Professional Artist Issue Sept. 2016

B USI N ESS ADVICE + R ESOU RCES + E DUCATION + TUTOR IALS + ART N EWS
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016
Pay Off
Your MFA
Your PAGE 44
Bold Path
PAGE 58
Make Money:
Illustrate
PAGE 22
Sell in
Museums
PAGE 38
Evening Bird by Luna Lee Ray

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contents
AUG+SEPT 2016 VOLUME 30 // NUMBER 4
features 50
14 Thank Your Mentors
By Gregory W. Frux
22 Illustrators Make a Living

By Gigi Rosenberg
30 Body Language for Success

By Elaine Grogan Luttrull
68
38 Sell in Museum Stores
By Thea Fiore-Bloom
44 Pay for Your MFA

By Daniel Grant
22
50 How to Use Acrylic with Oil
38
By Ora Sorensen
58 The Self-taught Route

By Gwenn Seemel
64 Be a Good Art Teacher

By Elena Parashko
68 Leave the Corporate World

By Paul Grecian
2 Professional Artist AUG+SEPT 2016

on the
cover
Evening Bird,
2014, by
Luna Lee Ray.
Acrylic, collage,
graphite,
12” x 24”.
Copyright © Luna Lee Ray.
Used by permission of the
artist.
Read more
about Ray
on Page 50.
columns
20 State of the Art:
A Snapshot of Multimedia
58 By Terry Sullivan
36 Coaching the Artist:

Finish That Painting
By Eric Maisel
57 Planning Your Art Business:

Deduct Education Expenses
By Robert Reed
63 The Artist’s Advocate:

departments Negotiate Like an Artist
By Katie Lane
4 Editor’s Letter
By Gigi Rosenberg 80 Artrepreneur Coach:
Back to School Online
5 Headlines & Details By Renée Phillips
By Gigi Rosenberg
12 Artist Spotlight:
Elizabeth Moran
By Nada Hassanein
74 Calls to Artists
ProfessionalArtistMag.com
ProfessionalArtistMag.com 3
editor’s LETTER ProfessionalArtistMag.com
AUG+SEPT 2016 // VOLUME 30 // NUMBER 4
LEARN SOMETHING WILD THIS FALL
PUBLISHER
The school supply section in any store is my Jannett R. Roberts
favorite: I love pencils with fat erasers, new binders, JRoberts@ProfessionalArtistMag.com
unopened packs of three-hole punch paper, colorful EDITOR
tabs, pocket folders, spiral notebooks. Those Gigi Rosenberg
GRosenberg@ProfessionalArtistMag.com
supplies combined with the cooler air of September
and leaves dusting the ground can only mean one thing: a classroom ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Nada Hassanein
where I’ll learn something I never knew.
NHassanein@ProfessionalArtistMag.com
Welcome to the Education issue where we explore the many ways we are both ART DIRECTOR
teachers and learners. What are you learning this fall? Whose life are you changing Kristen Schaeffer-Santoni
as a teacher? KSantoni@ProfessionalArtistMag.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Two of the artists I interviewed in this issue (on Page 22) revealed that the Thea Fiore-Bloom, Ph.D., Gregory Frux,
perfectly timed comments of sensitive teachers had changed their career path by Daniel Grant, Paul Grecian,
encouraging them to go in the direction of their talent — a talent these two artists Elaine Grogan Luttrull, Elena Parashko,
Gwenn Seemel, Ora Sorensen
“
had not seen in themselves at the time.
COLUMNISTS
Whose talent can you notice Whose talent can you notice and foster? Katie Lane, Eric Maisel, Ph.D.,
Be the teacher who changed a life for
and foster? Be the teacher who Renée Phillips,
the better. Robert Reed, Ph.D., CFP,
changed a life for the better. Terry Sullivan
If you’re considering school and trying
to decide between the self-taught or academic path, read Gwenn Seemel’s Cultivate
Your Audacity on Page 58. Did you always assume that tuition was unaffordable? ADVERTISING
If so, read Daniel Grant’s How to Pay for Your MFA on Page 44. Ads@ProfessionalArtistMag.com
or 407-515-2603
Maybe you’ve been thinking of writing to a former teacher who made all the PRODUCTION MANAGER
difference. A Note of Gratitude for My Mentors by Gregory W. Frux shows you how. Anna Murray
Or is something wild calling you this season? If it’s time to make a big change and CIRCULATION DIRECTOR
leave the corporate world for the full-time artist’s life, let Paul Grecian show you Kim Madeiros
how other artists have forged this path on Page 68. To discover a new market for MARKETING DIRECTOR
your work, read Thea Fiore-Bloom’s Sell Your Art in Museum Stores on Page 38. Elizabeth Hawkins
Whatever you do, find a way to learn something new this fall — in your own
studio, with your students in the classroom or on the road of your life as an artist. TURNSTILE MEDIA GROUP
CHAIRMAN Rance Crain
PRESIDENT Patti Green
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BY GIGI ROSENBERG
headlines &DETAILS
EXHIBITION
MUSEUM OF LATIN AMERICAN ART

CELEBRATES 20 YEARS
T hrough the end of 2016, the

Museum of Latin American Art
in Long Beach, California, presents
Los Carpinteros and Tunga.
The museum is located in the city’s
rapidly developing East Village Arts
its largest permanent collection
District.
exhibition to date to commemorate
its 20th anniversary. The museum is MOLAA’s exhibition galleries,
also celebrating its recently received administrative offices and store are
accreditation from the American housed in what was once a roller
Alliance of Museums. skating rink known as the Hippodrome.
Built in the late 1920s, after the film
MOLAA at Twenty showcases founding studios were gone, the Hippodrome
collection highlights, emergent 2 was a haven for skaters for four
collections of new media and art of the decades. The high-vaulted ceilings
art. Since its inception in 1996,
Latino diaspora that include US Latino and beautiful wooden floors were
MOLAA has doubled its size, added a
and Chicano art. perfectly suited for the Hippodrome’s
15,000-square-foot sculpture garden
final metamorphosis into the Museum
MOLAA is the only museum in the and expanded its permanent collection,
of Latin American Art.
United States dedicated to modern ranging from works by Rufino Tamayo
and contemporary Latin American and Roberto Matta to Carlos Cruz-Diez, For details, visit molaa.org.
1 Delta solar, 1979, by Alejandro Otero. Courtesy of Museum of Latin American Art. 2 Rôle Renversé, 1987, by
Roberto Sebastián Matta. Courtesy of Museum of Latin American Art.
headlines &DETAILS
BOOK
HOUSTON GUIDES ILLUSTRATORS TO SUCCESS

A rtist Greg Houston has illustrated
for The Village Voice, Marvel
Comics, Seattle Weekly and the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, among
many others. Now, he’s out with his
first instructional book: Illustration that
Works: Professional Techniques for
Artistic and Commercial Success which
draws on Houston’s 10 years of teaching
and 30 years of professional experience.
Written in a voice both irreverent
and wise, he provides an
essential guide 6
to the world
of professional assignments like “Illustrate an op-ed
illustration. The that’s either pro or against religion in the
200-page book public sphere,” “Create three posters
contains more than for an HBO documentary series on sex
400 illustrations (that can still be displayed anywhere),”
featuring work and, “Illustrate a pair of identical
from talented 5 twins whose lives have veered apart
students, classic and impact of different
dramatically.”
contemporary master mediums from
4
illustrators including 3 watercolor to digital Houston holds a BFA from Pratt Institute
Brian Sanders, Marshall to textiles. He also and is cofounder of the new Baltimore
Arisman, Roberto Parada, Steve answers practical Academy of Illustration, and formerly on
Brodner, Paul Rogers, and Greg questions (“if a problem
the faculty at Maryland Institute College
Spalenka — and Houston’s own pieces, does pop up, contact the
of Art. He’s an encouraging teacher
both finished and botched. art director immediately”), and
provides personal development tips one who enjoys giving students the shove
The book covers not only technical they need to succeed in the field of
can only get from an honest teacher (“if
essentials including the difference professional illustration.
you say your style is ‘manga’ or ‘anime’
between narrative versus conceptual
then you have no style”).
illustration, diagramming a composition, The book, published by Monacelli Press,
mastering negative space, and the Illustration that Works includes sells for $30.
NEWS
GUGGENHEIM AWARDS “These artists and writers, scholars and Guggenheim fellows is one of the most
scientists, represent the best of the best. unique characteristics of the fellowship
23 FINE ARTISTS Each year since 1925, the Guggenheim program. Since its establishment in
T he John Simon Guggenheim

Memorial Foundation awarded
175 fellowships to a diverse group of
Foundation has bet everything on the
individual, and we’re thrilled to continue
1925, it has granted more than $334
million in Fellowships to more than
to do so with this wonderfully talented 18,000 individuals. The Guggenheim
scholars, artists and scientists including Fellowship program remains a source
and diverse group. It’s an honor to be
23 fine artists. Appointed on the basis of support for artists, scholars in
able to support these individuals to do
of prior achievement and exceptional the humanities and social sciences,
the work they were meant to do,” said
promise, the successful candidates and scientific researchers. For more
Edward Hirsch, foundation president.
were chosen from a group of nearly information on the fellows and their
3,000 applicants in the foundation’s 92nd The great variety of backgrounds, projects, please visit the foundation’s
competition. fields of study and accomplishments of website at gf.org.
3 Illustration that Works: Professional Techniques for Artistic and Commercial Success, by Greg Houston/Monacelli Studio. Courtesy of Monacelli Press.
4 Greg Houston. 5 Watercolor illustration by J. Scott Fuqua for Calvert the Raven in the Battle of Baltimore. Copyright © 2012 Baltimore: Bancroft Press.
6 Game of Thrones, by Steve Brodner. Graphite and watercolor, digital. 7 Courtesy of Canada Council for the Arts.

NEWS
sharing of Canadian art through also revealed plans to launch a special,

CANADA SPENDS digital technology, one-time $33.4 million creation fund
$1.9 BILLION ON ■ renewing the relationship between called New Chapter. Open to artists and
indigenous artists and indigenous arts organizations on the occasion of
ARTS AND CULTURE and non-indigenous audiences for a Canada’s 150th anniversary, this one-year
shared future, and funding program will support major
Canada is investing in its artists. In April, ■ raising the international profile of creation projects to be presented across
the Canada Council for the Arts released Canadian artists. Canada and internationally through
its strategic plan, Shaping a New Future, 2017 and beyond.
2016-21 and announced several major “These are exciting times for
funding initiatives for the country’s the arts in Canada,” Pierre An additional $1.8
artists. The news comes on the heels Lassonde, Chair of the million will be invested
of the federal budget confirming an Board of Directors of into reconciliation
unprecedented $1.9 billion for the arts the Canada Council, and indigenous arts
and culture sector, including a doubling said. “The impact of initiatives. The council
of the Canada Council’s budget by 2021. this major reinvestment will also begin to
will not only support implement a new digital
The council’s commitments and actions and nurture artistic strategy to support the
include: creativity now but it will professional arts sector to
■ increasing support to artists, foster deeper artistic and more effectively use digital
collectives and organizations striving cultural expressions amongst technologies to create and
7
for artistic excellence and greater all Canadians to be shared with share its work with audiences here
engagement in the arts, the world.” and around the world.
■ amplifying the quality, quantity and The council, Canada’s public arts funder, For details, visit canadacouncil.ca.
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©2016 Bochworks LLC
headlines &DETAILS
NEWS
8 9
ARTIST RAISES $4K TO FRAME ART FOR REHAB CENTER
T his past winter, artist Jill Kelly

(jillkellycreative.com) was in her
studio, making inventory of completed
“I sent the center a choice of 45 images
to choose from for their 29 resident
rooms. Then I contacted friends and
artwork when she counted 140 pastel asked for tax-deductible donations
paintings. As she contemplated how for the framing, ultimately receiving a
to find a home for her work so that total of $4,000 from 28 donors,” Kelly
more of it could get into the world, she said. She emailed 200 friends and
remembered many years before when acquaintances and received donations
she had been in alcohol treatment at a ranging from $20 to $1,500 with most
center in Virginia and how drab the walls donors writing checks directly to the
had been. center so that they could be considered
tax-deductible.
This gave her an idea. She contacted
three social service agencies in her Kelly used the online framer, Frames
hometown of Portland, Oregon and By Mail, which gave her a discount
offered to put her framed pastels and free shipping. Then, the treatment
on their walls. “One nonprofit that center applied for a grant to repaint
serves women, often from the streets, the resident rooms, which hadn’t been
responded immediately and the project updated in more than 10 years.
was a go,” Kelly said. 0
“Friends pitched in with assembling the
The Letty Owings Center offers a six- waiting list. Each woman, many of whom frames and two months later, the center
month rehab program for women with come to the center from jail, prison or staff brought their van over and picked
small children. It has helped more than detox, can have one child (preschool them all up,” Kelly said. “It’s turned
1,500 families, according to Central or younger) with her in the center. It into a delightful way for me to get my
City Concern, and has 29 rooms and provides daycare while the women take art seen by more people and make a
29 women at a time, with a substantial classes and look for work or housing. contribution with it.”
8 Collage of paintings donated to the Letty Owings Center, 2015, by Jill Kelly. Copyright © Jill Kelly. Used by permission of the artist. 9 Artist Jill Kelly (right) and
Tammy Hooper, Letty Owings Center director, load a truck with some of Kelly’s donated paintings. Courtesy of Central City Concern.
0 Bouquet in Red and Brown, 2015, by Jill Kelly. Pastel on archival paper, 20” x 26”. Copyright © Jill Kelly. Used by permission of the artist.

BOOK
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instructor at the Art Students League of
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artist SPOTLIGHT
1 3
Elizabeth Moran “You’re miles way from family and friends

… you’re basically starting over,” Moran
said, remembering the new life she had
Artist Uproots Lifestyle, Starts Décor started, bereft of the familiar 9-to-5 job
Business with Prints of Her Work and comfortable social life. But the move
pushed her to become an artist. “It was
BY NADA HASSANEIN a blessing in disguise — and a difficult
F
adjustment for sure.”
ive years ago, Elizabeth Moran was in a very different place
in her life. She worked long days as a hospital security guard FOLLOWING THE IMPULSE
and studied chemistry then business at a technical college in Inspired by the environment near her new
Camden County, New Jersey. home — a three-acre patch of land in the
suburbs of Raleigh surrounded by rows and
But she was tired of the long winters up north and the crowded, rows of emerald trees — Moran took to the
urban lifestyle. After months of research, she and her husband decided to canvas, creating texturized, arid landscapes
resettle in Raleigh, North Carolina. And while this uprooting gave her the and many layers of colored, abstract patterns
solitude and warmer weather she wanted, it also came with its struggles. shaped with found objects and intense
1 Coral Reef, 2016, by Elizabeth Moran. Acrylic on canvas, 20” x 24”. 2 Tree in Brown and Copper Landscape, 2015, by Elizabeth Moran. Acrylic on
canvas, 24” x 24”. 3 Rainbow, 2012, by Elizabeth Moran. Acrylic on canvas panel, 18” x 24”. Copyright © Elizabeth Moran. Used by permission of the artist.

brush strokes. She’d always works best for you,” Moran said about
dabbled in art, but never social media. “For me, Pinterest is the
considered it as a career until number one — I think it has a lot to
the gaping hours she was left do with that it’s my demographic.”
with after the move gave her Though she occasionally participates
time to rediscover, explore and in shows, Moran devotes most of
develop her talent. her marketing efforts online to get
At first, she only featured her company out in the open. People
paintings on her website frequently search online for décor
for sale, but as her portfolio items like rugs, Moran said. In fact,
customers can buy her products right
expanded, she wanted to also
on her Pinterest page.
expand her offerings.
“It’s a lot of work and a lot of
So Moran started her own
heartache,” Moran said about
online business, The Modern
marketing and running her store.
Home Company, where she
“You have to stay true to yourself and
sells prints of her paintings do what works for you.”
on several décor products and
clothing. She doesn’t carry Sometimes, she prices her work per
much inventory and instead square inch, and other times it
each purchase is made-to-order depends on how long it takes
through third-party print her to create it. Some
companies that she tests for paintings take her only
quality. “I don’t want to waste four hours and she’s
done — even if it’s
money on inventory, so I don’t
5 180 degrees different
go crazy over it. I start small 4 than the “blueprint
“
and go from there,” she said.
plan” she had for the
The blank space in her You need to do and painting. Spending
landscape paintings make them upwards of eight hours
ideal for large surfaces like create what comes naturally — in the studio per day, other
tapestries — one of the items she paint what you want, not what paintings could take her at least
sells on her site. “My paintings a week to perfect.
have more depth and color you think people are going “It’s tough for someone who’s an artist
combinations that are soothing,”
she said, palettes that could add
to want. ~ Elizabeth Moran to have this rigid strategy,” Moran said
about both her artistic process and her
final touches to furniture. One business. “I try to start with these steps,
HARNESSING THE WEB
customer bought one of her tapestries but it doesn’t always work out. You need
For years, Moran had an affinity for
and used it as drapery at her wedding to do and create what comes naturally —
interior design and do-it-yourself
ceremony. Moran marketed that on her paint what you want, not what you think
projects, using a personal Pinterest
Facebook page to inspire versatile décor people are going to want.”
account to pin inspirations for her next
ideas for her customers. décor project or to help a friend decorate Learn more about Elizabeth Moran by
Her fluid acrylic series appears on the her home. Now, she uses that following visiting her website (themodernhomeco.com).
leggings she sells: neon hues that sprawl she’s developed on Pinterest to market Follow her on Facebook (Elizabeth Moran)
into flame-like shapes, which she creates her own work. She uses other social and Instagram (the_modern_home_co). PA
by heavily diluting paint and tilting the media platforms, like Facebook and
Instagram, but Pinterest had the most Nada Hassanein is the associate editor of
canvas to let the colors run into a milky Professional Artist. She holds a bachelor’s
impact on getting her work seen.
consistency. Along with those fiery in journalism and psychology from the
pieces of apparel, Moran sells pillows “There’s no perfect formula … you really University of Central Florida. Contact her at
and rugs of her work. just have to try them all and see what NHassanein@ProfessionalArtistMag.com.
4 Cargo, 2015, by Elizabeth Moran. Acrylic on canvas, 24” x 36”. Copyright © Elizabeth Moran. Used by permission of the artist. 5 Elizabeth Moran.
AN o t e o f I grew up in a house enriched by art. My room was
d e
decorated with a reproduction of Pieter Bruegel’s
Gr a t i t u
Harvest scene. My family visited museums and
I remember the extraordinary lines to see the
Van Gogh show at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
for My
Growing up, I always had crayons and paper and
was encouraged by my parents to make art. Crown
Heights, Brooklyn, my home in the 1960s, was a
T
o r
poor and middle-class neighborhood. Growing up
Me n t
I was convinced it was the most wonderful place
in the world. We extensively used all the public
resources to hand — the Brooklyn Museum, the
Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, the local public library
RUX
ORY W. F and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum.
BY GREG
When I was 8 years old, my mother arranged that
I would take weekly classes with a local artist. This
was not only to help me, but to allow my mom to
continue her after-work college studies. Folding
tables were our easels, colored pencils our medium.
I was fascinated by the nascent space program
and I drew the fiery reentry of a space capsule,
liberally using an orange pencil, chatting away
while I worked. The soft-spoken teacher listened,
he first time I entered a witnessed and encouraged my work. It was many
working artist’s studio, the years later that I learned that my teacher was an
important artist from the Harlem Renaissance, Mr.
evidence of the creative life Ernest Crichlow. While I do not recollect formal art
lay scattered everywhere — instruction, his focused interest surely encouraged
me to continue to draw and inspired me to study art
art books, magazines, plaster when I was older. I am sure my exposure to his work
and character guided me on a path to realism and a
models, art supplies, music, sensitivity to the human figure. It was a route I was
sketches and half-finished to pursue later in art school, and especially with the
painter Harvey Dinnerstein.
paintings. The exposure to
such a space was a powerful
1
suggestion of what kind of
life might be possible.
In my life as an artist I’ve
crossed paths with people who have
profoundly affected my career. Often,
these were not people I sought out,
but who I met in the course of living
my life. Being open to these profound
influences has shaped my creative life.
These four people made me who I am.

