Stages of Becoming a Professional Artist

Is this you?

There are so many stages of developing as an artist, and the needs are different in each one. Check these categories and see where you fit.
​Discovery
  • Starting or re-starting your work as a solo artist
  • There's a dream that's been nagging at you. You don't know if it is your calling or just a pipe dream. Do you have what it takes? Is it the right time in your life? How do you make the time and space for it?
  • You have a secret fear that you might not be a "Real Artist" or that your work might not be "good"
  • You used to make art, but life has taken you in other directions for a long time. You keep trying to open that side of you again, knowing that you used to love it, but it doesn't stick. How do you get traction and really step into your creative life again in the context of an adult life?
  • You may be still taking classes as a way to gain more skills or just have a context to do your work, but you are beginning to feel like it might be time to launch soon
What you need now:
  • a place to share your work without critique or judgment so that you can see and feel it received
  • help thinking about how to create time and space that supports your creative work outside of a class situation
  • community of peers who are also following their creative dreams so that it feels like a reasonable pursuit
  • accountability to help you actually get to the studio and do the thing that is important to you
  • guidance to help you through all the self-doubt and negative self talk- how to deal with the studio gremlins!
Developing your Voice
  • As you look at your work to date, you see a few gems, but the work is inconsistent.
  • You have too many different ideas and no clear sense of your real direction.  You can feel scattered or overwhelmed
  • You're committed, you have lined up the resources, time, and support you need, but  you are facing major doubts- procrastination, self-sabotage, isolation, lack of motivation, etc
  • You have been working on the creative dream and you are struggling with how to balance your life. There never seems to be enough time or energy
  • You have the sense that you could be doing more, going deeper, and finding greater satisfaction in your creative life.
  • You have taken all the classes you want—you know how to make your work and you don't want anyone telling you what to do anymore. You have time, but somehow you are not getting to it without the structure of the class.​
What you need now?
  • A way to share your work with people who are equally committed and skilled so that you can hear how it lands and you can  articulate what the work is saying, and understand the value of it
  • guidance in dealing with the ever present and ever evolving studio demons and limiting beliefs
  • community and accountability so that you can stay the course 
  • a way to begin to look at the art world and the options for how to get your work out there without the pressure to push into it before you are ready
Getting ready to put the work out into the world
  • You know that you find your work compelling, but you don’t know how to tell a coherent, compelling story about it.
  • You want to show your work publicly, but you are not sure how to find the right place or how to approach gatekeepers.
  • You are trying to get all the professional pieces together and promote yourself, but you are overwhelmed with all the details and unsure of your profession materials. ​​
What you need now
  • a community of peers with a similar set of values, who all respect each other's work for it's individuality, quality and integrity- who are honestly excited for each other's successes and supportive through the challenges
  • guidance in dealing with the ever present and ever evolving studio demons

Dealing with sales
  • You want to get your work in front of an audience and sell it, but you get tangled in what you think they want. It makes it hard to keep connected to your true work.
  • You do not know how to price your work.
  • You trip all over yourself when talking to potential buyer.

Why does coaching for artists work?

The needs of each artist are different depending on the person and also on the stage of development. However, there are some basic similarities.
​
When you have a desire and you can't seem to get it moving, there are two major areas that need help:
  • The first is practical: clarifying your purpose and setting manageable goals, timelines, next steps, etc.
  • The second is the part that usually gets in the way: the more psychological end. This can include dealing with a powerful inner critic, procrastination, self-doubt, or a myriad of other internal blocks. What you need is not to beat yourself up for this, but rather to find out what is going with these parts of yourself and to take care of them so that all parts of the self are in alignment.

It helps tremendously to have the support of someone who has been there and who understands both the practical tangible things and also the painful psychological traps. They need to be an exceptional listener, helping you to hear your own inner wisdom. They need to offer you personalized guidance as you clarify your direction and purpose, then break them down into goals and doable next steps. They need to have compelling techniques for learning from and transforming the challenging bits so that you don't get caught in the same traps. The main thing is that this person has to not be pushing an agenda—the true agenda is up to you. 

How does coaching for artist work?

There are four basic areas to address:
  •  Awareness:  developing a sense of compassion and non-judgment as you become aware of what is really going on, where you are getting stuck, and what parts of you are acting out. This can be a slow unfolding, like pealing layers off an onion.
  • Transformation: by using the imagination as the bridge between the cognitive mind and the emotional and visceral psyche, you can not only illuminate the stuck places, but you can transform the parts that were causing friction into parts that help you succeed.
  • Practicalities: getting down and dirty with breaking your goals into logical, doable steps, letting go of the too-much and prioritizing what stays. Clarity, kindness and listening for the true call of self.
  • Compassionate accountability: when it gets tough, you can easily be distracted from your goals. Having someone walking with you helps you stay focused on the path.

I would love to help!

Let me tell you a little bit about my background so you can get a sense of me.

My two years of training in psychosynthesis transformational life coaching gives
me an amazing set of tools and a depth of understanding how the human psyche works. It is an approach that values the whole person, with the belief that even
the challenging parts of the self are essential to the whole, and with some care
can actually be a help rather than a challenge.  

As a professional artist for the better part of 30 years, I have learned on the
ground how to make everything happen, from shows, advertising, and sales, to
just getting myself back into the studio after dry spells. 

As a professor of art at the College of Wooster, University of Redlands, California State University – San Bernardino, and Allegheny College, I helped over a
thousand students find their voices, learn to articulate their creative insight, get motivated, and present themselves professionally. Having taught courses at all
levels and in both 3D and 2D. I have practical skills and knowledge in a broad
range of visual art materials.

I also worked as a career counselor at a very progressive and inventive college,
​so I have some of those tricks up my sleeve as well.

If you want to see if we might be a good fit to work together, please start by taking the quiz!

What's the next step?

​If you are ready to get some help and talk about what your situation is so that we can assess what I can do for you, please click the link below to schedule a Free Initial Conversation. You will be directed to a set of questions- take your time with them! After you send them to me and I read through them, I will contact you to schedule an initial 30-45 min conversation.  There is no charge for this conversation, nor is there any obligation to go on from there. It is our chance to see if we connect to each other and want to move to the next step. 

Join the Virtual Co-Working for artists and creatives!

We meet weekly on Tuesday mornings at 9 on zoom to connect, ground and set intentions for about 15 minutes, then we get off the call and get to work in our individual studios until 10:45 when we get back together and share our successes. It is free, but donations are appreciated.