By: Liz DeMarco As creative artists, we’re very passionate about what we do. However, I think we’ve all had those times where someone you don’t know very well asks, “So what do you do for a living?” We answer the question honestly, “I’m an artist, freelancer, entertainer, musician, actor, etc.,” and even though we love […]
We long for connection, guidance, and encouragement from other artists. Although these things may make our creative journey easier, they won’t necessarily make us any better. Creative isolation I didn’t know any writers growing up. In my neighborhood, we didn’t have some wise eccentric neighbor who was a writer. There was no role model, […]
Whether you are a writer, a painter, or any other type of creative artist you know that your life and your art are constantly evolving. Like any other journey this one has a beginning, a middle, and an end (so to speak) and each stage comes with its own set of rewards and potential pitfalls. The courage to […]
by: JoAnneh Nagler Can we really have it both ways? Here’s the thing: artists are sensitive creatures. Starving and struggling does not, in the end, work for us. It’s like running too much electricity through already delicate circuits. It doesn’t help us focus on our art, or our creative inspiration. We think—from years of being fed […]
Is using technology to create a work of art cheating? Is how we create something really more important than what we create? Does the Medium Matter? by: Alison Huff Is how we create something more important than what we create? Throughout history, art has always reflected the culture of the period it was created […]
by: Angela Cross As an artist, you’ve probably felt unappreciated at some point in your career. Heck, even calling your art a ‘career’ might sound silly to you! It’s a common 20th-century misconception that popularity equals value. It can feel like you just can’t build a following unless you already have one, which is a […]
by: Haley O’Bryan I never wanted to go to college. I wanted to move to Milan and become a famous author/artist/runway model/owner of 17 dogs. Only being 18 with strict parents and no cash can be limiting, though, so I did end up going to college after all. And given my creatively-influenced aspirations, I chose […]
Judging a book by its cover Book covers are probably more important than you think. It doesn’t matter if you are publishing a book, an ebook, or just a PDF that you plan to give away on your website, the cover will often determine how many sales or downloads you will end up getting. Why? […]
What’s your creative process? by: Tara Leaver Even if you’re not a painter or a writer or a musician, there are likely places in your life where you do have a creative process, even if you haven’t seen it that way before. If you think about it, bringing anything into existence, from an email […]
It’s not about having the right tools or gadgets, it’s about putting in the work. Whether you are writing a novel, painting a picture, or trying to capture the perfect photograph. We like easy Let’s face it, we all love our shortcuts and gadgets. Whether it’s about making our waistlines smaller, our creative work better, or our […]
Listening to people criticize our creative work is never easy, but it’s going to happen. So how do we take a punch in the ego and then get back to work? The creative writing teacher from hell In college, I had a creative writing teacher who told us the first week of class that his job […]
Most of us don’t need any more goals or things to add to our to-do list. What we need is a way to focus our mind and cultivate our creative soul… I was exhausted. Most days my head would hit the pillow and I would wonder, what did I really accomplish today? What was wrong with […]
Creative Inspiration to Go by: Rebekah Nemethy If you’re anything like me, you love to learn new things and may wish you had more time to do it. No matter how busy your schedule is, I bet there are plenty of times when you’re on autopilot and your brain could use a little engagement. You […]
Why I stopped talking to myself Back when we first met, we all seemed to get along okay. He was always kind of chatty but it didn’t really bother me because it was usually nice to have a familiar voice nearby when I stumbled into a new or uncomfortable situation. For whatever reason he […]
Time to create or cut bait? Have you ever been in the middle of a project only to discover that you have completely lost your enthusiasm for it and now it seems you’re just going through the motions? So how do you know when you should continue working on a project, and when you should […]
Where do I even start? Have you ever had one of those days where you felt completely overwhelmed because you had too many ideas swimming around inside your head and you just didn’t know where to begin? Perhaps you drank one too many Red Bulls that day, or maybe you went somewhere that really inspired […]
The Courage to be Imperfect If you’ve read anything I’ve written in the past for this site, it will probably come as no surprise to you that I often misuse (some say abuse) the English language. So I frequently find myself scurrying about the internet searching for a definition or origin of a particular word until […]
Amateur Art Amateur artists have gotten a bad rap. There seems to be a growing rift in the creative world between “professional” and “amateur” artists, writers, musicians, etc… and I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t made things any better by writing articles with ominous titles such as “The 9 Warning Signs of […]
We have an expression around our house that we tend to use on everything from solving tricky Algebra problems, to practicing instruments, to eating icky green vegetables — and that is the saying “Some is better than none”. All or nothing… Sometimes as creative artists we can get locked into this idea that if we […]
Who Pays Who? by: Andrew MacDonald When I started out in the arts and craft world over twenty years ago, I don’t think the idea of “artist’s application fees” had been invented. As far as I remember, in order to enter submit a work to an art competition you sent some recent photos and sometimes […]
When you change one thing, one habit, your whole life changes. Patterns renew and re-chemicalize to meet the new habit Becoming an Archaeologist of Joy by: Niya Christine In November 2012, in a Seattle Starbucks, I painted a Starbucks cup as fast as I could for fun. And, it was. In fact, it was so […]
So what scares the crap out of you? People always tell me they can’t think of anything to write about on their blog. For me the problem has never been coming up with ideas, but instead it has always been about having the courage to sit down and expose myself to the world. I’m not […]
Taking Control of your Creative Life by: Michaela Cristallo You’re showing up to the studio every day, you’re making art and you feel like you’re on the right track, but do you ever wonder if you’re making the right kind of progress to get to where you want to be? It’s wonderful to create freely and […]
Practice, practice, blah, blah, blah…. Okay we get it. By now we’ve all heard the great secret of success is that you have to sit down and practice more. Then again if we did everything we are supposed to do, we probably wouldn’t have all of these infomercials trying to sell us the latest […]
Artists statements, what do they really mean? by: Andrew MacDonald Whether you love them or hate them, artist statements seem to be a fixture of the visual art world. So in order to help you make sense of them, and read between the lines, I have compiled a list of frequently used terms from artist statement […]
How can I create more art? How do I become a better artist? How can I get more people to see my work? What the $#!@ is a “Skinny Artist”? These are the kind of questions that people ask me all the time. Unfortunately I’m stumbling around in the dark like everyone else. Occasionally I’ll […]
Who are You? by: Angela Cross Brand (verb) – To mark indelibly. Think of branding as a stamp, by which people will be able to recognize you. Branding is a process of clarifying who you are as an artist and what your goals are. A strong brand can capture a potential fan or patron’s […]
Art is Work Creating art is a valid career. There seems to be this perception in our culture that art is not really a profession but more of a hobby. That creativity is a pastime, not a true vocation. It’s no secret that many of us see our day jobs as monotonous, boring, and […]