3
1 Ernest Crichlow’s mural along Fulton Avenue, Boys and Girls High School, Brooklyn, New York. 2 Ernest Crichlow at Boys and Girls High School,
Brooklyn. Courtesy of Luca Bonetti, Corp. Conservation and Restoration of Paintings. 3 Consultation, 1971, by Charles Keller. Lithograph. Courtesy of The Estate of Charles
Keller and the Susan Teller Gallery, New York.
Ernest Crichlow
(1914 - 1985) was a significant
artist in the Harlem Renaissance.
His creative output witnessed the
unremitting fight for civil rights and
justice for African Americans. His art
ranged from powerful protests to
compassionate portrayals of children.
His work was exhibited at the 1939 New
York World’s Fair and in the Library of
Congress. He was an art instructor at
the Art Students League of New York
and at New York University. Crichlow
also became well known for his sensitive
children’s book illustrations. Late in his
career he created a mural for Boys
and Girls High School in Brooklyn.
novels, copies of his own work in multiple languages,
manuscripts. The garishly painted walls evoked
memories of his time in communes on New York’s Lower
East Side. He gave me a warm welcome and stopped
me from addressing him as Mr. Delany, insisting on
’Chip.’ We hit it off, with a wide-ranging discussion on
art, literature, science fiction and exploration of the
many worlds in 1980s New York. Over the next several
years, we met often, usually at his apartment, but also at
mine in Brooklyn.
Having just graduated college, working full time in an
architect’s office, I had to do some heavy lifting to keep
my artistic career going. The fact that this distinguished
author took me seriously from day one was a tremendous
vote of confidence. He encouraged me to pursue my
work. He hung some of my paintings on his apartment
walls. He shared much about his creative process, but
especially his work ethic, which involved writing first thing
every day, he advised in his book About Writing.
“...when I was about nineteen years old, I decided
in no uncertain terms that all my first energies would
henceforth go directly into writing. Only when whatever
piece I was working on was as fine as I could possibly
make it would I put any leftover energy whatsoever into
living what others might think a decent and reasonable
life.” [Page 182, About Writing.]
This was a clear lesson that I commit fully to being an
artist. Success could only come by working steadily and
consistently. At
that time my
4 path required
me to paint most
evenings and
Samuel R. Delany weekends and
D
to complete my
uring my senior year in college, I discovered Master of Fine
the novel Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany and Arts degree.
became deeply engaged by its dystopian world.
Its complex story concerns a poet protagonist who At the time, I
survives and prospers in a ruined city where something was drawing and
has distorted time and space. Over the next year or two, painting portraits
I developed several illustrations inspired by the book of friends as a
and created etchings. I mailed Delany a fan letter and way of growing
some of my prints via his publisher. Imagine my shock a my skills. One
couple of months later when I received a phone call from day, when I
the author himself inviting me over for a visit. was feeling
bold, I asked
The stairs creaked en route to Delany’s top floor him to pose
Upper West Side apartment in Manhattan. Entering, and he readily
I saw walls piled with books: scholarly, science fiction agreed to sit for
5
4 Portrait of Samuel Delany, 1984, by Gregory W. Frux. Oil on canvas. 5 Motion of Light in Water, by Gregory W. Frux.
Etching. Special edition book cover for Samuel Delany. Copyright © Gregory W. Frux. Used by permission of the artist.

a portrait. These were precious, full evenings of him In the late ‘80s, Chip asked me to create illustrations for
sitting still, posed by his word processor (which seems special limited editions of two of his books. In 1987, I
primitive now), his office painted that garish green and drew six illustrations for Bridge of Lost Desire, a sword-
orange, one hand hanging posed over the keyboard and-sorcery story from his Tales of Nevèrÿon series.
like God in the Sistine Chapel’s Creation of Adam.
The following year, I created an etching that was bound
We decided he would pose barefoot, since the artist
into the autobiographical The Motion of Light in Water:
“must come humble to his work.” The project took
Sex and Science Fiction Writing in the East Village
months of posing and hard work punctuated by good
1957 – 1967. Both books were beautifully bound in
conversation.
half leather, created by Ultramarine Press in a signed
The full-length painting of the author remained with me edition of 50.
for many years and was used as the back cover of his
book 1984 Selected Letters, published in 2000. More
recently, Chip and I agreed to donate the painting Samuel ‘Chip’ Delany
to New York University’s Fales Library & Special is a distinguished science fiction author, professor and
Collection, whose mission is partly “to document the scholar widely recognized for exploring the limits of
New York downtown arts scene that evolved in SoHo science fiction, race, gender, sexuality and language.
and the Lower East Side during from the 1970s to Winner of four Nebula awards and two Hugo Awards,
he was a professor at University of Massachusetts at
1990s.” Many of his papers have ended up there, and
Amherst and Temple University, among other institutions.
my portrait is now with his papers in the university’s
permanent collection.
ART
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ProfArtst_GACEVENTS qrtrpg_051116.indd 1 5/12/2016 2:56:32 PM ProfessionalArtistMag.com 17

Charles Keller
I
met Charles Keller while I was in college, designing Charles Keller
(1914 - 2006) was a painter, cartoonist, printmaker
fliers and posters for progressive causes — anti-
and political activist who began working in New York
nuclear campaigns, peace and civil rights work. By the
City in the late 1930s. His early subjects included
time I met Keller, working side by side in one group effort,
documenting construction of the Sixth Avenue
he was in his 70s. Talking with him gave me a very clear
subway and miners living in Appalachia. He taught
picture of what a rich and fulfilling life an artist can have.
and lectured widely at locations including Vassar
At his 80th birthday party, I met many fellow artists of his College, Hofstra University and Parsons School
of Design. He actively exhibited through eight
generation. Witnessing their conversations revealed they
decades, including more than 20 one-man shows.
had also lived full, rich lives working with their hands
day to day, supporting themselves doing commercial
work — layouts, graphics, even hand-lettering signage.
Meanwhile, they painted when and where they could,
Patricia Wynne
W
pursuing the creative work that was closest to their
hearts. Several were political cartoonists, not shy at hen I was finally able to shift to working full
rousing emotions. time as an artist, I enrolled in advanced art
Charlie modeled for me the hard-working artist willing studies at the American Museum of Natural
to travel and draw onsite. He told stories of going History in New York where I met Patricia Wynne. Her
down into the subway tunnels under Sixth Avenue in extraordinary animal drawing class takes place three
Manhattan to draw excavations from life in the 1930s. times a year, each secession for eight evenings, after
He traveled to West Virginia to record the lives of coal hours, when the museum is closed. The class is populated
miners during the Great Depression. I once asked him by an extraordinary mix of individuals, from novices to
his advice to a young artist. He said to me, “Draw, professional illustrators and scientists. The magic of the
draw every day.” I have imperfectly but determinedly class was partly from the appreciation of superbly wrought
followed this recommendation. The eyewitness nature dioramas in the halls where we drew, and partly from
of his work inspired me: One of my themes has become Wynne’s attention and respect for each student. While
people at work which has recently found me drawing always cleaving to science and anatomy in her teaching,
the construction of the new Tappan Zee Bridge, which she also sees each drawing as a work of art.
makes me think fondly of Charlie’s guidance.
Patricia is unusually open in sharing career opportunities
to young artists who work hard. In her class and online
she publicizes other artists’ shows and shares events. Her
encouragement, generosity and support are unstinting.
She suggested an opportunity for teaching outdoor
sketching at a cultural institution a mile from my home,
a situation I hadn’t considered. I cold called with my
proposal and got a speedy acceptance. Patricia also
reintroduced me to the Salmagundi Club, a premier
artist-run organization situated on Manhattan’s Fifth
Avenue for almost 150 years. With her sponsorship
and encouragement, I applied for membership and
was accepted. The rewards were quickly apparent:
inclusion in three shows in the first year. Moreover, the
whole experience left me feeling the camaraderie of
our creative community — perhaps we are all pulling
together for our artistic goals.
We don’t often get to thank the people who helped
us on our path. Mostly, it remains in our hearts alone.
Once, when I worked for the City of New York, my
6
6 Gregory W. Frux examining drawings by Charles Keller. 24” x 48”. Photo by Janet Morgan. Used by permission of the artist.

“people
We don’t often get to thank the
who helped us on our path.
Mostly, it remains in our hearts alone.
~ Gregory W. Frux
job was curator of artwork owned “Sir, thank you for bringing so much
by the Board of Education. Among beauty into the world,” I said. He
the many treasures we owned was
Ernest Crichlow’s only mural. After
shrugged, as if it were nothing. But we Patricia J. Wynne
both knew otherwise. PA is an artist and scientific
20 years on the exterior of Brooklyn’s illustrator whose work has
Boys and Girls High School, facing Brooklyn-based artist Gregory William Frux appeared in more than 170
Fulton Avenue, the artwork needed paints, draws and creates prints based books and magazines. She
on urban and wilderness landscapes. His has created illustrations
some refurbished protection and
New York work focuses on the waterfront, for The New York Times
minor conservation. I escorted the
brownstones, gardens and industrial and Scientific American for
frail, elderly artist between his home scenes. His wild landscapes depict decades. She has worked with
and the mural, during the treatment, mountains and deserts, including the and at the American Museum
showing him what we were doing and Andes, Sierra Nevada, Rockies, Patagonia of Natural History for more
getting his advice. and the Mohave Desert. He has been an than 40 years. She’s also a
artist in residence in four national parks printmaker and has created
On the last occasion I met him, I and aboard ships in Antarctica and Arctic numerous illustrated journals.
noticed him intently watching some Norway. He is an occasional instructor at
little girls playing. I imagined he was the Art Students League and Brooklyn
drawing in his mind. Botanic Gardens. For details, visit frux.net.
7 Untitled, Galapagos Sketchbook, by Patricia J. Wynne. Copyright © Patricia J. Wynne. Used by permission of the artist.
STATE of the ART
By Terry Sullivan
A Snapshot of Multimedia on several multimedia projects on

the iPad, using videos, still photos,
audio and other elements. And he’s
A
couple of years ago, my notebooks to scribble in. It’s also worked on these projects solely
son decided to attend meant that much of his academic with his classmates, which in part,
a private high school, experience would be viewed through speaks to the intuitive nature of
instead of the public a computer tablet. mobile apps. It’s one of the reasons
one in our district. Since that time, why I’m convinced we’re in the
It’s been a radical step, and I was beginning stages of a Renaissance in
we’ve obviously noticed a number
skeptical at first. But for the most multimedia, which, at the very least,
of striking differences, but the most
part, it’s worked very well for him. can assist artists in marketing and
notable one was that the entire
curriculum at his new school has self-promotion. It might even help
As an artist, I’ve been pleasantly
develop ideas for your art.
been taught via Apple’s iPad. For surprised by one aspect of this
starters, it meant there would be no tech adventure with my son: In the Although there are many different
physical textbooks to lug around or past year and a half, he’s worked types of multimedia projects you can
1 Many digital-imaging, video and audio gear can help you create your multimedia project, including (clockwise, from top left) an SLR camera (Nikon
D5300), a photo app (Lenka), an action cam (Sony’s HDR-AZ1), a video-editing app and headphones (Apple’s iMovie app on an iPad next to a pair of
Grado SR60 headphones), and an external microphone (Shure Motiv MV51 microphone). Copyright © Terry Sullivan. Used by permission of the artist.

create, I’ve broken this subject down smartphone or tablet. One of the video and audio. It can include
into a few general types in order to most popular is Apple’s iMovie, for graphics, animation and motion
better understand each part and how $4.99, but there are others, including graphics too. One intriguing example
they relate to each other. And it’s how ReelDirector II, for $1.99. Both not of a non-photo-based multimedia
I think artists can get the most out of only let you edit video, but you can project is the work of illustrator
multimedia. (Tip: If you want to learn insert still photos and audio clips too. Jorge Colombo (jorgecolombo.com),
the nuts and bolts of photography,
USE THE POWER OF AUDIO. whose illustrations have appeared on
video, audio or multimedia, consider
During that same MediaStorm different covers of The New Yorker.
a Lynda.com subscription.)
seminar, I asked Storm about the He created these covers with a rather
PRACTICE VISUAL STORYTELLING. value of audio in multimedia. He inexpensive graphics app. You can
One of the most useful ways to use noted that “the most important find some of his work here, as well
film and photographs is for visual thing is your sound,” which was an as time-lapse videos of the artist
storytelling, especially if you’re intriguing thought for a class filled creating the illustrations: newyorker.
working on a self-promotion piece. with mostly visual artists, namely com/culture/culture-desk/cover-
Brian Storm, who runs MediaStorm photographers and videographers. story-2015-01-12.
(mediastorm.com), an award-winning
Because most smartphones include
film production and interactive Drawing and graphics mobile apps
a decent mic, artists have many
design studio, was one of the first include Auryn Ink and ArtRage (for
opportunities to include audio. Also,
people to harness the power of iPad), both $4.99.
multimedia, and he continues to
be a master at visual storytelling.
I recently attended a MediaStorm
workshop (which I highly recommend
Multimedia isn’t just about photos, video and
for anyone interested in multimedia) audio. It can include graphics, animation and
since I believe it’s always a good idea
to study with the masters. motion graphics too.
Here’s a sample of how Storm uses
video and multimedia to create a
trailer for one of his documentary if you need to upgrade to a better WHAT’S NEXT FOR MULTIMEDIA?
projects called Driftless: Stories from microphone, you can do so pretty Multimedia is already being used
Iowa, by photographer Danny Wilcox easily. Here’s one simple project in numerous ways in virtual reality,
Frazier (mediastorm.com/publication/ you might try: Take 10 or 15 images from immersive documentary films
driftless-stories-from-iowa). In of your work. Next, record brief to animated environments in video
watching the trailer itself, you can see statements about each image on games. For artists, virtual reality
a variety of powerful elements taking your smartphone using an audio app. could be a window through which
place by combining black-and-white Then, combine the audio clips and others can glimpse the creative
video and still photos with country photos in a video-editing program
process: Just imagine showing your
music and audio of the subjects’ like iMovie and export it as a video.
collectors a 360-degree video of your
voices in the film. Even the typeface Now, you’ve created a slideshow that
studio, while you were in the midst of
of the fonts make an impact. you can use to promote your work on
creating your masterpiece. PA
your website or blog.
To learn more, check out Storm’s
thoughts here: transom.org/2012/ You’ll find a tremendous variety of
Terry Sullivan is the former editor of
mediastorm-storytelling. It’s a deep mobile apps to experiment with
Professional Artist magazine and the
dive on this topic, but he deconstructs on your mobile device. One of my
former technical editor at American
what goes into creating multimedia favorites is Apple’s GarageBand,
Artist magazine. He currently is an editor
that focuses on visual storytelling. which is free when you buy an iPhone.
at Consumer Reports, where he covers
But there are many others as well.
If you’d like to create a brief audio, digital cameras, camcorders, smart
multimedia video yourself, consider EXPERIMENT WITH GRAPHICS APPS. phones, printers and digital imaging.
trying a video-editing app on your Multimedia isn’t just about photos, He is also an artist and musician.
3 illustrators
on teachers, deadlines
and making a living

BY GIGI ROSENBERG
1 Really Good Careers, 2010, by Barry Deutsch. Digital drawing. Copyright © 2010 Barry Deutsch. Used by permission of the artist.
1
A
she said.
rtist Salley Mavor (weefolkstudio.com)
has always had a head for business.
When she was 12 years old she started
making fabric pins and pedaling them
to stores, including a shop her mother
owned.
When she went to the Rhode Island School of Design she
decided to major in printmaking and leave her fabric crafts
behind. “I loved the craft but I didn’t consider it serious art,”
She switched her major to illustration because she was

interested in narrative work and found that illustrators were
encouraged to try out different mediums. She also liked the
assignments and solving problems — which is what illustrators
do. Yet, she continued bringing her fabric projects to class and
working on them during the long critique sessions.
Breaking Into Publishing
To break into children’s publishing, Mavor “did what most
people say to never do, which was to go in with a story,” she
said. A friend, who was a writer, wrote a story that Mavor
illustrated.
“Editors don’t like that. Most of the time they either don’t
like the writing or don’t like the art. And it’s rare for both the
writing and the illustration to be strong,” Mavor said. “A good
story is very hard to come by. I lucked out with this story, The
Way Home.”
The time between the first discussion the two friends had to
holding the published book in hand took eight years, two years of
which was the time Mavor spent creating the illustrations. After
that she did several books one right after the other. Every time a
book was finished, she took off some time to make her own art.
One teacher noticed her working on one of her pins — a small

fabric sculpture of a pea pod — in class and encouraged her to
use that craft for her class project.
That teacher “gave me permission to branch out,” Mavor
said. Then, she noticed that, “when I got materials in my
hands and was manipulating them and mostly sewing, I had
the experience of losing myself in it. I was totally motivated,
working all the time and very excited about it. That’s when I
started to explore the idea of using three dimensions and a
needle and thread.”
But she never thought her dolls and scenes constructed of
fabric would translate into a legitimate form of illustration.
After she graduated, she continued making fabric sculptures,
but “people didn’t put much value on the sculptures,” she said.
“Art dolls had not come into being yet.” Mavor realized that for
people to consider her work an art form, she had to put it in a
frame and put it on the wall.
Once her 3-D characters in scenes were framed, she thought,
“maybe I can do this illustration thing.” 2
Her first children’s book The Way Home, written by Judy
Richardson, was published in 1991. Since then, Mavor has Deadlines and an Audience
illustrated more than a dozen books including Pocketful of Illustrator and cartoonist Barry Deutsch (hereville.com) grew
Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes which won the Boston up loving comics.
Globe-Horn Book Award, Golden Kite Award, was named an
American Library Association Notable Book and chosen as Best “My parents had an original Sunday Pogo comic strip on the
Books for Babies. wall and I would spend hours standing on the back of the sofa
2 Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, 2010, by Salley Mavor. Fabric relief embroidery, 10” x 20”. Copyright © 2010 Salley Mavor. Used by permission of the artist.

