quotes
“I was able to really let go of work that I had been doing for a long time, that wasn’t serving me, and it was getting in the way of me really creating my authentic artwork and my authentic business.”
“I always had this really strong feeling that if I could just stop doing that work and focus on my own business, that I would be successful, and that’s exactly what happened.”
“You have to do things that make you feel uncomfortable. I think really leaning into that fear and letting it be there while you do the thing is really important.”
About My Guest
Lea K. Tawd is an author, mixed media artist and Reiki Master. She uses Reiki in the creation of her art and combines the two to help others find deep inner healing and recover their creativity in private sessions, workshops, and retreats.
Lea seeks out the beauty in every woman and uses that vision to create mixed media art that inspires and heals. She often paints directly on wood, with the grains of the support often informing the work. The finished pieces are Utopian visions of inner beauty manifested that serve as a reminder to take care of yourself, to find moments of peace, kindness, and self-love.
Follow Lea on Instagram @LeaKTawdArtist
Music by Wildermiss.
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