This week’s episode features artist Chanelle Jefferson. Chanelle is based in rural Nova Scotia where she regularly sells her original canvas paintings and hosts retreats. She is an energy, mind, and emotions practitioner, which she uses to help guide her customers through the process of commissioning a very special and meaningful piece of art. Chanelle uses her skills to extract the right information/emotions/descriptions from customers in order to understand their situations and create a custom piece embodying those emotions. This interview emphasized the importance of intuitively making busi ..read more

This week’s episode features Texas artist Bryan Peterson. This is not your typical business talk but rather a reminder to create the art that makes you happy. Art that evokes emotion within the artist and creates excitement within the process. We take it back to the basics of drawing/painting because you love it rather than to make a dollar. If the product is great, the customers will buy. But what your version of great is compared to mine is vastly different. It depends on the subject, color, style, meaning, etc.. What you like to create is not what I like to create, and that’s the beauty of ..read more

This week’s episode features New York artist ELLE. She’s been featured in a variety of different high-profile brand collaboration projects and has traveled around the world painting murals. I always give the advice of doing a free mural or two to get practice/photos to advertise later, but ELLE got her start painting, not just for free, but illegally on the streets of New York. She put her art in front of passerby eyes to see and get noticed in order to get jobs. She wasn’t just spray painting her name up on the wall. ELLE practiced to create eye catching art that served as a building block to ..read more

This week’s episode features sculptor/ceramicist Curt Hammerly. Curt sold and shipped over 5,000 pieces of work this past year at about $100 per item. You do the math, but this dude has the credibility to be giving us all advice on growing a social media following and making sales. With over 350,000 followers on Instagram, it’s best to listen when he gives tips on audience growth. Lucky for you, he gives plenty of no-bullshit advice in our hour long convo. He also drops the F bomb several times, which I appreciate because things like that help the conversation to not be so stiff. It’s basicall ..read more

This week’s episode features abstract artist Jenna Kast. This is yet another interview with an artist who has a completely different perspective on creating than I do: she thinks about the art first and the money follows. I tend to find myself thinking about how I’m going to sell a canvas before I create it, but not Jenna. She spent the early part of her career creating for others so that when she made the switch to running her own business it was all about painting whatever she feels like painting. That happens to be colorful abstract art which is sold through her social media and recent gall ..read more

‘Tis the season for taxes. Hannah Cole, artist and owner of Sunlight Tax, was kind enough to come on the podcast and answer some of the most common questions like: How should I file? When should I hire a tax professional? What items can I list as an expense/deduction? Listen to hear answers to these questions and be sure to check out her extremely helpful resources below: The Sunlight Podcast: Clear, actionable tips on how to manage your taxes and money as a self-employed person. Free visual guide to your tax deductions A free one-hour class, Make Taxes Easier and Stash an Extra $130k in You ..read more

This week’s episode features Ukrainian-born, now New Jersey-based, artist Olga Muzician. About halfway through this interview I realized - we have two very different work styles. Olga has the drive and need for perfection in everything she does. Everything is organized, clean, and as efficient as possible. There is no room for spontaneity or winging it in her work life. This interview is a great look at the opposite side of a previous solo episode I did where I confessed that I paint up to the value of my customer’s budget. If the customer is happy, I’m happy. With Olga, if she’s not making he ..read more

This is what the seasons of my business typically look like: Winter: Planning, practicing, resting - Do I want to repeat last year or change some things? How can I make this year more enjoyable? Spring: Experimenting, pitching - Stick to the plan and welcome new, fun opportunities. Summer: Hustling - Let’s go! Fall: Slowing, regrouping - Avoid burnout. Listen to this week’s episode to hear an explanation of each, including the things I’m currently doing in this winter season to prepare for having my most productive/profitable year yet. I also share recommended replacements for all of that neg ..read more

This week’s episode features art marketer Jessica Craddock. Jessica mentors ADHD artists who are tired of marketing strategies that don’t align with their personality to sell 3x more art. I like talking to other business minded creatives and I used this interview to extract some art marketing advice that I don’t regularly teach. Jessica comes from a business background and gives a clear look at her student’s businesses to help them simply describe their art and how to buy it. We chat on subjects like outreach, how to get referrals, and how to start selling canvas art in your local area. Let ..read more

This week’s episode of the Artist Academy Podcast features an Atlanta-based multi-passionate artist Elise Garcia. Elise has a positively infectious energy about her that I know will spill onto you to brighten your day. Her outlook on living a fearless life is commendable as she has some hilariously terrible travel incidents to share with us today. On the art side of things, Elise is still very much in the building phase of her business and trying anything and everything she feels called to. One big tip I picked up from this interview is something I will 100% be implementing this year: collab ..read more