“ Never put
yourself or
your work
reading and re-reading the strip. Eventually my parents bought down in His break into graphic novels came
me a Pogo collection and I was like, ‘There’s more?’” your pitch when a friend, who was also a
cartoonist, told him about a call for
Later, in high school and college, Deutsch printed his own by saying, “girl-centered comics” at Girlamatic.
comics on a copy machine for friends and family. At one point,
he attended the School of Visual Arts for a year, but “I lacked ‘It’s not “Without giving it much thought, I
discipline,” he said. very good,’ made up a story about an Orthodox
Jewish girl’s quest to get a sword,”
Then, after years of working as a secretary, Deutsch moved ‘I can’t he said.
to Amherst, Massachusetts, and even though he wasn’t an
enrolled student, he signed on to draw a comic in the daily really draw.’ How did he come up with that idea?
student newspaper. ~ Barry Deutsch
“A lot of my favorite comics are
His strip Cast of Thousands was his first experience being culturally specific with artists
published and it gave him two things he needed: deadlines and drawing on their own background,”
an audience. His five deadlines a week forced him to practice, Deutsch said. “It made sense to do
which greatly improved his drawing skills. And then there was a Jewish comic but I didn’t want to
all the audience attention. proselytize or have it be educational.
3
“I wanted to do a book in which all the characters happened to
“On buses or in the student union, I would be able to see
be Jewish. But being Jewish wasn’t something I had to point
people reading my cartoon or overhear people talking about
out because it would be so intrinsic.
my cartoon,” he said.
“Also, I just wanted to do a fun, action-adventure comic that I
After the student newspaper gig ended, he moved to Portland,
thought I would enjoy,” he said.
Oregon where he started drawing political cartoons for the
student newspaper at Portland State University. The main character, Mirka, is an 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish
3 Hereville: How Mirka Caught A Fish pages 92-93, 2015, by Barry Deutsch. Digital drawing. Copyright © 2015 Barry Deutsch. Used by permission of the artist.
“ With my
illustration
work, I
consciously
That One Teacher
try to make When Steve Light (stevelightart.
work that com) was in high school, his art
can stand teacher noticed that Light liked to
have a problem and then solve it.
on its own “You’re an illustrator,” the teacher
girl growing up in Hereville. Although Deutsch grew up Jewish,

as a piece told him. “You should go to art
school for illustration.” The teacher
he knew little of the more observant world of Orthodox Jews. of art, even went so far as to call Light’s
His research took him to a few anthropology texts and some
autobiographies of women who had grown up orthodox.
beyond its father and say, “I’ve only had one
other kid like this. He should go to
“Eventually, in fits and starts I got a 60-page Hereville
commercial art school.”
completed and I self-published and brought it to a comic book usefulness. Light attended Pratt Institute but
convention.” An agent saw the book, picked it up. Soon after he ~ Salley Mavor “I didn’t have a style at Pratt,” he
had a book deal with Abrams Books and has since written three said. “I was allowed to experiment
Hereville stories. and try all kinds of things. I took
Deutsch likes the comic format for its “readability, especially

architecture classes and fashion design drawing classes.”
for young readers. They just pick it up and if the story’s
enthralling, they’ll go with it,” he said. Then one teacher said something to Light that changed
everything. “The best thing he ever did was take away the
His work has won an Oregon Book Award and an award from
pencil and eraser and gave me a pen,” Light said. “Just make the
the Association of Jewish Libraries, among many others.
lines work,” the teacher said.
Does he still need deadlines?
With that instruction, Light was freed and learned ways to
“I hate to say it, but I need that deadline panic. If I look at the make those pen lines work. Before, with his pencil, “everything
number of pages I get drawn, they increase so highly when I’m was figured out” and the drawing “lost a lot of its life.” But
approaching a deadline. I always promise that the next time it using a pen was “drawing without a net. It gives you this
will be different — but so far it hasn’t been,” he said. excitement and this life for the drawing,” he said.
4 Have You Seen My Dragon?, by Steve Light. Copyright © 2014 by Steve Light. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

5
Nowadays, Light draws with fountain pens and he uses custom- his young students.
made nibs including broad nibs, flexible nibs and Japanese nibs
He credits these storytelling sessions with teaching him story
that are bent and work well to create a thick, scraggly line.
structure and pacing and how to keep a group of kids interested.
Light both writes and illustrates his children’s books and usually He knew different versions of stories that made them move
plans out the books visually first. “I don’t write the words down quicker or slower depending on the age and attention spans of
until later,” he said. the children.
As his day job, Light teaches pre-K, so he’s been able to
practice his storytelling with future readers of his books. As a Making a Living
teacher, he’d created these story boxes with doll versions of the “The great thing about teaching is that I can try out the stories.
characters of the story and he used these props to tell stories to And I get ideas for stories, too,” he said. Also, his teaching gig
5 Jerry Hall, he is so small, 2010, by Salley Mavor. Fabric relief embroidery, 10” x 10”. Copyright © 2010 Salley Mavor. Used by permission of the artist.
7 1
Barry Deutsch’s
Steps to Becoming
a Better Cartoonist
Nothing improves a cartoonist
better than doing work regularly
and showing it to an audience. So, if
you don’t already have a publisher,
start a comic and put it on the web.
2 Clarity of storytelling is so
important in comics. Don’t just
gives him health insurance and stability so that
“I’m not hungrily chasing after book deals.”
Light’s first few books were published without
an agent. Now that he has an agent, she handles
the contracts. But she also provides him
“ Clarity of
storytelling is
so important
in comics.
Don’t just
draw pretty
pictures —
draw pretty pictures — learn to tell a
story visually. Recommended reading:
knowledge of the children’s book industry and learn to tell a
Scott McCloud’s Making Comics:
“she helps me shape my career and what kind
of books I want to put out there,” he said.
story visually.
Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga
~ Barry Deutsch
and Graphic Novels.
3 Don’t neglect the writing side of

your craft. If you’re a student, take
creative writing classes. If you’re not a
student, study books on screenwriting
and story structure. Join either a local
or an online writers’ critique group.
4 For any comic you’re creating,

learn a good “elevator pitch” for
it. In fact, two elevator pitches. The
first pitch should be a single sentence
describing your comic that explains
what’s so unique about your story and
makes people want to learn more.
The second pitch — for when people
ask you to tell them more — should
be no more than a minute long.
Practice your elevator pitches until
they are smooth and entertaining.
Never put yourself or your work down
in your pitch by saying, “It’s not very
good,” “I can’t really draw,” and so on.
5 Practice, practice, practice. The

more you can make yourself
create comics, the better you’ll get
6
at it.
6 Socialize with other cartoonists,

either at comic book conventions
or online. The other folks you know
Making a living from being a children’s book illustrator is not easy, Mavor
said. The books don’t stay in print long and the competition from the many
book titles is fierce. “You have to really work to push and market your books.”
who are going through the same thing
are an incredibly valuable resource. Mavor makes more money from selling the illustrations, which she frames
You can learn so much about the craft, and sells between $3,000 and $6,000 each. “With my illustration work,
and also about the business end, from I consciously try to make work that can stand on its own as a piece of art,
other cartoonists. (And, hopefully, beyond its commercial usefulness. That way, the originals can be exhibited
you’ll eventually become a valuable and sold, which turns out to be more profitable than royalty payments.”
resource for other cartoonists in turn.) The key to making money is diversifying, Mavor said. “There are people who
7 If a prospective publisher wants

you to sign away the ownership
rights to your original story, you
are just children’s book illustrators and they just keep at it. You have to be
should probably refuse.

6 Have You Seen My Dragon?, by Steve Light. Copyright © 2014 by Steve Light. Reproduced by permission
of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, Massachusetts. 7 Molly, my sister and I, 2010, by Salley Mavor.
Fabric relief embroidery, 10” x 10”. Copyright © 2010 Salley Mavor. Used by permission of the artist.
quicker at it than what I do. My medium is not
conducive to making an hourly wage. I can’t
think about that part of it. I work all the time
because that’s what I want to do. It gives me so
much more satisfaction than anything else.”
Mavor also has an Etsy shop where she sells
posters and cards of her illustrations.
Is she deterred by her labor-intensive process?
Absolutely not. The countless hours it takes
to create a single piece is worth it “as long as
it holds the promise of transcending the effort
involved.” PA
Gigi Rosenberg is the editor of Professional Artist.

She’s also an artist coach and the author of The
Artist’s Guide to Grant Writing (Watson-Guptill,
2010). She’s been a guest commentator on Oregon
Public Broadcasting, performed at Seattle’s On The
Boards, and been published by Seal Press, Poets &
Writers, and Psychology Today. For the latest, visit
gigirosenberg.com or reach her at grosenberg@
professionalartistmag.com. 7
Helping Artists To
Achieve their dreams
Are you floundering? Art career going nowhere?
The art market has changed dramaticly over the

last few years and it is not business as usual.
With over 40 years of experience in the art world, I can

get you focused and moving forward quickly. Being a
great artist is not enough. The new “realities” of
the art
a market have made it even more important to
have a solid business strategy and plan to succeed.
It doesnʼt have to be so hard!
Letʼs talk:
VIRGINIA FABBRI BUTERA, PHD
www.ButeraArtConsulting.com Enter now at ProfessionalArtistMag.com/CoverContest
GinnyButera1@gmail.com 908-591-1727 for a chance to have your artwork featured on our cover!
BY ELAINE GROGAN LUTTRULL
Own Your Visual Narrative
Strike
Pose a
T
here’s a knock at your studio door. A well-
known gallerist arrives for a studio visit.
Your heart beats faster, your palms sweat.
You glance nervously around the studio,
certain your guest will see through the
professional façade. Isn’t it obvious you
have no idea what you’re doing?
If young professionals, students and creative
leaders can practice “power posing” and
other techniques to build confidence, land
1
more jobs and earn more money, then surely artists — who already
have heightened observational skills about the world around them and
plenty of practice with the critique process — can benefit from the same
techniques. Surely they can use the findings of social psychologist Amy
Cuddy and others to enhance their own professional practices. Right?

an expression of power, and Cuddy explored
the universality of these “power” gestures in
her 2012 TED talk:
“What are nonverbal expressions of power
and dominance? … In the animal kingdom,
they are about expanding. So you make
yourself big, you stretch out, you take up
space,” she said. Humans and primates “do
this both when they have power sort of
chronically, and also when they’re feeling
powerful in the moment.”
We swipe right. Be we aren’t always correct.
Especially if we’re distracted, inattentive
or reactive.
Strike a Power Pose.

So, how can you feel more powerful in
stressful situations? Can you trick your brain
into feeling more confident?
Consider striking a power pose (in private)
2 before an “evaluative situation” in which you
or your work will be scrutinized by peers,
colleagues or collectors. In her experiments,
Cuddy asked subjects to strike either high-
power or low-power poses for two minutes
prior to a staged evaluative situation. As
you might imagine, high-power poses were
expansive and dominant in nature, while
Depending on whom you ask, nonverbal communications can make up between
low-power poses were more collapsed and
55 percent and 90 percent of the messages we receive (although it’s rarely that
more diminutive.
simple). Nonverbals include physical characteristics like body language, facial
expression, or presentation and emotional characteristics like whether or not we She measured levels of testosterone and
are relaxed and focused on whatever is before us. Verbal cues — in addition to the cortisol in her subjects, both before and after
words we speak — like tone or volume also complement our words. And of course, the posing. Those who held high-power poses
context matters, as does congruence. (More on that in a bit.) for two minutes had on average a 20-percent
increase in testosterone, compared to
But we’re not always right.
subjects who held low-power poses. The
In a University of California, Berkeley study summarized by NPR, profiles on the latter group experienced a 10-percent
popular — if much maligned — dating app Tinder featuring “expansive poses” were decrease in testosterone. That’s a 30-point
“27 percent more likely to get a yes.” Physical stances that were “expansive” appear spread in the “dominance hormone,” which is
open in nature and take up relatively large amounts of photographic real estate common in both alpha male primates and —
(arms spread, wide stance, chin lifted). What we’re seeing in these photographs is you guessed it — effective leaders.
1 2 Powerless Poses, 2015, by Dailey Crafton. Copyright © 2015 Dailey Crafton. Used by permission of
the artist. Illustrations from Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy.
Powerful
Poses
20% Dominance
Increase
Subjects who held powerful poses
for two minutes experienced a
20-percent increase in testosterone
(the dominance hormone), while
those who held powerless poses
10% experienced a 10-percent decrease
3 Decrease
Cuddy observed similar results in the change in cortisol an artist talk. Perhaps you excuse yourself to the restroom
levels in her subjects. Cortisol is the “stress hormone.” during an opening for two minutes of “alpha male primate,”
Alpha male primates and effective leaders both tend to posing with your arms spread upward and your chin lifted.
have relatively low cortisol levels. High-power pose subjects
experienced a 25-percent decrease in cortisol levels while In public, you’d look like a fool (no one naturally stands
low-power pose subjects experienced a 15-percent increase. like an alpha male primate), and feeling foolish has the
Simply holding a pose for two minutes had a measurable opposite effect on your cortisol levels. But in private, for
effect on the subjects’ hormone levels. two minutes, chances are your testosterone will increase
and your cortisol will decrease.
Body language can prompt our brains to respond. In some
ways, “nonverbals … govern how we think and feel about You may feel energized — instead of drained — and that
ourselves,” Cuddy reports. Changing your body language may make the evaluative situation feel less stressful. Or
and facial expression to better reflect how you really feel you might benefit from a placebo effect and feel less
can affect not only how others perceive you, but also anxious regardless of your hormone levels.
whether you feel aligned — that is, whether your outsides Either way, you may feel less stressed and more comfortable.
match your insides. Your physical presentation, your facial expressions, and
Cuddy called this alignment “synchrony” in Presence: Bringing your emotions will match the relaxed way you feel inside.
Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges, the follow up You’ll naturally be more aligned. And in this alignment is
to her 2012 TED talk. “The various elements of the self natural authenticity.
— emotions, thoughts, physical and facial expressions,
You’ve taken charge of your own authentic visual narrative.
behaviors — must be in harmony. If our actions aren’t
consistent with our values, we won’t feel that we’re being One Size Doesn’t Fit All.
true to ourselves.”
Nonverbal communication is always important. (Remember?
Perhaps you stand like Wonder Woman backstage before It’s said that 60 percent of all communication is nonverbal.)
3 Powerful Poses, 2015, by Dailey Crafton. Copyright © 2015 Dailey Crafton. Used by permission of the artist.
Illustrations from Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy.

convey to others. Consider inviting a friend to evaluate
your body language as well as what you present online.
Listen carefully to the observations your friend makes
about you. Those observations will likely be honest —
perhaps brutally so — and, ideally, wrapped in affection.
The same might not be true of observations made
by collectors, gallerists or critics.
“ Use what you know

to ensure your visual narrative
reflects the real you.
~ Elaine Grogan Luttrull
We can bemoan the causes for quick interactions,

including our decreasing attention spans and the
increasing distractions we face. But you have the most
important tools you’ll need: The ability to create your
own visual narrative with intention and a trusted
sounding board to keep you on track. Use what you know
to ensure your visual narrative reflects the real you.
Avoid Simple and Obvious.

Artists often have heightened observational skills,
4
and they put them into practice by using nonverbal
communications in their work. For figurative artists
But it is especially important in situations that are relatively in particular, incorporating nonverbal communication
impersonal and relatively short in duration. (And given our fleeting into a subject conveys — and sometimes changes — the
attention spans — and the fleeting attention spans of society overall narrative of a piece in both subtle and obvious ways.
— we may find more initial moments that are relatively impersonal
Ellen Cooper (ellencooper.net) is drawn to the human
and short in duration.)
form, both in figurative painting and portraiture. She
Consider a long-term relationship with your favorite collaborator, or aims to understand who her subject really is, what his
your gallerist, or a committed collector. Because these relationships are or her path has been, and she studies her subjects, both
very personal and continue for extended periods of time, nonverbal through research and observation during unguarded
communication is part of a larger context. It isn’t the only reference moments. Perhaps because of this, Cooper shies away
point for the counterparty. from “simple and obvious choices” in posing. The simple
and obvious choices aren’t interesting. And they’re rarely
Consider instead a brief meeting at a festival, a 10-minute
authentic. They are the equivalent of a power pose on
conversation at an opening, or even the “about the artist” page on
Tinder, and they aren’t worthy of fine art.
your website. These interactions — much like a brief glance and a
reactionary swipe on Tinder — are relatively impersonal (there isn’t The same is true for you. If you feign confidence
much overall context) and relatively short in duration (there aren’t through obvious tropes, like giving an artist talk while
additional reference points). standing like Wonder Woman, you’ll likely feel more
stressed and less confident. By wearing a “confidence
In these situations, you have less time and fewer tools at your disposal
costume” based on an incorrect or incomplete
to get your point across. What is it you hope a client or customer or
perception of what “successful” or “professional” or
colleague will understand about you and your work following an insanely
even “happy” looks like, we guarantee we’ll feel none
short period of time? What is the essence of your message, and how can
of those things. Feeling authentic and aligned and
you use nonverbal communication to enhance that message?
enabling those feelings to shine through will generate
It’s possible that you might not be the best judge of the messages you actual confidence, not simply a costume.
4 Anna Scott, 2012, by Ellen Cooper. Oil on linen, 33” x 26”. Copyright © 2012 Ellen Cooper. Used by permission of the artist.
Powerless
Poses
The power posing emboldens your hormones, but its

continuation is up to you.
Then What?
We humans have evolved to recognize the nonverbal messages
from others, although sometimes words distract us. Our
brains sometimes place higher emphasis on the superficial,
verbal messages, even while something inside us — our gut
reactions — challenge the brain’s conclusions.
A mismatch between a verbal message and the nonverbal
ones that accompany it lacks congruence. Artists, given
their heightened observational powers, are more likely than
others to perceive these inconsistencies, both in others and
in themselves.
Check in with your posture: Are you sitting straighter? Are your
shoulders tense? Consider your expression. Do the corners
15% of your mouth turn down instead of in a “resting pleasant”
Increase stress expression? Is there a furrowed crease between your eyebrows?
Is the visual narrative you are creating — accidentally or
Subjects who held powerful poses
for two minutes experienced a intentionally — in line with the story you want to convey?
25-percent decrease in cortisol
As you adopt small changes in your everyday existence
(the stress hormone), while
(standing taller in line at the grocery store, exhaling and rolling
those who held powerless poses
25% experienced a 15-percent increase.
your shoulders back at the gas station), remain curious about
the changes you observe in yourself. Do you feel more aligned?
Decrease
More authentic? More relaxed? More in sync?
Then observe differences in how others engage with you,
particularly in situations that are impersonal or relatively brief.
5 Powerless Poses, 2015, by Dailey Crafton. Copyright © 2015 Dailey Crafton. Used by permission of the artist. Illustrations from Presence by Amy Cuddy
6 Gregory Dell’Omo Ph.D., President Robert Morris University, 2015, by Ellen Cooper. Oil on linen, 34” x 39”.
7 Defiance of Erebus, 2011, by Ellen Cooper. Oil on linen, 62” x 36”.Copyright © 2015 Ellen Cooper. Used by permission of the artist.
For Further Reading
n Presence:Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest
Challenges, by Amy Cuddy
n YourBody Language Shapes Who You Are, by Amy
Cuddy, TEDGlobal 2012, www.ted.com/talks/amy_
cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are?
n BeyondWords Blog by Jeff Thompsonn, Ph.D.,
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beyond-words
Does the feedback you receive change? Are there tangible,

measurable results, like more follow ups, additional sales
or an increase in the quality of interactions?
Remaining curious and open to the observations you make
will always serve your work well. And incorporating that into
your own visual narrative may just serve your professional
practice well too. PA
Elaine Grogan Luttrull, CPA, is the founder of Minerva Financial

Arts, a company devoted to increasing the business and financial
literacy of artists and arts organizations through workshops,
coaching, and her Starting SMART online learning program.
She is also the author of Arts & Numbers, a financial guide for
creative entrepreneurs. Find her online at MinervaFinancialArts.
com, and connect with her via Twitter (@egluttrull), Facebook
(MinervaFinancialArts), and LinkedIn.
7
COACHING the ARTIST within
By Eric Maisel, Ph.D.
Why Finishing a Painting is So Darn Hard

M
any visual artists have no + Some decide to “keep fussing with” that you won’t have another good
trouble starting pieces but the troubled area, maybe finally idea — ever.
lots of trouble finishing bringing it to completion or maybe
Your brain can fool you into thinking
them. Why is finishing so difficult for making a mess of the whole thing.
that this excellent idea is the last
so many artists?
+ Some decide to call the work of art excellent idea you’ll ever have. You
Which reason sounds most familiar “finished for now” and put it out can get weighed down by the feeling
to you? And what can you do about in the world with that nagging 1 that since no other idea will ever
them? percent still lacking. come to you, you had better nurse
this idea — so as to have something
1. THE PAINTING DOESN’T + Some decide to step away from
to work on, and so as to put off what
MATCH YOUR ORIGINAL the work of art for a period of time, you feel will be a terrible moment of
VISION. either in the hopes that when they reckoning when, with this painting
Very often, artists “see” their painting come back to it they will know what done, you face the void and discover
before it’s painted — see it in all its to do or that when they come back that you have nothing available to say
beauty, grandeur and excellence — to it the problem will have vanished and nothing left to say.
and then, when they paint, the “real” of its own accord.
painting in front of them doesn’t Saying “No!” is the antidote to this
+ Some abandon the work altogether half-conscious thought that this is
match the brilliance and perfection of
and number it among those creative your last good idea. Even if no next
the original vision. Disappointed, they
lose motivation to complete it and efforts that didn’t quite pan out. idea is currently present, that’s no
either white-knuckle their way to the There is no perfect solution to this reason to presume that an excellent
end or don’t complete it. dilemma. It’s simply the case that idea won’t percolate up when the
sometimes a part of the thing you’re time is right, after this painting is
The solution? Understand that the
working on isn’t coming around. completed. Remind yourself that it’s
real painting will be different from the
Because this is true so often, many of wonderful that you’re enjoying your
imagined painting. The process of
your creative efforts are held hostage current idea, but that it will likewise
making art pretty much guarantees
to this problem. When your work of be wonderful to encounter your next
that the work you’re doing will “go
art is 99 percent done and 1 percent idea, which is bound to be available
its own way” and become the thing it
remains recalcitrant and intractable, once your brain has completed its
will become, not some remembered
what tactics will you employ to get thinking on this painting.
or idealized version of itself.
to the end? Create a plan for that Opt for an abundance model rather
Accept that any feelings you may natural eventuality. than a scarcity model and finish
harbor for the idealized version of
up this painting so that your next
this piece shouldn’t prevent you from 3. YOU FEAR THIS IS
painting can have its chance to arrive.
accepting — and appreciating — the YOUR BEST IDEA.
Embrace the tasks of appraising,
real version in front of you. Let’s say that you’ve been working
showing and selling your painting,
for months on a large, complicated
2. THE HARD BITS WON’T COME. narrative painting. You’ve figured out
get ready for the process to begin all
Even if you successfully complete over again, and be brave enough to
how to take a mythological subject and
99 percent of your work, if 1 percent finish the things you start. PA
put it into modern dress and you’re
of what remains isn’t working or
proud of and excited by your idea. Eric Maisel is America’s foremost creativity
doesn’t satisfy you, then your work
coach and the author of more than 40
of art remains incomplete in your Naturally, your brain has organized
books including Secrets of a Creativity
own estimation. itself around this idea, is focused Coach, Making Your Creative Mark,
on this painting, and isn’t allowing Coaching the Artist Within, Fearless
What have other artists done in this
neurons to fly off and think about Creating, The Van Gogh Blues, and
situation? Mastering Creative Anxiety. Dr. Maisel
other paintings and other ideas.
presents two live one-hour teleclasses
+ Some have the happy experience This natural phenomenon of being
every month with the Academy for
of returning to that 1 percent, after focused has a shadow side: It can Optimal Living. You can visit Dr. Maisel
a break away, and the solution make you believe that you don’t at ericmaisel.com or contact him at
suddenly presents itself. currently have another good idea and ericmaisel@hotmail.com.

Helping artists turn their calling into their career since 1986.
ProfessionalArtistMag.com
SELL YOUR
ART IN
MUSEUM
STORES
1 Courtyard to Crystal Bridges by the Museum Store with Maman, 1999, by Louise Bourgeois. Bronze stainless steel and marble
sculpture, 29’ 4 3/8” x 32’ 1 7/8” x 38’ 5/8”. Photo credit: Dero Sanford. Courtesy of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas.

2
7 TIPS FROM ARTISTS, BUYERS AND CONSULTANTS

BY THEA FIORE-BLOOM, PH.D.
Museum stores are great

for a certain kind of artist.
Are you one of them?
I
’m one of those people who
visits museums alone. I
don’t go by myself because
I’m deep and I need to
brood undisturbed before
the bronzes. The truth is,
my museum trips begin not in
a hushed gallery, but with an
embarrassingly long gander at
everything in the museum store.
2 Museum Store, designed by architect Marlon Blackwell. Photo credit: Timothy Hursley.
Courtesy of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas.
One store with a particularly compelling siren thinks artists new to museum stores could
song is the tiny shop at the Fowler Museum begin by targeting smaller, local museum
“
at the University of California, Los Angeles, shops they have some connection to.
devoted to exploring global arts and culture.
Small museum shops hold oceans of
The Fowler’s 400 square feet are filled with
opportunity for the right kind of artist.
exotic finery in all price ranges. Intricate
Before
Before you investigate mosaic-like beaded chokers handmade by the
Kathy DiGenova, the buyer at the Fowler
said, “Surprisingly, I hardly get approached by
Maasai women of Africa live alongside gem
a store in person pendants of druzy quartz. Funky folk art
artists at all. I can’t remember the last time
someone asked for an appointment. I usually
or online, find the metal mirrors from Mexico framed with tin
can roses sit atop shibori-dyed scarves.
go online and out to area art fairs to find
museum’s mission “Store managers/buyers would tell you that
local work to carry in the shop.” Several other
small and mid-size museum shop buyers I
statement on their the upper-end product, the handmade art, spoke to in Los Angeles said the same. It’s an
is integral to the impression and impact a open niche — but how does it work?
website. store makes,” said museum store consultant
Andrew Andoniadis (museumstoreconsult. Consignment vs. Wholesale
~ Thea Fiore-Bloom com). Just who are the artists who sell their Most artists who sell to galleries or retail
work in such lush settings? Do they make a stores usually work under a consignment
good living? And how did they get their work business model. Consignment involves
in the door? getting paid by the retailer after your art
is sold — “if your art sells, that is, and
You may need the help of the secret service
providing it hasn’t been damaged, lost
to even get the name of the jewelry buyer
or stolen,” Edlund said. When it comes
at monolithic museums like the Getty.
to museum shops, Edlund champions
“Everyone who’s a decision maker in those
wholesaling as opposed to consigning.
big shops is trying to protect themselves
from getting flogged by PR people, so Wholesaling is defined as the act of selling
they must have gatekeepers,” said Carolyn goods to someone other than a retail
Edlund, (artsbusinessinstitute.org) executive customer. Edlund defines wholesaling as a
director of the educational nonprofit Arts way “for an artist to make an actual living.
Business Institute (ABI). “Museum shops like The whole point behind wholesaling to
the Smithsonian, who I used to sell to, get museum shops is you as an artist establish a
thousands of solicitations per day.” Andoniadis relationship with your customers [museum
3 4
5 6
3 Denver Museum of Art, Denver. Roth-Shepard Architects. Photo credit: Andrew Andoniadis, 2009. 4 Yew Dell Botanical Gardens, Crestwood,
Kentucky. De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop. Photo credit: Andrew Andoniadis, 2009. 5 Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus,
Ohio. DesignGroup Architects. Photo credit: Andrew Andoniadis, 2015. 6 Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Marlon
Blackwell Architect. Photo credit: Andrew Andoniadis, 2011. Used by permission of the photographer.
“When I was retailing my jewelry to stores
and at shows,” Pelati said, “I noticed over
time there were certain pieces people
repeatedly gravitated to.” Turns out Pelati’s
customers loved what she loved. Her
popular pieces had an archetypal quality
7 that attracted clients, who, like Pelati
herself, loved the history of architecture
and identified with the period of the
1900s. “I had an idea to take these favorite
shop buyers] and you get reliable, repeat pieces, create a collection around them and
orders that are presold or set at a firm net move them into the wholesale world where
30 [which gives the retailer 30 days after my business could branch out,” Pelati said.
receipt of goods to pay in full]. A 10- to While she was mulling this over she made
15-year relationship with a museum store a valuable discovery attending a tradeshow.
is not uncommon for artists.”
Metalsmith Meets Museum Store
Who is Cut Out for Wholesale? “My jeweler friend let me help her set
With the exception of overly large or fragile up her wholesale booth at the 2014
work, almost any kind of reproducible art Buyers Market of American Crafts in
in any medium could be a contender for the Philadelphia,” Pelati said. “I learned a lot
8
right museum store, providing the art falls just hanging around. She suggested I go
within the store’s price and product range. to an ABI workshop going on there where
But almost any kind of artist may not be a artists put out a sampling of their work
contender for wholesale. If you only love to for buyers to look at and anonymously
make intricate one-of-a-kind pieces, stay comment on.” When Pelati received her
with galleries. If you want a production assessment from buyers, several of them
studio and are willing to partner with a said museum shops would be a good place
museum shop buyer to create income for for her work. “I learned that I needed to
yourself and the shop, wholesaling may be set up a list of potential stores, and in
perfect for you. researching that list I did find a lot of
Metalsmith Evelyn Pelati (evelynpelati.com) museum shops. I just started contacting
saw her art sales expand and stabilize when them along with shops and galleries and
she gradually cut down on consigning and everybody I could think of,” Pelati said. Ten
retailing her “vintage-modern” jewelry and museum stores later (evelynpelati.com/
taught herself how to wholesale to mid- retailers), Pelati’s wholesaling dream has
size museum stores. Pelati vends her Arts now come into full flower.
and Crafts-period-inspired line of earrings Five tips to help you begin your journey 9
and necklaces for both women and men to into museum stores include:
museum shops like: The Frank Lloyd Wright
Home and Studio Museum Shop in Oak Park 1 Don’t calculate — be yourself.
(shopwright.org), The National Building Don’t make art for a museum. Make your
Museum Shop in Washington, D.C. art first and then find your museum
(nbm.org), Taliesin Preservation in Spring match. “I think it’s important that artists
Green, Wisconsin (www.taliesinpreservation. do what they love, what speaks to them.
org), and Anneliese’s Bookstore at It shouldn’t be a calculated effort as in:
Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona ‘OK, I’m going to target this market and
(taliesinpreservation.org/shop). One of I’m going to create this work for that place.’
Pelati’s largest museum accounts currently That doesn’t come through sincerely. 0
buys 60 or so pieces of jewelry from her People buy something because they know
every month. how much you loved making it,” Pelati said.
7 Fruit of the Vine, 2015, by Evelyn Pelati. Sterling silver, amethyst cubic zirconia, dye oxides, oxidized patina, 1 ¼” x 1”. 8 Evelyn Pelati. 9 Nest, 2015,
by Evelyn Pelati. Sterling silver, pearl, oxidized patina, 1 ¾” x 2”. 0 Tracery Bracelet, 2015, by Evelyn Pelati. White Bronze, Gilder’s Paste patina, faux suede,
½” x 2 ¼” x 7 ½”. Copyright © Evelyn Pelati. Used by permission of the artist.
2 Get your past life on. have never seen anything like your potential
“I always joke — and it’s really only half a line in a museum store. That may be a plus if
“
joke — that I’ve been reincarnated from your pieces enhance the museum’s mission.
another era because all my life I’ve identified 3 Your mission is to understand their mission.
so much with the houses, the design style, “Always ask yourself: ‘Why should they buy
the clothing, and the jewelry of the Arts my work?’” Edlund said. If you want to sell to
Don’t
Don’t make art for and Crafts and Deco periods,” Pelati said. museum stores, visit local favorites and look
“That’s why I was proud when I became a
a museum. Make juried Roycroft Artisan.” The initial Roycroft
at the price ranges. Before you investigate a
store in person or online, find the museum’s
your art first and then community was active from 1894 to 1938 mission statement on their website. Look
and produced some of the finest work of the at the objects the store carries and see how
find your museum match. Arts and Crafts movement. each connects to the store’s mission. Mission
~ Thea Fiore-Bloom There are as many styles of work as there matters because museum buyers usually
are markets to place the work in. “If you like won’t buy if it doesn’t meet their mission, for
the sea, and your art celebrates that, your fear of violating Unrelated Business Income
market could be aquarium shops. If you like Tax (UBIT) laws. “In layman’s terms, UBIT
flowers, it could be botanical gardens. If you is a part of the federal tax code that allows
make things for kids, it could be children’s institutions to not pay sales tax on products
museums,” Pelati said. Don’t worry if you that are related to either an exhibit, or the
mission of the museum,” Andoniadis said.
! Crystal Bridges Museum Store. Courtesy of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Photo credit: Dero Sanford.

#
Alliance of Museums (aam-us.org) and The Museum

Store Association (museumstoreassociation.org).
7 Get help tackling the learning curve.
Museum stores have a steep learning curve. “Don’t
take initial rejection personally, it comes with the
@ territory,” Pelati said. With trial and error, you’ll figure
out who you need to market what to when. “Most
museum store buyers think artists are wonderful, but
museum stores also have bottom lines, so for artists
to succeed here, they need to understand things like
competitive, fair, pricing for value,” Andoniadis said.
If you want to learn how to best price your work,
4 Partner with your museum store buyer. convert your studio into a production studio or get
Research your dream museum’s permanent collection, up to speed on billing options, consider taking a
ongoing programs, as well as their upcoming special course, such as How to Wholesale: A Step-by-Step Guide
exhibitions. If your work coordinates with a future for the Creative Entrepreneur (artsbusinessinstitute.
exhibit, prepare a targeted pitch well in advance. org/abi-wholesale-academy).
You can also help the store educate museumgoers by
including appropriate explanatory material with
your art. “If you’re talking to a Civil War Museum in
More Than Money
The benefits of wholesaling to museum stores extend
Texas and you have these great Civil War-inspired mugs beyond the monetary. “A woman once purchased a
they want to sell,” Edlund said, “you can custom-print necklace of mine from Taliesin West,” Pelati said. “My
hang tags that highlight the connection to a battlefield jewelry comes with a care card that tells a story about
or building, specifically on their property. Then you’re how the piece was made. No contact information —
going above and beyond. Buyers appreciate that. This stores don’t like that. But somehow this woman tracked
also helps sell your work in store.” me down and emailed me to tell me how much she
5 Remember your p’s and q’s: price and quantity. loved it. That moved me. Obviously, she went and took
“To succeed in wholesale you need to create in in a place that spoke to her — she was so happy there.
quantity. Your work will be handmade, each piece She was able to bring home something that reminds her
slightly different — therein lies its beauty — yet of what she felt when she was there. She can put that
similar enough to be consistent and meet the needs little necklace on when she wants to feel that feeling
of the shop,” Edlund said. again. For me — that’s what it’s all about.” PA
“It also really helps me if an artist has different pieces Thea Fiore-Bloom is a freelance writer, artist, teacher
of work in a range of prices,” DiGenova said. “The least and literacy volunteer with a Ph.D. in mythology. Fiore-
expensive item I carry is $1 and the most expensive Bloom’s work is inspired by archaeology, architecture,
item I have is $2,200. There’s my range for the store.” museums, and the objects and stories of the people she
meets in her own backyard. She welcomes mail at her
6 Experience a trade show. website theafiorebloom.com.
Visit a trade show. “If you get in touch with the
promoter and say, ‘I’m interested in being an
exhibitor and would like to walk the show first,’
you will probably be allowed in as a guest,” Edlund
said. She suggests The American Made Show
(americanmadeshow.com), New York Now’s wholesale
section (nynow.com) or The American Craft Council
show (craftcouncil.org) on wholesale days. She also
suggests considering membership in the American
@ Tracery Earrings, 2014, by Evelyn Pelati. White bronze on sterling silver ear wires, gilder’s paste patina, 1/2” x 1 ¼”. # Five Squares Earrings, 2015,
by Evelyn Pelati. Sterling silver, sterling silver posts, oxidized patina, ¼” diameter. Copyright © Evelyn Pelati. Used by permission of the artist.
1
BY DANIEL GRANT
How to Pay for Your
MASTER of FINE ARTS
M
any factors go into the decision of where an artist
might go for a Master of Fine Arts degree — the
location, the faculty, the facilities, the particular
focus of a school’s program — and cost enters
into the equation too. Figuring out what it costs
to be a graduate student, however, is a bit more
difficult than determining the price of being an
undergraduate.
1 Artwork by Studio MFA candidate Sarah Sarchin. UCLA Department of Art Graduate Open Studios December 2015. Photo credit: Reed Hutchinson.

“ PERHAPS, FOR THE BUDGET-MINDED MFA
APPLICANT, THE COST OF LIVING MAY BE
AS GREAT A CONCERN AS THE COST OF
ATTENDANCE. ~ DANIEL GRANT
“We estimate the cost of a year of graduate Apply for Scholarships

school year here — taking into account paying
“All of the students we admit get some sort
for books, art materials, food, rent and tuition —
of scholarship,” Harring said. It can amount to
at around $50,000,” said Christopher Harring, between 20 and 50 percent of the annual tuition,
director of graduate admissions at the Maryland which is currently $43,760 for the school year. The
Institute College of Art in Baltimore. The amount of scholarship is based on both financial
college’s various MFA programs (in community need and the judged quality of an applicant’s
arts, painting, sculpture, photographic and portfolio. In addition, students may earn some
electronic media, illustration, graphic design and extra money by working as teaching assistants,
a few others) are all two years long, presumably helping out an undergraduate instructor in the
bringing the total price to $100,000 — in theory, classroom or studio, netting $1,000 per class,
but not in fact. and some students will assist in two classes per
2 Sugar Coated, 2016, by Maggie Rose Condit. Copyright © Pacific Northwest College of Art. Courtesy Pacific Northwest College of Art.
3
“ A VARIETY OF PRIVATE FOUNDATIONS

OFFER SUPPORT TO UNDERGRADUATE
waivers from the art department for MFA students
totals $20,000, and, “100 percent of enrolled MFA
students receive merit-based support.” The words
“merit-based support” are not quite to the point,
AND GRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE ARTS since much of that money is payment for being
AND OTHER FIELDS, SOME OF WHICH ARE teaching assistants in undergraduate classes. “The
department chair considers it very important for
BASED ON WHERE ONE LIVES… ~ DANIEL GRANT students to gain teaching experience,” she said.
Students also need to understand that income
over $3,000 is taxable by state and federal
semester. “All of our students end up owing governments.
something when they leave,” Harring added, but
some of the sticker shock is alleviated. Tuition — $13,026 per year for in-state students
and $33,812 for out-of-state residents — is entirely
waived at the University of Connecticut for MFAs,
How Much Does it Cost?
and a stipend of up to $9,000 is paid to students
At the University of California in Los Angeles, who work 10 hours per week as teaching or art
in-state yearly tuition for the MFA studio program gallery assistants. However, there is a host of fees
is $22,617, while non-California residents are (general university fee, infrastructure maintenance
charged $31,862. That sounds like a lot of debt fee, graduate matriculation fee, graduate student
for prospective students to take on for a program activity fee, student union building fee, transit
lasting two years, but those numbers can be a fee and a few others) adding up to a couple of
bit deceiving. Caron Cronin, the art department’s thousand dollars that must be paid for by students
student advisor, said the average annual tuition separately. At some institutions, the cost of
3 UCLA Department of Art Professor Jennifer Bolande with MFA candidate Nathan Zeidman.
UCLA Department of Art Graduate Open Studios December 2015. Photo by Reed Hutchinson.

4
various fees is higher than the tuition, which may be assistantship, fellowship and tuition support to select
important to students who are given a tuition waiver graduate students who qualify.”
but not a tuition and fee waiver. One mandatory
The University of Massachusetts at Amherst ($14,754
fee that almost every art college and university
tuition and fees for in-state students taking a full
requires is health insurance coverage, which may be
course load of 12 credits, and $29,974 for out-
waived only if the applicant can prove that he has
of-state students), has no requirement for MFA
coverage elsewhere (such as from a parent’s plan),
students to teach, although “most of the students
and the annual cost ranges from $600 to $1,200.
coming here need financial support, and teaching
“Our schools often deal with dangerous situations or
helps them pay for their education,” said graduate
materials — sculpture studios, hot kilns, chemicals,
program director Young Min Moon. Ten-hour-
and so on, or there can simply be typical slip and fall
accidents, bicycle accidents, and so on,” said William per-week teaching assistantships mean a tuition
Barrett, former executive director of the Association and fee waiver, as well as a stipend and reduced
of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. costs of health and dental insurance. Additionally,
all students accepted into the program are
automatically nominated for a fellowship that covers
Become a Teaching Assistant
tuition, fees, health insurance and provides a more
The large number of MFA programs available makes generous stipend of between $13,000 and $16,000
generalizations difficult to come by, but it’s more without a requirement to teach.
often the case that universities permit and, in many
cases, require their graduate students to teach (or Fewer opportunities to teach exist at the Pacific
be teaching assistants) as part of the curriculum. Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. “We
Independent art colleges may have some teaching pay a certain number of second-year students to be
positions for which graduate students can apply, and teaching assistants,” said Peter Simensky, chairman
some colleges have no teaching opportunities for of the college’s MFA. in visual studies, paying them
MFA candidates at all. The MFA program at the State $1,000 per semester. That art school charges $39,390
University of New York at Stony Brook states clearly per year in graduate tuition and fees for its two-year
that “[a]ll graduate students are required to assist program, and every student receives “some level of
in teaching a minimum of one semester,” while the scholarship,” between $5,000 and $12,000 based on
University of Central Florida in Orlando “provides merit (a review of application portfolios determines
4 UCLA Department of Art Professor Catherine Opie with MFA candidate Martyna Szczesna.
5
“ MOST OF THE STUDENTS COMING

HERE NEED FINANCIAL SUPPORT, AND
Consider Low Residency
A growing number of independent art colleges
are offering prospective MFA applicants the
TEACHING HELPS THEM PAY FOR THEIR opportunity to earn a degree through low-residency
programs, in which students may live and work
EDUCATION. ~ YOUNG MIN MOON at home, taking spring and fall courses from the
college online or meeting with a local artist-mentor
who has been contracted to work with the student
by the college. The residency period at the college
is confined to a few weeks out of the year or
possibly as long as eight weeks during the summer,
that) rather than for performing some service. To
in which some courses are taught and students
cover the remainder of their costs, most students
may exhibit and receive critiques on their artwork.
take out private or government loans, he added. The
The tuition for low-residency programs tend to be
college’s tuition and fees are $7,400 less than what is
not that much less than full-time residency ones —
charged at the Rhode Island School of Design, which
$17,602 at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts and
amounts to $46,800. Still, PNCA professor Arnold
$32,592 at the Maine College of Art — and, while
Kemp said that the Pacific Northwest College of Art
most — if not all — of these students receive merit-
is a less expensive school for students to attend,
based scholarships, they tend to be considerably
since the cost of living in Portland is not as great as
lower than at residential programs (between $1,000
in Providence. Adding up tuition, fees, living costs,
and $3,000 at the Vermont College of Fine Arts,
art supplies, travel, art and miscellaneous expenses,
$3,000 to $6,000 at the University of the Arts and
the annual cost of the Pacific Northwest College
$5,000 to $10,000 at the Maine College of Art),
of Art is a bit under $50,000, while MFA students at
because the schools aren’t paying students to be
RISD would be expected to spend — “I hope you’re
teaching and gallery assistants.
sitting down,” said Financial Aid Counselor Cecile
Theroux — $62,843. Perhaps, for the budget-minded In large measure, low-residency students wouldn’t
MFA applicant, the cost of living may be as great a want or need the part-time work, because most of
concern as the cost of attendance. them are already working (many of them as teachers,
5 UCLA Department of Art Professor Adrian Saxe with MFA candidate James Iveson.

program of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
in Richmond, which awards $6,000 graduate
fellowships and $4,000 undergraduate fellowships to
applicants who agree to remain in the state during
the grant period. Applicants must be citizens or
permanent residents of the United States, as well
as current legal residents of Virginia or registered
in-state students. Another is The Ciri Foundation
in Anchorage, Alaska, which provides $4,500 and
$5,000 awards to students of native Alaskan heritage
enrolled in an associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s,
doctorate or post-baccalaureate program.
Organizations that serve specific communities
also have programs that assist undergraduates,
and sometimes graduate students, such as
the United Negro College Fund and the
Portuguese Foundation of Connecticut, whose
Portuguese Heritage Scholarship supports those
with Portuguese ancestry who are full-time
undergraduate or part-time graduate students.
The Polish Arts Club of Buffalo in New York has
a Polish Arts Scholarship Trust for students of
6 Polish background who are legal residents of New
York and enrolled at a junior level or above in an
accredited university or college. The trust is also for
students pursuing studies at the graduate level in an
seeking to improve their skills or gain advancement in
accredited university or college. The San Francisco-
their careers), which is why they are unable to devote
based Japanese American Citizens League has a
two years of their lives to full-time schooling.
National Scholarship and Awards Program offering
Perhaps, one of the least expensive studio art scholarships to undergraduate and graduate
MFAs in the country is offered by the Heartwood students of any ethnic background planning to
College of Art in Biddeford, Maine, a three-year attend college or university to study in the fields of
low-residency program costing $10,500 per year, not law, finance and the creative or performing arts.
including a $275 charge for a three-day seminar in
Gender, as well as race and ethnicity, also puts
the middle of each semester. Heartwood College
would-be artists in line for awards and scholarships.
is not nationally accredited, though it’s licensed by
Philanthropic Educational Organization offers
the state of Maine. “The price of our program is so
annual awards for female California residents who
low that many teachers get it paid for through their
are undergraduate or graduate students enrolled
school districts,” said Susan Wilder, dean of the
at a postsecondary institution in California majoring
college. “We could go for accreditation, but then
in fine arts, music and music performance, music
the tuition would probably triple.”
education or health care. Students must have financial
need and demonstrate integrity, character, academic
Financial Aid for Art Students achievement and school or community service.
Many undergraduate students and their parents
are familiar with the Free Application for Federal Religious organizations might also be considered.
Student Aid (FAFSA) program of the U.S. The Marion Barr Stanfield Art Scholarship of the
Department of Education (studentaid.ed.gov/sa/ Boston-based Unitarian Universalist Association
sites/default/files/graduate-professional-funding- of Congregations provides renewable awards to
info.pdf), but the program also includes graduate graduate or undergraduate Unitarian Universalist
school applicants, particularly for subsidized loans. students preparing for a career in fine arts. The terms
of the trust limit eligibility to those in the study of
A variety of private foundations offer support to painting, drawing, photography and/or sculpture. PA
undergraduate and graduate students in the arts
and other fields, some of which are based on Daniel Grant is the author of The Business of Being an
where one lives, such as The Visual Arts Fellowship Artist and several other books published by Allworth Press.
6 Sociopolitical Art in Five Interventions, 2016, by freestyle artist BriAnna Rosen. Documentation and artifacts from a series of anti-gentrification
interventions staged between November 2015 and May 2016 at PNCA. Copyright © Pacific Northwest College of Art.
explo
1
ore
ACRYLIC
ACRYLIC
VERSATILITY WITH
O
il has always been my painting BY ORA SORENSEN
medium of choice because oils

are the easiest to control, and
my completed paintings generally
look as I had envisioned them.
I appreciate the smooth and fluid
nature of oil and its long drying time
that allows me to manipulate the paint for extended periods.
Colors blend easily, and gentle hue and value transitions
are made with little effort. This is particularly helpful when
using painterly effects such as chiaroscuro. Oils are also
forgiving, and any mistakes I make can simply be wiped
away when wet, or painted over when dry.
1 Iris and Gold Leaf, 2016, by Ora Sorensen. Mixed media and acrylic on canvas, 24” x 30”. Copyright © Ora Sorensen. Used by permission of the artist.
Because of these advantages, oil paints have When acrylic paints for artists first came on the market, some experts
been favored for centuries as the preeminent believed that over-painting acrylics with oils may be unstable, but the
medium for painters. It’s believed that oil passage of time and improvements in manufacturing acrylic paints have
extracted from walnuts or poppies was used proven this to be erroneous. In fact, most prepared canvas sold today is
as far back as the 7th century AD to decorate primed with an acrylic gesso, and the tooth of the gesso ensures adherence
caves in Afghanistan. The type of oil paint of the oil paint. Matte acrylics provide a similar surface, and a number
formulation most used today, however, is of manufacturers now make a clear acrylic gesso with a varying degree of
attributed by some to Flemish artist Jan van tooth or grit. I like the Liquitex brand because it’s very toothy, and perfect
Eyck. In the early 1400s van Eyck devised a for scumbling and glazing.
stable vehicle for his paints made primarily of If I want less tooth on the surface of the canvas, I dilute it with Liquitex
linseed oil, which dried markedly faster than matte medium. Other brands of clear acrylic gesso are Winsor & Newton
other mediums historically used. The jewel- Professional Acrylic Medium Clear Gesso and Prima Marketing Art Basics
like colors of his brilliant paintings remain Clear Gesso, which is smoother. Using oil paints over these surfaces is
famed to this day. perfectly stable once they are dry, although I would avoid a slick acrylic
surface, as it wouldn’t grab the oil paints as effectively.
“
Learn from an expert.
Because I have little experience using acrylic paints, I signed up for a class
The appeal of acrylic at The ArtsCenter, in Carrboro, North Carolina, taught by acrylic painting
paint quickly became maestro, Luna Lee Ray (lunaleeray.com).
widespread among artists Ray teaches intermediate- to advanced-level acrylics classes, mixed-media
painting and watercolors. Her classes are designed to be taken in an ongoing
because of its ease of use, manner. “I have many students who have been coming to my classes for 10
permanence and versatility.

2
~ ora SORENSEN
Today’s oil paints can be purchased in a

tube, are available in an array of creamy and
consistent colors, and come in a variety of
formulations. They’re versatile enough to be
used with almost any painting style, from
thin glazing to palette knife or thick impasto,
and they don’t have any discernible color shift
upon drying. The only significant drawback of
oil paint, for me, is also its best attribute: the
long drying time. Colors can get muddy, or
glazes can be damaged if new layers are added
before the paint is dry, which means it takes a
long time to make a painting.
Experiment with acrylics.

Because of this long drying time, I decided to
investigate incorporating faster-drying acrylic
paints in my artwork. I wanted to learn how
to begin my paintings using acrylics, and
finish them in oils. Could I do this and still
create a painting that satisfied my vision and
was archivally sound?
2 Ecotone #1, 2016, by Luna Lee Ray. Acrylic on board, 48” x 48”. Mixed media and acrylic on canvas, 24” x 30”.
Copyright © Luna Lee Ray. Used by permission of the artist.

experiment
3
to 15 years,” she said. “They form a strong and supportive community with
myself and their fellow students. I continually strive to find new ways to
present ideas and concepts, while continuing to review the basics.”
Ray, an award-winning artist, has been using acrylic paints for 25 years,
and more seriously for the past 10. “I love the fact that acrylic paints can
range in effect from a transparent watercolor look, to a heavy-bodied, oil-
like look. They dry quickly and permanently so I can layer, layer, layer!”
Ray’s favorite acrylic paints are the brands Golden and Matisse — and
Liquitex for mediums, varnishes and gessoes. She likes to use heavy- and
soft-body acrylics, as well as some fluid acrylics and inks, but she continues
to explore new products made for the acrylic painter.
History of acrylics
As a medium, acrylic paint is in its infancy, made widely available for artists
only in the mid-20th century. Acrylics are water soluble with pigments
suspended in a binder of plastic-like polymer emulsion. Upon their arrival in
the 1950s, acrylics were embraced by many artists of the day. Pop artists and
mid-century masters, such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Mark Rothko
and Robert Motherwell found that this modern medium suited their styles
of painting. Perhaps the characteristics of acrylics even influenced the art
forms emerging in the 1950s and ‘60s, from hard-edged pop art and detail- 4
oriented photorealism to various forms of abstract impressionism.
3 Copper Birds, 2016, by Ora Sorensen. Mixed media and acrylic on canvas, 24” x 12”. Copyright © Ora Sorensen. Used by permission of the artist.
4 The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434, by Jan Van Eyck. Tempera and oil on wood. Copyright © The National Gallery, London. Courtesy of The National Gallery, London.
Apples in a interesting facets. I typically
arrange fruit outdoors in
gesso using a #2 pencil. The
more compositional issues
n STEP 3 Begin painting
the main subject matter with
Crystal Bowl: bright sunlight to enhance

the deep shadows and bright
you solve at this stage, the
more relaxing the painting
acrylic paints. I block in all
the objects with thin opaque
Step-by-step highlights that I like to paint. process will be later. colors building depth layer
Take numerous photos for by layer. Because the acrylic
Demonstration reference, as the apples may
To set the pencil drawing and
paints dry so fast, this step
keep it from smearing into
not last as long as you need takes very little time, and you
n STEP 1 Begin your your paint, wash a layer of
to complete your painting. can save at least a day or two
project with a set up of gesso thinned with water over
by using acrylics rather than
Golden Delicious apples n STEP 2 Make a very the drawing. When it dries the
oils to block in the colors and
and a crystal detailed drawing on a canvas drawing will show through, but
forms in the painting.
bowl with primed with white acrylic the graphite will not smear.
STEP 1
STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4
The appeal of acrylic paint quickly became also make blending and other wet-on-wet methods of painting difficult.
widespread among artists because of its ease
Ray uses scumbling and glazing techniques to achieve a refined and
of use, permanence and versatility. Acrylics
gradual blending of colors. Although she doesn’t use slow-drying
are nontoxic, fast drying and easy to clean
with just soap and water. When dry, they are mediums or retarders with her paints, they are available and can be mixed
lightfast, water-resistant and flexible, and with the acrylics to extend the working time of the paint. Some brands on
since they are less brittle than oil paint, they the market include Golden’s Acrylic Retarder, Liquitex Slow-Dri Blending
will not crack with the passage of time. They Fluid and Winsor & Newton Artists’ Acrylic Slow Drying Medium.
are perfect for working in a small space or Acrylics can also be kept moist while painting by misting the paint with
unventilated area, as they are diluted with water at regular intervals using an atomizer.
water and are used without the toxic solvents Likewise, a “stay-wet” palette, such as the Masterson Sta-Wet will help
associated with oils. keep the paints damp. This is a box-like palette that uses a wet sponge
inserted beneath special palette paper to keep it and the paint moist. It
Drawbacks also has a snap-on, airtight lid to keep paints wet for days.
The best attribute of acrylic paint, the slow
drying time, is also its biggest impediment. Another aspect of acrylics a painter will have to adjust to, however,
Unlike slow-drying oils, acrylics dry so fast is that they generally dry darker than when wet. This is because the
that the color that is so carefully mixed on polymer binder used to suspend the pigment in the tube is slightly opaque
the palette can dry before it ever makes its and milky, but dries clear allowing the true hue to show. Practice and
way to the canvas. Fast-drying acrylics can experience will help the artist adjust the color shift while painting, and

versatility
■
■
STEP 4 Use black gesso to
paint the background before
proceeding with oils. This will
help judge the value of the
paints you later use for the
subject matter.
STEP 5 After the acrylic
paints are dry, cover the
entire image with Liquitex
Clear Gesso. This gives
a very stable foundation
for the oil paints you will
be using. This transparent
gesso provides lots of tooth
for excellent adhesion,
drying clear enough to
easily build upon the acrylic
underpainting.
■ STEP 6 Use oil paints to
cover the image, blending
them with soft brushes to
achieve subtle color and
value transitions. I like to use
Windsor Newton Liquin as
a medium, because it helps
the oil paint dry in about
five hours under normal
conditions.
■ STEP 7 After the base
colors of oil have dried, use
very thin transparent glazes
of oil paint to intensify the
colors, give added depth,
and strengthen the contrasts.
To make my glazes, I use
Liquin tinted with oil paint.
At this stage I often use a rag
or Q-tips to wipe out some
paint for highlights or to
smooth color transitions.
■ STEP 8 Deep shadows
and highlights are added last
using glazing and dry brush
techniques to capture the
vibrancy and sizzle of lights
and shadows.
STEP 5 STEP 6 STEP 7
new innovations in manufacturing reduce

this color shift more and more.
Versatility
Minor drawbacks aside, artists continue
to embrace acrylic paint for its broad
possibilities of creative uses and techniques.
Ray said, “I use the thinnest-most
transparent washes and glazes, and thick,
opaque, impasto effects with a palette
knife, and everything in between.”
In her classes, she demonstrates that when
diluted to a thin wash with water, acrylics
can mimic watercolors, and also how they
can be used as a thick impasto like oil paints.
Additionally, she recommends acrylic paints
for mixed-media works and collage. Because
of their flexibility, they can be used on a
5 variety of substrates, or support mediums
5 Luna Lee Ray at a workshop. Courtesy of Luna Lee Ray.
inspiration
such as wood, canvas, paper and linen.
“I prefer to work on hard panel,” Ray said.
“I like the firm surface to draw, scrub,
scrape and scratch against. On the panel,
I can build up my own textural surface
through multiple layers of paint, collage
and textured papers.”
Further, various mediums can be mixed
with acrylic paints to make them more
transparent, heavier, thicker, more textured,
grainier and grittier, shinier or duller, or
even sparkly and crackly. Anything from
glass beads, glitter, sand, ground coffee or
rice can be added for texture. Acrylic is a
plastic polymer that will forever encapsulate
these elements. And, when acrylic paint
dries, other media can be used on its surface,
such as charcoal, ink, pastels, graphite,
colored pencils and oil paint.
“ Its immediacy and

unique chemical properties
allow for boundless creative
experimentation and innovation
in the visual arts. ~ ORA SORENSEN
Inspiration 6
Although acrylic paint can be used to
replicate the methods and results of
watercolors or oils, it has proven to have also enjoyed discovering all the possibilities this modern medium
be an important medium on its own. affords a creative spirit.
Its immediacy and unique chemical
properties allow for boundless creative Under painting
experimentation and innovation in the Acrylic as an under-painting for oils allows me to finish a painting much
visual arts. Despite being a relatively more expeditiously, as I work out not only the composition with the fast-
new medium, its influence is evident in drying acrylics, but the values and color juxtapositions in my painting as
an abundance of significant 20th century well. The matte mediums and newer, clear, acrylic gessoes provide a perfect
artwork, and with each new advancement, surface for my oil paints, and I apply a layer over the acrylic-colored under-
acrylic paints are embraced by more artists painting, confident of a secure and archivally-sound adherence. PA
who incorporate them into their own styles
and methods. Artist Ora Sorensen (orasorensenart.com) was born in New York but grew up
overseas. She has owned a gallery in Delray Beach, Florida, for 20 years, and has
Though my original intention when also been represented by other galleries across the country. Sorensen now lives
learning to use acrylics paints was to use and paints in North Carolina, and her paintings are collected worldwide and have
them as an under painting for my oils, I been shown in numerous exhibitions.
6 Golden Delicious, 2016, by Ora Sorensen. Oil on canvas, 24” x 30”. Copyright © Ora Sorensen. Used by permission of the artist.

PLANNING your ART business
By Robert Reed, Ph.D., CFP©
It Pays to Learn: How to Deduct Your Education Expenses
A
s a professional artist, you’re The Tuition and Fees Deduction inspiration, books on how to run your
constantly needing to invest in reduces your taxable income. If this business effectively and subscriptions
new skills, both business- and deduction is $3,000, then $50,000 that help you follow current art
art-related. The good news is you can of taxable income becomes $47,000 trends. As a note, these costs are
deduct the cost of this professional and your income tax is calculated on usually lumped together and listed
development training. The better the lower figure. as Professional Publications and
news is this deduction applies to Subscriptions.
Besides formal college classes, there
more kinds of education than you Speaking about subscriptions,
are many opportunities for informal
might realize. education. This runs the gamut from memberships and entrance fees are
The first consideration is where online instruction to classes offered often also deductible. Are you a
you get your training. If you pay for by community groups to a dozen member of your local art museum,
classes at a ‘qualified educational artists hiring a model for a life-drawing which you visit for study? When you
institution,’ you’re eligible to take exercise. The cost of this training is travel, do you visit other museums
the Lifetime Learning Credit or the written off directly on your Schedule for the same purpose? That is all
Tuition and Fees Deduction on C tax form (your business return). The deductible education.
your tax return (but not both at the great thing about these deductions is
The same goes for conference and
same time). A qualified educational that they not only reduce your income
seminar attendance costs. You are
institution is a college or art tax (by reducing your taxable business
there to learn something you can take
school with a student aid program profit), they also reduce your self-
back to your studio to improve your
administered by the U.S. Department employment tax which is a flat 15.3
art or your art business. If the seminar
of Education. percent of your profit. is out of town, you can deduct travel
costs such as gas mileage. If you must
The Lifetime Learning Credit and
stay overnight, you have deductible
the Tuition and Fees Deduction are
calculated right on your Form 1040
As a professional meals and hotel costs.
— and they do have restrictions. artist, you’re constantly Please note, everything above is
You cannot take either if you are a not the royal road to free education,
dependent on someone else’s tax needing to invest in museum visits and out-of-town
return or if you file as Married Filing trips. You still have to spend money
new skills both business- to do these things. They are not
Separately. You cannot include the
cost of required course materials and art-related. free, but rather they are tax-free. If
(studio fees, books, etc.) unless you have a 25-percent tax rate on
you pay that cost directly to the business income plus a 15-percent
institution. Studio fees are usually self-employment rate, then you pay
As valuable as these deductions are, a total of 40-percent tax on all your
included in the cost of tuition, but I find that many artists don’t take full
if there are assigned course books, business profits. If you have a $10,000
advantage because they don’t realize profit, you will pay $4,000 in tax. But
you must buy them from the college everything that fits into this category. if you have $2,000 of educational
bookstore and not from a private Remember we are talking about expenses, you now have $8,000
business. Finally, you must meet money you spend to improve your profit and only owe $3,200 in tax.
certain income restrictions. You can business prospects. Obviously, this So, the tax deduction makes it easier
find the details on irs.gov. includes instruction in art techniques, to afford something you know you
but a lot of other things can be should be doing anyway. PA
The Lifetime Learning Credit is
included also.
best because it’s a dollar-for-dollar
reduction of your tax bill. If your For example, the cost of this Robert Roy Reed is a holistic financial
planner (PartnershipFinancial.com). He
tax credit is $700, then a $3,000 tax magazine or any other publication
is the author of Your Art Is Your Business
bill becomes $2,300. The credit is you buy for business use is an (yourartisyourbusiness.com). He lives in
20 percent of the first $10,000 of education expense. This includes Columbus, Ohio, with his wife, the author
tuition payments. art books you buy for study and Lisa Klein.
DISCLAIMER: This column offers general tax and financial advice. If you need advice specific to
your particular situation, consult a professional (which, by the way, is a tax deductible expense). ProfessionalArtistMag.com 57
1

HOW TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THE
SELF-TAUGHT ROUTE OR GOING
TO ART SCHOOL
BY GWENN SEEMEL
your
W
hen it comes to educating yourself,
some artists choose to maintain the
purity of their raw voice, eschewing
formal art education and teaching
themselves instead. Others will go
into the belly of the art establishment,
braving a Bachelor or Master of Fine
Arts program and emerge on the other side both wiser and bolder.
Still, others will follow the university path, perhaps gaining access to
many different media while also benefitting from a broad education.
How will you decide which path is right for you?
Your decision about where to obtain your art training requires a
thorough understanding of your priorities.
Start by evaluating the three main reasons why people pursue an
art education:
1. access to new equipment, media and methods
2. immersion in a tribe of like-minded people
3. potential career advancement
It may or may not be obvious how important each of these reasons
2 are to you, but when examined alongside three potential paths —
self-taught techniques, art school or a liberal arts program — their
relevance to your values will become clear.
1 Fishy (Black telescope goldfish), 2016, by Gwenn Seemel. Acrylic on panel, 7” x 5”. This artwork is in the public domain.
2 Proper Cricket, 2007, by Matt Sesow. Acrylic on paper, 18” x 24”. Copyright © 2007 Matt Sesow. Used by permission of the artist.
ACCESS TO TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES in conceptual art along with other techniques and practices
If you’re considering the self-taught path, accomplishing the that aren’t as mainstream as painting.
first art education goal will be the most challenging because My own art education happened in one such well-equipped
certain kinds of discovery are only feasible when all the university. Though I chafed at the liberal arts requirements
possibilities are laid out before you. School may be full of too sometimes — the math classes haunt me to this day — the
much paperwork, personalities that you must please and hoops exposure to other subjects
to jump through, but it also made me an artist who’s
“
builds experimentation into comfortable creating a book
your schedule. To be an artist, you must be bold, about biology and delving
So, even if you don’t want a
degree, seek out new media
and you must know how to continually into philosophy weekly in my
vlogs. Each field of knowledge
in adult learning classes replenish your audacity. ~ Gwenn Seemel comes with its own systems
at a community college or and procedures, and learning
discover new methods in about everything from
the wealth of tutorials on classical Greek theater to basic
the Internet now available to anthropological methodologies
everyone with a computer or enriched my art.
phone. While for some this
exploration violates the code ACCESS TO COMMUNITY
of the self-taught artist, most The autodidacts might seem
of us would acknowledge what at a disadvantage in that they
Trinidadian artist Alison Wells do not have the immediate
(alisonwells.com) points out: community found at a
“Self-taught” is a whole new school. On the other hand,
animal in the Internet age. those pre-assigned cohorts
These days the autodidact is can sometimes be stifling.
less likely to be a disconnected Choosing your own creative
eccentric with an obsessive community might work best
vision and a love for unusual for you.
materials — and more likely The self-taught artist Matt
to be someone who simply Sesow (sesow.com) earned
prefers to avoid earning credits a bachelor’s in computer
and completing programs. software engineering in 1989
and worked for a few years
For those who are leaning
in information technology,
toward pursuing some kind
only beginning to paint as an
of degree — BA, BFA or
adult one night on a whim
MFA — access to tools and
to impress a woman. After
techniques is made easier,
that rather superficial start,
but it’s not a certainty. This
Sesow’s art-making quickly
means that, when evaluating
evolved into something more
schools, be sure that they
vital, helping him process the
have all the equipment you
trauma surrounding the loss
could possibly want. Does
of his dominant hand in an
the institution maintain a
accident when he was 8 years
ceramics studio with kilns,
3 old. In the beginning, as he
or a proper digital art lab
developed his artistic taste
with up-to-date computers,
and vision, he found a community among the artists featured
scanners and cameras? How about an intaglio print studio? A
in the multitude of museums in his home base of Washington,
sculpture lab? A jewelry workshop? Even if you’re pretty sure
D.C. Later, he made friends among the creatives working in his
that you’ll never want to use an analog camera and develop
neighborhood, eventually meeting his wife, the painter Dana
your own film in your career, learning the process may open
Ellyn, whom he calls his biggest creative influence.
new avenues in your creativity. Any institution can offer a life
drawing curriculum, but a worthwhile school will have classes In that way, Sesow’s path is not so different from my own.
3 Identical Twins, 2016, by Matt Sesow. Acrylic on canvas, 18” x 24”. Copyright © 2016 Matt Sesow. Used by permission of the artist.

she shared a similar language as her favorite
part of school. This makes sense considering
that, though her family was supportive of her
creativity, the wider community around her
was not, ridiculing the idea that you could
find success as an artist.
Wells described art school as a community
that challenged and supported her and,
while this sounds appealing, I know from
experience that this tribe can also become
toxically competitive. This can happen
at a university as it did for me, but the
concentration of artists in BFA and MFA
programs tends to up the ante on cutthroat
behavior. In the end, it’s up to you to
determine if you thrive in a potentially
nurturing and possibly competitive
atmosphere, or if you’d be happier finding
your community in a more organic manner
outside of institutions.
ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITIES
When it comes to career advancement, it
may seem that the autodidacts are once
more hindered by their choice to avoid
formal schooling. After all, artists need
institutions of all kinds to truly launch their
careers. This can include schools, but also
museums, galleries, granting bodies, public
art committees and press, among other
organizations. That said, having been through
an institution at the beginning of your career
4
doesn’t guarantee a better relationship with
institutions later on.
Case in point: Both the self-taught Sesow
and the degree-holding Wells have promoted
their art through traditional venues like
museums, while also partnering with more
unusual organizations. For example, in
2013, Sesow’s work was featured on a postal
stamp published by the United Nations,
and between 2002 and 2014, filmmaker
Leslye Abbey (snowflakevideo.com) created
a documentary about his life and art called
Join Hands. Wells has exhibited her work in
5 museums in the United States, the Caribbean
and Europe, but also in less conventional
Though I found some of my art family in college, my creative friends today are
venues such as the Fifth Summit of the
mostly people I met by exhibiting my art or by being an opinionated artist on
Americas in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009
social media.
and World Exposition in Shanghai in
The community aspect of the formative first years as an artist seems to have 2010. In other words, any artist may form
been most important to Wells, who earned a BFA early on and then, after a few relationships with institutions, regardless
years of working as an artist, an MFA. She names meeting people with whom of what shape their art training took.
4 Wall Flowers, 2016, by Alison Wells. Oil on canvas, 40” x 30”. Copyright © 2016 Alison Wells. Used by permission of the artist.
5 Dance of the Pierrot Grenades, 2015, by Alison Wells. Acrylic on canvas, 12” x 24”. Copyright © 2015 Alison Wells. Used by permission of the artist.
One main career advantage for those artists who go to art school explain the raw nature of his work, but now that he’s 20 years
is the fact that many graduates will finish as art administrators into his art career, giving his art that context isn’t necessary.
instead of as full-time artists. While gatekeepers with BFAs or Both Wells and I still mention our education in our bios, but
MFAs love artists all the more because they know firsthand the neither of us plaster it all over our publicity materials or find
artist’s struggle, others may have become bitter about having it particularly important that people know how much training
given up their artist ambitions. If you graduated from the same we have. In other words, all three of us have enough experience
school as one such administrator, the association may rub salt at this point in our careers to render our art education or lack
in their wounds instead of getting you an “in” at the institution thereof irrelevant.
which employs them.
Because, truly, it doesn’t matter so much how you started out.
For the liberal arts graduate, the connections made in college may The part that counts most is the journey. What you need is to be
play out differently because, even though your fellow students “self-teaching,” which is what Sesow calls the process of always
probably will not go on to experimenting and learning,
become arts administrators, both aesthetically and in
they often end up being one’s art business. As Wells
able to help you. People said, the way you become a
love working with or buying professional is “by working
from people they know, so hard, showing up, following
when your cohort begins to through and not giving up
find success in their various nor getting discouraged by
fields of employment, they closed doors.”
will likely enjoy supporting
To be an artist, you must
the artist they remember
be bold, and you must
from college. For many
of my former classmates, know how to continually
the fact that I’ve been a replenish your audacity.
professional artist ever For Sesow, the moxie is
since we walked across that fostered at least in part by
stage together in May 2003 not having a little voice
means that I’ve become in his head telling him
my own “institution.” My that he’s doing things the
commitment to my art — a “wrong” way. For Wells,
commitment they have been confidence is bolstered
able to witness from the through learning the rules
beginning — makes me their of art-making in school and
favorite artist to support. then refashioning those
structured ways of thinking
If you take the self-taught to her liking. For me, the
6
route, you may not have certainty stems from always
the same extended network that an alma mater provides, but seeing art in a larger context and reminding myself that none
you will still have friends, acquaintances and plenty of people of the rest of it — science, technology, cultural expression —
who want to see you succeed. More importantly, you will have is anything without art.
gathered this career support without incurring the burden of
student loan, an evil that kills many an art career before it gets All of which is to say that Sesow, Wells and I are each convinced
off the ground. that the path we took is the right one. And, as impossible as
it may sound, we’re all absolutely correct. There are as many
WHAT YOUR ART PATH ULTIMATELY MEANS FOR YOUR CAREER “right” paths to becoming an artist as there are artists. The path
No matter their educational background, artists often you choose — no matter how straightforward or circuitous —
emphasize their degrees or the fact that they’re autodidacts will be the best one for you, because it will be yours. PA
in their marketing. This accent on summa cum laude or the
Gwenn Seemel is a full-time artist who writes and creates videos
beauty of brut can be inviting or annoying, depending on in English and in French for her award-winning blog about her
who’s reading the copy, and that’s as it should be. Artists are work, portraiture, the business of art, free culture, feminism, and
looking to connect with their audience, people who can relate her struggle with endometriosis. Her art has been featured by
to them and their life choices. many publications on the web, including Scientific American,
BoingBoing, and Hyperallergic. Her book about why she refuses to
Sesow used the descriptor “self-taught” more often in the claim the copyright on her art can be read for free on her website,
1990s when he was starting out. At the time, he felt it helped gwennseemel.com.
6 The real Amazons (Western honey bee), 2012, by Gwenn Seemel. Acrylic on panel with text overlaid digitally, 10” x 10”. This artwork is in the public domain.

THE artist’s ADVOCATE
By Katie Lane
3 Techniques to Help You Negotiate Like an Artist

N
egotiation is a vital skill for Next, set aside some time to research try asking for more money without
independent artists, but it’s how deals in your particular industry explaining why. Many artists feel
not one many of us are taught are structured. The Internet has a they need to justify why their prices
in school. No matter what your past plethora of blogs and resource guides are 10 percent higher this year, for
experience with negotiation is, you for professionals in virtually every example. You may eventually need
can learn how to advocate for yourself, artistic practice and is a great place to explain to the other person why
and you can do it in a way that feels to start. If you run into a wall, seek your work costs what it does, but in
natural and authentic. My top three out organizations, such as unions or the initial negotiation, don’t waste
recommendations for enhancing your guilds, dedicated to representing time explaining. Instead, start the
negotiation prowess include: creators like you, and ask if they have conversation with confidence in the
guides or reports on standard contract value of your work by being direct and
KNOW THE NORMS.
terms. The research librarian at your matter of fact about what you want.
Each industry operates on its own
local public library is also an excellent
cultural norms or expectations about IT TAKES A VILLAGE.
resource that many overlook.
how deals will be negotiated and The people artists negotiate with —
the value of what is being negotiated. entertainment companies, agents
For instance, in traditional publishing and dealers — tend to have a lot
deals it’s normal for an author to be Start the conversation of experience negotiating and
given a royalty based on the retail are naturally in a better position
price of the book. However, artists with confidence in the to negotiate. You might not have
who license work to be used on
merchandise are usually given a royalty
value of your work a lot of negotiation experience,
but that experience exists in your
based on “net profits,” the total by being direct and community. So, before tackling a
amount of money the merchandise negotiation, reach out to your peers
makes minus the costs to make it. In matter of fact about and mentors. Ask them if they’ve
both instances, the creator is given a what you want. had experience with the type of deal
royalty for her work, but the norms for you’re considering and what their
how that royalty is determined differ recommendations are for handling
between the industries. the negotiation. Have they worked
BE A SCIENTIST. with this person or company before?
Understanding the norms at play
A lot of the anxiety in negotiation What was their experience like?
in the deals you’re likely to be
stems from the mistaken belief that Would they do it again? If they did,
negotiating will save you time and
you have to do everything perfectly would they do anything differently?
frustration and help you better
when you’re negotiating or you’ll
evaluate what you’re being offered. If you let others know that Company
botch the whole deal. But no one is
You can discover your industry’s Z relented on one of its more
an ace negotiator all of the time, nor
norms with a bit of research. demanding terms when you pushed
in every situation.
back, they’ll know they can push back
If you’ve already signed a few deals
Instead of trying to be perfect, be a too. And if enough people push back,
for your artwork, look over the terms
scientist and give yourself permission eventually Company Z might drop the
and notice any basic similarities in
to experiment when you negotiate. troublesome term altogether.
compensation, intellectual property
Pick one or two aspects of the
ownership, the length of the contract, Practice these three techniques
negotiation that you want to practice
and anything else that is important consistently and watch your
and focus on those areas, instead of
to you when making decisions about negotiation muscles grow. PA
trying to master everything. Judge
selling or licensing your art. Start
the success of your experiment based Katie Lane is an attorney and negotiation
a spreadsheet or list to capture
on what you learn, not on the result coach in Portland, Oregon, helping artists
these similarities. Where you notice
you get. Then use what you learn to and freelancers protect their rights and get
differences between similar kinds of paid fairly for the work they do. You can
improve your next negotiation.
deals, note what you think influenced read her blog at WorkMadeForHire.net
that difference. If you’re looking for an experiment, and follow her on Twitter at @_katie_lane.
DISCLAIMER: This column offers general legal and business advice. If you need specific
legal advice about your particular situation, please consultant a legal professional. ProfessionalArtistMag.com 63
What Makes
a Good Art
Teacher?
1 Elena Parashko with her students teaching en plein air painting in Savusavu Bay, Fiji. Copyright © Elena Parashko. Courtesy of Elena Parashko.

ASK CONTINUING
EDUCATION STUDENTS
BY ELENA PARASHKO
Because this isn’t an academic setting,
H
what is required of this type of art
teacher is quite different than what
aving a passion for art and a skill in many artists or teachers may have
art making is not enough to make a experienced in art school.
good art teacher. You must also have After analyzing the survey responses,
talent and knowledge on how to teach combined with the insight I have
gained from 30 years of teaching in a
others what they want to learn in a variety of settings, I discovered five
compassionate way that empowers your students. main qualities that students look for in
a non-academic art instructor.
1. BREADTH OF EXPERIENCE
A broad skill base in regards to subject
To meet the needs of students, first matter and medium allows a teacher
understand what they’re seeking. I to draw on that knowledge in order to
surveyed 20 continuing education recommend strategies to students with
students who have experienced several different learning styles. Experience
art teachers and asked them what teaching different age groups and
they want and appreciate in an art ability levels from beginners to
teacher. These adult students study accomplished painters is also valuable
art part time, either in weekly classes as classes are rarely homogenous.
or in short-term workshops. Some Students may begin at varied times
are retired and attend classes during during the course, so they could be
the day, and some work and attend working at their own level at their own
in the evenings or on weekends. The pace on diverse projects — and with a
classes are either local or in a vacation variety of mediums.
destination.
This is individualized instruction,
Most of these students view these where teaching caters to the student
art classes as a way of learning new rather than the student adjusting to a
creative skills or building on the fixed program imposed by the teacher.
knowledge they already have. Some In this situation, a teacher needs to
consider art training a recreational be flexible and versatile, and able to
pursuit or a form of relaxation. Their switch focus quickly from one student
incentive for learning is to enjoy their to another. Noeline Drayton, one
time away from usual responsibilities student, said, “I wanted an art teacher
and to feel good about themselves who understood me as a beginning
and their artistic accomplishments. student and who could also take me
2
further once I had accomplished the best visual art teachers are those who into sensitive personal situations and
basics of telling my story in painting. allow students to do their own thinking deep emotions. “Teaching art, where
Someone who could work with me to and learning to develop their own art- students’ work is being critiqued and
take risks in developing my technique making practice and not just replicas of any criticism can be taken personally, is
in art making.” the teacher’s preferred media and subject a job for someone who has great people
matter,” another student said. skills, empathy and patience,” Dawn
2. TEACHER TRAINING
Being a great artist is no guarantee A teacher with good training is easily Packer said.
that you will make a great art teacher, recognizable to students. “I can tell when Remember that in the continuing
as these are quite different skill sets. someone has teaching qualifications as education sector, the prime motivation
Even individuals with a natural gift they have great insight into the human for many students may not necessarily
for teaching will benefit from teacher psyche. They understand everyone is at be about the completed artwork. The
training. This training will instruct their own point in learning and they help
actual process of creating and meeting
you on how to effectively interact take you to the next step of your artwork
other like-minded people in this setting
with students, adjust the learning without interfering,” Dorothea Finger said.
may be serving others just as legitimate
environment to cater to individual 3. COMPASSION goals. The art teacher needs to recognize
differences, manage difficult classroom “A teacher that has compassion gives and honor this. “We all have our own
situations, respect the prior knowledge the student confidence. A teacher that journey in life. What we have been
of students, explain processes in simple has no compassion makes the student through, what we are going through.
and logical ways, develop educational feel incompetent,” Fiona George said. It is kindness and understanding that
programs, improve student confidence, helps us get through the day. In art class
and learn verbal as well as non-verbal All teachers need to have understanding
for their students if they are to I feel welcome. I can focus on my work,
communication skills in listening,
establish an effective connection and not on outside distractions. I can
speaking and writing.
that will foster a successful teaching- leave all my issues behind for a couple
Teacher training helps you understand learning environment. In the area of of hours and concentrate only on art.
different learning styles so that you can the arts, these attributes are even more Feeling understood helps my personal
adapt to match each student’s style. “The crucial as the creative process can tap well being,” Finger said.
2 Elena Parashko teaches a class at a vacation destination to a group who had not painted since grade school.
Copyright © Elena Parashko. Courtesy of Elena Parashko.

your knowledge and skills. If you feel
threatened by others, then you will
“
not be able to provide the service
You must also have a talent for teaching others what these students expect and are paying
for. Certainly, if you have a unique
they want to learn in a compassionate way that is aspect to your style or technique you
both empowering and uplifting. ~ Elena Parashko developed that now defines your work,
then naturally you want to protect your
signature style. But if you have nothing
Along with understanding and to an outpouring of another’s personal else to offer students but closely guarded
compassion come the related attributes issues. You can be understanding of secrets, then teaching is not for you.
of patience, humor, a light-hearted the circumstances of students without
5. GIVE GUIDANCE WITHOUT
attitude, optimism, flexibility, knowing all the details. Just being kind
TAKING OVER
confidence and a nurturing personality. and considerate in your interactions
In a non-academic art-teaching setting,
Packer said, “To me, the most important with students is enough.
many students want help to achieve
quality of all is a pleasant nature. A 4. BE A ROLE MODEL their own goals at their own pace. The
teacher could have all the qualifications You may attract a following as a teacher teacher needs to respect these goals
in the world, but if they don’t care for if your style of artwork is one that others and understand what the student is
their students, they will never be a want to emulate or if the way you run ready to learn next without pushing
good teacher.” your business is an example of success them too far, too soon or in a direction
As with most things, there is a fine that others wish to learn from. “If I like they don’t want to go. This is about
balance that must be achieved. You an art teacher’s style of painting or the student-directed learning rather than
want to be a compassionate teacher but artwork they create, I look for a vacancy curriculum-driven outcomes. The style of
at the same time not turn the teaching- in their class because who better to learn teaching and critiquing you received in
from than a person whose artwork I art school or graduate school is not the
learning environment into a therapy
admire?” Dianne Jay said.
session. It’s not appropriate for you to best approach for informal art learning.
become a pseudo-counselor and not If you want to be an art teacher,
And as another student said: “Not
fair for other students to be subjected then you have to be willing to share
everyone wants to study art to be a
Picasso — some people just need to
have an artistic outlet.” PA
Elena Parashko (elenaparashko.com) is an

artist, teacher and writer based in Sydney.
She has a certificate in visual arts, bachelor’s
degree in education, master’s degree in
adult education, and 30 years of teaching
experience. Parashko’s seascape paintings
are on exhibit at Hamilton Island Art Gallery
on the Great Barrier Reef, where she is
regularly artist in residence. Each year she
teaches painting workshops on Norfolk
Island, Fiji and Italy. Elena is the author of
the book, Survival Guide for Artists: How to
Thrive in the Creative Arts which is available
via Amazon and she can be reached at
info@elenaparashko.com
For more information about teaching

art classes, see the August/September
2013 issue of Professional Artist
magazine for Elena’s article Teaching
Art in Vacation Destinations. Back
issues are available for $5.99 by visiting
ProfessionalArtistMag.com/Store.
3
3 Elena Parashko’s students work on their paintings during their weekly art class in a rented community hall where she taught in Sydney, Australia.
Copyright © Elena Parashko. Courtesy of Elena Parashko.
Leave the Corporate
BY PAUL GRECIAN
World to Become a
Full-Time Artist
IN 2006, ARTIST LINDA DOUCETTE
GAVE IT ALL UP.
She’d been working for several textile companies designing lace fabrics for home
furnishings like window treatments and tablecloths. In her job, she traveled the world to
countries such as China, India and Germany to meet clients and to attend conferences.
Yet these travels just made her long for a way to express her own creativity.
A
t the time she was living to the decision to leave their current careers and
in New Jersey, a single become professional artists. There’s no map,
mom with two boys (one nor a specific set of instructions which can be
in college). Longing followed to reach such a goal.
to leave her corporate
Are you considering leaving the corporate world
job and start her own
for a full-time art career? If so, what are the
business as an artist, she
considerations you should be aware of? How
sold her house, moved
feasible is such a career move? Is it the right
to Pennsylvania and
career move for you?
bought a small farm. Having graduated from
the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science What You Will Have to Give Up
(now Philadelphia University) with a degree in Leaving a corporate job means giving up paid
textile design, and with years of experience in holidays, paid vacations, healthcare and paid
the industry, she felt confident her background sick days. As a self-employed artist, you only get
would allow her to strike out on her own. paid for the art you sell. If you get sick, not only
Today, 10 years after she left the corporate world, do you not receive a paycheck, but you may lose
Doucette (lindadoucette.com), a master fiber money by not being able to attend a scheduled
artist, makes a living creating framed still life and show or exhibit. Many times, artists are also
scenic wool-felted artworks. While wet felting giving up their weekends. Most art fairs happen
has been around since 6500 B.C., needle felting on weekends, as do many gallery openings. With
as an art form using barbed needles to carefully all of the hats that artists have to wear, it’s not
position the wool fibers has only been done unusual to need to work a seven-day week.
since the 1980s. Without their corporate ties, artists may also
The pathway to becoming a full-time working give up a retirement plan or pension. At most
artist is not always a straight line. People from corporate jobs, employees can expect a cost
a variety of backgrounds and ambitions, with a of living wage increase, a path to promotion,
variety of skill sets, and a variety of goals, come or some kind of regular raise. Even with
1 Creation, 2012, by Andrew Werth. Acrylic, 30” x 24”. Copyright © 2012 Andrew Werth. Used by permission of the artist.

1
2
“
3
Even with all

the benefits
of working in
a corporate
setting, people
still leave
established
career
environments
for something
more.
~ Paul Grecian
2 Languor, 2012, by Daniel Sroka. Digital photograph. 3 Daniel Sroka framed photograph installation in reading room.
Copyright © Daniel Sroka. Used by permission of the artist.

all the benefits of working in a corporate
setting, people still leave established career
environments for something more.
More to be Gained
The “something more” which drives someone
to leave a secure corporate job for the
uncertainty that is the artist’s career will differ
from person to person. For Daniel Sroka
(danielsroka.com), the “more” he was looking
for had to do with personal fulfillment and
family time. Sroka had been working at Yahoo,
where he said his creative energies went to
satisfy someone else’s objectives. He had his
own creative aspirations which were not being
met in his corporate role. He wanted a career
where he could make his own rules and benefit
more directly from his own creative efforts.
Fifteen years ago Sroka left his full-time
company job to pursue an art career. 4
Working in an abstract genre of photography
incorporating macro methodologies, he creates
“
images in his New Jersey home studio. The
objects of his images include leaves, seed pods paintings by making thousands of marks of
and even sticks that he finds while hiking. The varying colors that interact so the paintings
subject of his artwork, however, is much more appear different depending on the distance
conceptual. In his work, Sroka explores abstract and angle of the viewer. Managing
shapes and soft tonalities to create peaceful,
ethereal images which, when greatly enlarged Considerations Before You Leave yourself is
as prints, become even more abstract. Many challenges exist when changing
careers midstream as these artists have
a different
Not everyone who leaves a corporate job
does so to fulfill artistic aspirations. For
done. For Werth, art was not the career he beast than
ever envisioned. For Sroka, he was starting a
Andrew Werth (andrewwerth.com), leaving
new career and a new family. Doucette was a managing
corporate was mostly a matter of burnout.
The “more” that he wanted included a desire
single mom launching a new career, in a new a large
house and in a new state. The challenges
to try something new. Werth thought he
would pursue other interests, maybe go back seemed predictable but sometimes felt department.
to school. Working as a software engineer insurmountable. ~ Andrew Werth
for a major Internet media company, Werth Each of the artists had a variety of skills
was using his master’s degree in information which made them uniquely qualified to
networking. It was exposure to the New York make an art career feasible. Werth and Sroka
art scene after leaving his job that set him on
both had computer knowledge which is a
a new path. Werth took a variety of art classes
necessity for marketing via social media or
and began to develop a singular style of
creating an artist website. Both Doucette
painting which reflected his interest in cognitive
and Sroka shared a background in design
and perceptual sciences.
which became the foundation for their
In a style Werth describes as “organized creative endeavors. All three of the artists
organic abstraction,” he designs his acrylic were experienced with corporate marketing
4 Garden Impressions, 2015, by Linda Doucette. Hand-dyed wool fiber mounted on Gatorboard, 24” x 24”.
Copyright © Linda Doucette. Used by permission of the artist.
Money Planning
Financial considerations have to be part of the
equation when starting a new career. An artist
with a working spouse can calculate what each
person’s share of the bills will be. It helps to have
a budget in place for both household expenses
and for the new art business. Sroka’s strategy
while still working in his corporate job included
paying off student loans and saving money.
“From the beginning, I have been very careful
with my expenses and constantly aware of my
business’ cash flow,” he said.
Doucette was on a fast track to transitioning
from corporate textile designer to
independent artist. She bought a farm
(technically a farmette), sold her house, and
gave notice to her employer in the span of two
months. The speed of the decision and events
5 didn’t allow her time to financially prepare.
Doucette had previous art fair experience and
a plan to do some freelance work. Her plan
gave her confidence that she could handle
“
expenses during the first year until she was
and working within a business framework.
able to ramp up her show schedule.
These are serious people, making serious
decisions about changing their lives and Although it wasn’t her desire to do so,
aiming for greater fulfillment in their careers. Doucette tapped into some retirement funds
My greatest None of them, though, would tell you that to keep her finances in order. “You have to be
their art careers have gone fully as planned.
art project,
ready to make sacrifices to keep on the path of
your dream,” she said.
Both the making and marketing of artwork is
I believe, is hard. Entrance into the New York art gallery
Putting Your Skills to Use
my art career scene often feels impossible. Starting a new
career with a family presents its own set of
These three artists each came to their new
careers with different tool kits and job skills. In
itself. troubles. Doucette has to feed her 13 alpaca
each case they were cognizant of what abilities
twice a day and find someone else to do it for
~ Daniel Sroka her when she is exhibiting at art fairs. Werth
they had and what their time in corporate life
had taught them.
struggles with the storage of his work when not
hanging in the various group shows in which Doucette was already a designer who spent
he participates. The crossover from corporate her days in a creative process. She was used
environment to independent artist studio also to interacting with customers and behaving
means working alone most of the time. Sroka professionally every day. “Understanding the
was excited by the prospect of a self-fulfilling importance of costing out product and judging
art career but had been working in a position the quality of materials,” she said, enables her
where the business goals and objectives were to establish appropriate pricing for her artwork.
all laid out for him.
Sroka pointed out the importance of having
“If I succeeded, it was my accomplishment,” had experience working with customers,
Sroka said, “but if I failed, it was my fault.” He acting professionally on a daily basis and
missed the comradery, shared goals and ability understanding budgets. “The most useful skill I
to brainstorm as a team. brought from corporate life was my knowledge
5 Intentional Dance, 2016, by Andrew Werth. Acrylic, 24” x 24”. Copyright © 2016 Andrew Werth. Used by permission of the artist.

6
of branding and marketing,” he own way. The path that any one of
said. “I was able to think of my art them took would not have worked
as a product I was trying to sell and for the other. They each had different
determine how to effectively reach the comfort levels with the amount of
people who would want to buy it.” planning their career moves needed,
with the amount of financial security
Werth said, “Managing yourself is
which would be necessary and even
a different beast than managing
with what their new career was to be.
a large department.” Corporate
experience still serves him well But each of them knew they wanted
though. In his corporate role, Werth something beyond the career path
frequently had to “speak in front of they were on. They also had the
an audience, whether it was to train fortitude and determination to make
new employees, run department a change which would bring them
meetings or speak before larger greater professional satisfaction. As
groups at tech conferences.” Sroka said, “My greatest art project,
I believe, is my art career itself.” PA
“Because of the corporate
experience,” Werth said, “I now feel Paul Grecian is a full-time artist working
confident talking about my paintings in the medium of Photography. Living
and my process in front of larger in rural Pennsylvania he finds inspiration
audiences.” from simple natural subjects. Grecian 7
sells his work to collectors from all over
Find Your Unique Path the United States at art fairs and through
Each of these artists had to find their his website, paulgrecianphoto.com.
6 Day Dreamer, 2015, by Linda Doucette. Hand-dyed wool fiber mounted on Gatorboard, 24” x 36”. 7 Linda Doucette working on large felt art piece.
Copyright © Linda Doucette. Used by permission of the artist.
( without fees )
CALLS to ARTISTS
BY NADA HASSANEIN
1 2
Enter Artwork Depicting ‘Great Spirits’

D o you have a piece that depicts a
person who deeply inspires you
— someone who is a saint to you?
and present, inviting artists to express
the connection they have with these
influential figures.
Entries are free for up to three pieces
and are due July 15. All visual art
mediums are accepted including
sculpture. Nails in the Wall features two
New Jersey’s Nails in the Wall gallery “Our focus is to have every show
shows per year, focusing on themes
at St. Luke’s Church calls on artists somehow include a spiritual
that elicit dialogue and contemplation
to submit figurative pieces depicting component,” gallery director Linda
about the spiritual human experience.
“great spirits” — whether passed on Vonderschmidt-LaStella said. “That’s
or still alive. really the flavor of the gallery.” For questions, email director@
nailsinthewall.org or call 732-906-4137.
The purpose of Great Spirits Among She added that the exhibition will
Visit nailsinthewall.org for details.
Us: Saints, Prophets, Holy People convey “saint and prophet and holy
is to shed light on inspirational, person as every man … in the sense
impactful characters, both historical that everyone is that.”
12 Courtesy Nails in the Wall Gallery.

n The listings in this section require no fees from artists submitting work. n Always obtain a full prospectus
before entering a show. (Include a SASE when requesting one.) n Please visit ProfessionalArtistMag.com
to submit your call to artists for print or online, and to view more opportunities.
Multi-dimensional Works Sought

for Cazenovia Exhibition
3 4
C azenovia College Art Gallery is

accepting 2-D, 3-D and video
works to showcase in its gallery and
to know his work and invited him for
other shows and permanent loan
installations on the campus.
nestled in the Cazenovia campus,
founded in 1824. The college is
one of the oldest independent and
Sculpture Court. Exhibition proposals private colleges in the nation, offering
His series Cazenovia Landforms
are due September 15. several undergraduate art and design
features “pieces that are my response
Rob Licht, a sculptor whose work was to the local topography,” he said. “The programs, from a fashion design
featured in the Sculpture Court in way I see those pieces is expressing major to studio art to photography
2013, makes large, organic-shaped how the landscape is friendly and and animation.
steel benches with rustic surfaces that welcoming.” He likes to think of an
“Submit a cohesive body of work,
viewers in the gallery can sit on. Licht environment as a space that “holds
and think about the space and what’s
holds a Master of Fine Arts degree us and cradles you” — like familiar
furniture to relax in. Licht said the appropriate for the space,” Licht advised
from Cornell University and moonlights artists who are considering applying.
as a custom sauna builder. Licht’s larger idea of his work is to reflect how
work has been featured more than a nature and the environment “helps Images of your work can be mailed on
inform the people that live there who a CD or DVD. The proposal should also
few times at Cazenovia College. After
they become.”
submitting a proposal, he formed include a statement about the work,
a connection with the gallery. Licht A block away from Albany Street in SASE, resumé and biography. Visit
said gallery director Jen Pepper got Cazenovia, New York, the gallery is cazenovia.edu/art-gallery for details.
34 Cazenovia Gallery. Courtesy of Cazenovia College.
( with fees )
CALLS to ARTISTS
Submit to Craft Forms 2016
W ayne Art Center is accepting
entries for its 22nd annual juried
Craft Forms 2016 Exhibition.
a sample of the signature collection
she calls Folded Light Art, in which
she uses Japanese washi paper,
2 to January 28, 2017. Entries are $45
for up to two works, and the show
boasts $8,000 worth of awards this
geometric planning and other tools year. Works received after the deadline
Submissions are due September 14,
to fashion a folded, origami-like will require an extra fee from the artist.
and ceramics, wood, fiber, metal,
light fixture.
glass and mixed-media artworks are “Just put your work out there, and
accepted. This year’s juror will be Wu explored the papermaking process also, definitely go to the show
Stefano Catalani, a director at Bellevue in Japan — where she found that because it’s such a great opportunity
Arts Museum. “paper is almost considered to be to learn about other artists’ work and
sacred” — and experimented with networking and learning about other
Jiangmei Wu, assistant professor at
it until she developed her own style artists’ technique,” Wu said.
Indiana University, won a juror award
and process.
at last year’s Craft Forms show. Her For details and full prospectus, visit
luminous paper craft piece, Eurus, was Craft Forms 2016 runs from December craftformsentry.org.
5 Eurus, 2015, by Jiangmei Wu. Hi-tec Kozo Paper, stainless steel, plastic, 17” x 32”. Copyright © Jiangmei Wu. Used by permission of the artist.

n To view more opportunities, post your announcement on ProfessionalArtistMag.com or in print in
Professional Artist magazine, visit ProfessionalArtistMag.com n For questions, call 407-563-7057.
‘When Language
Meets Art’ 7
F or artists who have an affinity for

both pictures and words, When
Language Meets Art may be an
“I think that some artists are going to
make work specifically for the call —
which is always interesting,” said Jean
January 28, 2017 and will be juried
by mixed-media artist Gary Sweeney,
known for incorporating text into
opportunity to seize. Caslin, LHUCA executive director. his photos.
Whether poetry strikes you and a When entering your “visual Caslin said about the exhibition’s
piece is born from that inspiration, vocabulary,” you may want to theme, “It’s unusual — and a lot of
or you’re dazzled by neon signs in incorporate “any system of people don’t think about words and
urban landscapes, enter your artwork formalized symbols, signs, sounds images interacting.”
that falls within this theme into Louise and gestures used or conceived as a
Hopkins Underwood Center for the means of communicating thoughts For details, visit lhuca.org/events/
Arts’ call. Entries are due October 7, and emotions,” the call reads. The competition or email LHUCA Curator
and it’s $35 for up to three entries. exhibition will run from December 2 to Linda Cullum at linda.cullum@lhuca.org.
6 Artist Tim Glover’s work at Louise Hopkins Center for the Arts. Courtesy of LHUCA. 7 Flat Out on the Plains, by Ken Little. Christine DeVitt
Exhibition Hall. Copyright © Ken Little. Used by permission of the artist.
CALLS to ARTISTS
( without fees ) Indiana, Naturally GearBox Gallery Online Art Gallery
Photo Competition * Seeking Northern Deadline Ongoing
IN, Deadline July 11 California Artists oacgallery.com
Arts Council of Indianapolis
ARTS AND CRAFTS callforentry.org/festivals_
CA, Deadline Ongoing Sarah Biondi, 505-842-8419
gearboxgallery.com info@oacgallery.com
SHOWS unique_info.php?ID=3549 Jules Campbell www.oacgallery.com
510-859-5208,
54th Halifax Art Chadron State College info@gearboxgallery.com. Addiction and Art
Galaxy Series Deadline Ongoing
Festival
NE, Deadline Ongoing Call for Juried Members www.AddictionAndArt.org
FL, Deadline Aug. 19
For info, contact Shellie DC, Deadline Dec. 31 “Submit Art Images”
Pat Masotti-Abernathy
Johns at 308-432-6380 or The Foundry Gallery editor@addictionandart.org
386-437-2604
Sarah Polak at 308-432-6401. Jill Bateman, 301-452-4005,
pmasotti@msn.com
FoundryJury2014@aol.com,
www.HalifaxArtFestival.org Call For Artists - Exhibition www.foundrygallery.org
GA [Ongoing]
MISCELLANEOUS
Call For Artists -
Opportunity
Exhibition
Deadline Opportunity
COMPETITIONS GA, Ongoing
JURIED SHOWS & Non-violence Social
Artevaggio
scmeeker@artevaggio.com for GALLERY SETTINGS Skills Development *
Artist Spotlight for consideration.
consideration. NAT, Deadline Ongoing
Competition www.artevaggio.com Gentle Tiger Brave
Great Spirits Among
NAT, Deadline Ongoing and Strong
Us: Saints, Prophets,
www.gentletiger
Visit ProfessionalArtistMag. FREELANCE ART Holy People
braveandstrong.org
com/artistspotlight to enter. OPPORTUNITIES NJ, Deadline July 15
Gallery director Linda
Highlands Art League
LaStella, 732-322-6512
CONTESTS Call for Artists & Art EarthsongsCeramicStudio@
and the 99s 6x6 art
Teachers! gmail.com show and sale
INT, Deadline Ongoing www.nailsinthewall.org NAT, Deadline July 15
Cover Contest www.highlangsartleague.org
http://v.youku.com/v_show/
NAT, Deadline Dec. 31 SAAG National
id_XOTIzMTk3NjQw.html. Ginger Adelstone
Visit ProfessionalArtistMag. Contact: Harriet Petty, 861- Juried Show 813-264-7827
com/covercontest to enter. 371-674-4690, harrietpetty@ IL. Deadline July 15 ** gadelstone@gmail.com
btinternet.com, en.798kids. www.BlueRidgeArts.net www.highlandsartleague.org
Studio Search Contest * com/index.aspx
NAT, Deadline June 30
5th Annual
Visit ProfessionalArtistMag.
International Chicago PUBLISHING
com/studiosearch to enter. GALLERIES/ Area Exhibition * OPPORTUNITIES
NONPROFIT NAT, Deadline July 18
SPACES REVIEWING
EXHIBITION PORTFOLIOS
Creek Gallery
Phase 5 Cover Calls/
OPPORTUNITIES www.xculturearts.com
Calls for Submissions *
Phase 5 Publishing
OPEN call to Artists &
FIVE by FIVE 2016 Designers 2-D, 3-D, 4-D ONLINE GALLERY NAT, Deadline Ongoing
Exhibition * NY, Sept. 15

www.phase5publishing.com/
call-for-submissions
INT, Deadline Sept. 30 Cazenovia College Call for Fine Art Artists
Contact: 828-581-9452
Arts Council of Jen Pepper – Global Art Exchange
submissions@
Hillsborough County jpepper@cazenovia.edu INT, Deadline Ongoing
phase5publishing.com
www.FivebyFiveTampa www.cazenovia.edu/ www.global-art-exchange.com
Bay.com art-gallery info@global-art-exchange.com

STANDARDS AND ABBREVIATIONS
* **
= new listing since last month | = changed or corrected listing
2D = two-dimensional, i.e. drawings | 3D = three-dimensional, i.e. sculpture | SASE = self-addressed, stamped #10 (business) envelope
( with fees ) Open Call to Coker 7th Annual Gallery

One EIIIEVEN National JURIED SHOWS |
College’s Cecelia Coker
Competition *
OUTDOOR
Bell Gallery * SCULPTURE
EXHIBITION SC, Deadline Oct. 31 LA, Deadline July 30
COMPETITION
OPPORTUNITIES Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery Leesville LA Art
www.ceceliacokerbellgallery.com gallleryoneellleven@gmail.com
artgallery@coker.edu 337-208-1762
Call For Artists – ReMIX: 843-383-8156 www.facebook.com/pages/ Call For Encaustic Art *
The Art of Reuse * Leesville-Gallery-One- NAT, Deadline July 17
PA, Deadline July 16 Eleven/123480214393696
Morpho Gallery
Sweetwater Center
for the Arts Call For Entries * 773-878-4255
$25/Four images JURIED SHOWS, NAT, Deadline Aug. 3 morphogallery.com
awatrous@ GALLERY SETTINGS Smithtown Township Arts morphogallery@gmail.com
sweetwaterartcenter.org Council
www.sweetwaterartcenter. SAAG National $45/3 entries
org/call-for-artists Juried Show * 631-862-6575 PUBLISHING
GA, Deadline July 15 www.stacarts.org/exhibits/ OPPORTUNITIES
National Juried $40 for up to three show/99
Exhibition at Larkin entries/$35 for members gallery@stacarts.org
Arts * 706-632-2144
VA, Deadline Aug. 1 www.BlueRidgeArts.net The Nude Figure International Juried
Larkin Arts blueridgearts.director@ PA, Deadline Sept. 9 Call for Art Fresh
gmail.com
$35 for up to two works The Wayne Art Center Paint Magazine *
NationalJuriedShow@ $40 for up to three entries
National Juried NAT, Deadline Aug. 31
larkinarts.com Online entry at
www.larkinarts.com/site/ Exhibition * www.waynefigureentry.org FreshPaintMagazine Ltd.
call-to-artists-national-juried- NAT, Deadline July 20 Karen Louise Fay 484-223-6241
exhibition Oxford Arts Alliance 610-688-3553 ext. 211
www.freshpaintmagazine.com
Christine Grove karenlouise@wayneart.org
Call to DFW Artists: Art 610-467-0301 www.waynefigureentry.org, info@freshpaintmagazine.com
in the Metroplex * www.OxfordArt.org www.wayneart.org.
TX, Deadline Aug. 22 director@oxfordart.org
Fort Worth Community Sacred and Profane * RESIDENCIES
Arts Center 6Th Annual Pinnacle NAT, Deadline Sept. 11
$35 for up to three pieces National Juried Art Arc Gallery
fortworthcommunity Stephen Wagner
Competition and
artscenter.submittable.com/ www.arc-sf.com Digital Approaches:
Exhibition arcgallerysf@gmail.com
submit/58298
FL, Deadline July 29 Sculpture, Fiber Art,
Open Call: When Florida A&M University 120th Annual Open Painting & New Media *
Foster-Tanner Fine Arts
Language Meets Art * Juried Exhibition * MD, Deadline Sept. 1
Gallery
TX, Deadline Oct. 7 NY, Deadline Oct. 3 Digital Fabrication Residency
850- 599-8755,
Louise Hopkins Underwood Catharine Lorillard Wolfe
fostertannergallery@ digitalfabricationresidency.com
Center for the Arts famu.edu, Art Club, Inc.
$35 for up to three entries $40/Members digitalfabricationresidency@
www.famu.edu/index.cfm?
lhuca.org/events/competition $45/Associates gmail.com
VisualArts&FosterTannerFine
Linda Cullum ArtsGallery $50/Non-Members. 443-770-2782.
linda.cullum@lhuca.org www.showsubmit.com
806-762-8606 www.clwac.org
the ARTREPRENEUR coach
By Renée Phillips
Go Back to School
on the Internet
M
any years ago, I was offered 190 topics to
an opportunity to become choose from on
an arts writer for a leading the iTunes App
New York City publication. I had no Store.
clue about writing art reviews, but I
There are also dozens of art-related
had a strong desire to write, promote
TED talks at your disposal at ted.com/
artists and reach an audience of
topics/art. You’ll meet fascinating
art enthusiasts. So, I accepted the
speakers in the world of art.
offer, purchased copies of every art
magazine available and devoured Many online tutorials are available to
them. As I studied the art vernacular, enhance your art techniques, from
observed the art critics’ writing skills beginning to advanced lessons in a They follow a self-created curriculum.
and put these studies into practice, variety of styles and mediums. For Their approach combines pursuing
my own writing style emerged. instance, Golden Paints has its own their favorite interests with a hunger
YouTube channel at youtube.com/ to advance their knowledge about
The lesson I learned, which I encourage GoldenPaints. them. They create resource lists
other artists to follow, is that sometimes
about these interests and pursue
the fastest way to learn something is to
them regularly.
take a risk and do something that you The lesson I learned …
don’t know how to do. This experience is that sometimes the I’m excited whenever I “go to school”
gave me the confidence to launch my on the Internet. The topics I delve
own art magazine, and years later to
fastest way to learn
into range from art techniques and
write a book. something is to take a art business, to health and wellness,
risk and do something world events and politics. I take
What else did these experiences
teach me? After you agree to take on
that you don’t know notes, organize them into folders,
a project you don’t know how to do, how to do. review them and apply the newly
you need to find the right teacher or acquired knowledge. This year, I
class or webinar fast. Yet when there’s improved my health, learned new
My intention is not to negate
a passion to learn something, you will mixed-media painting techniques,
the value of taking live courses,
find the education you need. Now discovered how to create e-books
workshops and lectures. I’m not
that we live in the information age, and set up auto downloads on my
advocating that you drop out of
this self-education is much easier website — all from watching YouTube
art school or college. My point is
to accomplish. to remind you that you don’t have videos and podcasts.
Thanks to YouTube, iTunes, TED talks to wait until a semester begins or Through self-education via
the finances are available to attend technology, you can continuously
and a plethora of podcasts, e-books,
school. You can download, pause, grow as a creative, self-empowered
and audio courses, you can connect to
repeat and revisit online productions and thriving artist. PA
outstanding instruction. The resources
many times.
are endless, from short how-to videos
to in-depth interviews, lectures and Renée Phillips, The Artrepreneur Coach,
Although self-education offers many
helps artists attain their highest potential in
demonstrations on all topics. benefits, be forewarned: When left
private consultations, coaching, articles and
on your own, it’s easy to become e-Books on Renee-Phillips.com. As founder/
In New York City I have the privilege
distracted, lose sight of your purpose director of Manhattan Arts International,
of attending museum press openings
and stop learning altogether. manhattanarts.com, she promotes
and tours led by leading curators.
artists through curated art programs and
You can do the next best thing and Self-education requires motivation, exhibitions. As founder of The Healing
take behind-the-scenes art tours and discipline and commitment. The most Power of ART & ARTISTS healing-power-of-
watch interviews with major artists. successful self-educators practice a art.org, she promotes the many benefits of
For example, MoMA offers more than targeted, focused form of learning. art for individuals and our society.

Professional Artist’s Calls to Artists service is better than ever — now you can search faster and
list easier online! Plus the new “listing spotlight” in print and online provides in-depth editorial
on featured calls, including how to enter a submission, what jurors are looking for, past winning
practices and more.
Visit ProfessionalArtistMag.com/Calls to check out the

latest Calls to Artists or to submit your listing today.

Professional Artist Issue Sept. 2016

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B USI N ESS ADVICE + R ESOU RCES + E DUCATION + TUTOR IALS + ART N EWS

Evening Bird by Luna Lee Ray

on orders of $79 or more

22 Illustrators Make a Living

30 Body Language for Success

44 Pay for Your MFA

58 The Self-taught Route

64 Be a Good Art Teacher

68 Leave the Corporate World

2 Professional Artist AUG+SEPT 2016

36 Coaching the Artist:

57 Planning Your Art Business:

63 The Artist’s Advocate:

I read your magazine cover to cover

much for addressing so many of the issues

4 Professional Artist AUG+SEPT 2016

MUSEUM OF LATIN AMERICAN ART

T hrough the end of 2016, the

HOUSTON GUIDES ILLUSTRATORS TO SUCCESS

T he John Simon Guggenheim

6 Professional Artist AUG+SEPT 2016

sharing of Canadian art through also revealed plans to launch a special,

Art Sacks. For the sake of your art.

ARTIST RAISES $4K TO FRAME ART FOR REHAB CENTER

T his past winter, artist Jill Kelly

8 Professional Artist AUG+SEPT 2016

LEARN OIL PAINTING ESSENTIALS

DISPOSABLE PALETTE LOOKS LIKE WOOD

M any artists cherish their wood

The Folding Art Horse®

comfortable, the patented Folding

Artfix Belgian Linen Panel. This ultra

allows artists to experience a wide range

Elizabeth Moran “You’re miles way from family and friends

12 Professional Artist AUG+SEPT 2016

14 Professional Artist AUG+SEPT 2016

16 Professional Artist AUG+SEPT 2016

©2016 Golden Artist Colors, Inc., New Berlin, NY

ProfArtst_GACEVENTS qrtrpg_051116.indd 1 5/12/2016 2:56:32 PM ProfessionalArtistMag.com 17

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A Snapshot of Multimedia on several multimedia projects on

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She switched her major to illustration because she was

One teacher noticed her working on one of her pins — a small

24 Professional Artist AUG+SEPT 2016

girl growing up in Hereville. Although Deutsch grew up Jewish,

Deutsch likes the comic format for its “readability, especially

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3 Don’t neglect the writing side of

4 For any comic you’re creating,

5 Practice, practice, practice. The

6 Socialize with other cartoonists,

7 If a prospective publisher wants

should probably refuse.

Gigi Rosenberg is the editor of Professional Artist.

The art market has changed dramaticly over the

With over 40 years of experience in the art world, I can

It doesnʼt have to be so hard!

30 Professional Artist AUG+SEPT 2016

Strike a Power Pose.

32 Professional Artist AUG+SEPT 2016

“ Use what you know

We can bemoan the causes for quick interactions,