Read more about the article #75 Nick Ringelstetter: From Art Shows to Murals
#75 Nick Ringelstetter: From Art Shows to Murals

#75 Nick Ringelstetter: From Art Shows to Murals

Artist Nick Ringelstetter creates extremely detailed artwork that leans toward science fiction. He’s been very successful selling his original artwork and prints all over the U.S. at outdoor art shows. After a chance meeting with another artist, he has come down to Florida and ventured into the world of murals. We talk about his art show adventures, how he met Kole Trent and starting doing murals, and what the next phase of his art career may be. I interview Kole Trent in episode #77.

Listen here or download from iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, CastBox, or Stitcher.

Nick Ringelstetter

Nick with one of his murals at Wellington Landings Middle School in Wellington, Florida.
Another one of his murals at Wellington Landings. These murals are near the science classes at the school.
Infinity
Katzwall
Part of the painting done at the middle school.

You can find Nick’s artwork and schedule of upcoming art shows and murals on his website atomic7studio.com.

Check back later because his website will be revamped and become nickringelstetter.com.

You can also find him on Instagram as nickatomic7 and on Facebook as Nick Ringelstetter.

Nick shows his artwork in Cocoa Beach, Florida at the Trent Art Gallery.

Nick recommends the site Zapplication.org for finding art shows across the U.S.

Nick has many years’ experience selling at art shows. Here are some great takeaways from this episode:

  1. Speak to other artists at art shows who have similar artwork as yours and ask them questions about the art path they have taken.
  2. Artists can be very giving with their information, and they want to help other artists out.
  3. To find art shows, he recommends zapplication.org. You can set up your art photos, your bio, and your payment information on the website, then you can easily click on any show that you’d like to apply.
  4. When looking for shows online, do a little research to find out the setting for the show and if it will be right for you.
  5. If an art show costs more than others, then you know they’re spending more money for promotion and security and other things.
  6. Consider offering prints and not just originals so you can offer art at different price points.
  7. Making prints of your artwork can be complicated, and there are many ways to do it, so ask other artists how they’ve made prints.
  8. Offer a limited number of prints to maintain your art’s value.
  9. You should be using social media to do your own promotion and to be your own advocate.
  10. Nick puts a sign in his art show booth that says “Please take photos and share,” because he knows that it’s to his advantage if he gets noticed on social media.

 

Kole Trent and Nick Ringelstetter

Nick and Kole collaborated on this mural at Wellington Landings Middle School. You can listen to my interview with Kole Trent in Episode #77.

Read more about the article #74 Working Your Way Out of a Creative Block

#74 Working Your Way Out of a Creative Block

This episode talks about how you can get out of a creative block, whether you are blocked from making a painting, a sculpture, or anything. We’ll discuss blocks that come from not being able to start a project, the block that comes from having too many choices, and the block that comes from fear. For all of these, you can fall into a trap of overthinking, which can lead to an inability to do anything creative. I’ll give you methods of how you can get past these creative blocks.

Listen here or download from iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, CastBox, or Stitcher.

Is this a completed painting?

No, but it was enough to get me out of a block. I used canvas paper rather than an expensive canvas, and I just started playing around with colors. That’s a great way to get into some painting when you’ve been away from it and you need to go back. Just play around for 10 minutes, and see what happens. The result may spark an idea for your next painting or series, based on your color choices or composition. Do some creative play, and that will help you with your creative work.

Read more about the article #73 Chris Zydel: Healing through Creativity
#73 Chris Zydel: Healing through Creativity

#73 Chris Zydel: Healing through Creativity

Chris Zydel is a psychotherapist who now teaches painting as a way to provide healing through creative expression. She teaches near her home and at retreats on the coast.  She even teaches others so that they can bring her techniques to their areas. Chris has been teaching for years, so if you think you need a little help in getting back to art-making or you need some creative healing, she’s got the class for you.

Listen here or download from iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, CastBox, or Stitcher.

Chris Zydel

The gathering place.
The altar in the classroom
Supplies ready for her students.
Creating at a workshop.

You can find details about all of Chris’ classes and retreats on her website creativejuicesarts.com

Chris is known as the Wild Heart Queen. You can find her on Facebook as Chris Zydel and Instagram as wildheartqueen.

Be sure and sign up for her newsletter on her website to find out the latest from her studio.

Here are some great takeaways from this episode:

  1. Being with a community of other artistic people is a great experience.
  2. Intuitive painting is using the process of painting to explore your inner world.
  3. Creative expression is a tool to assist in healing.
  4. She teaches intuitive painting on paper rather than canvas so that her students won’t worry about messing up good supplies. This gives them tremendous freedom.
  5. When you’re painting intuitively, it’s not coming from your head, it’s coming from your heart.
  6. Marketing is simply letting people know what you do, so don’t be afraid of it.
  7. When people paint together in the studio, they are gaining community and they get support and they get celebrated.
  8. She’d like to remind people that creativity heals and it’s a way for you to become more fully alive.

 

Read more about the article #72 Is a Co-op Gallery Right for You?

#72 Is a Co-op Gallery Right for You?

Co-op galleries can be a great option for artists who don’t want to do outdoor art shows, but they want to get their art seen and sold. The artist displays their artwork at the gallery for a couple months, often they are committed to work at the gallery, and they split the sales with the owner of the gallery. In Episode #71, I spoke with artist AJ Brockman who created a new type of gallery, called The Brewhouse Gallery. It’s a little like a co-op, with some key differences. In this episode I talk about his gallery and traditional co-op galleries so that you can decide if those galleries are right for you.

Listen here or download from iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, CastBox, or Stitcher.

The Brewhouse Gallery

The Brewhouse Gallery in Lake Park, Florida is like a co-op gallery because many artists display their art there, and they rotate in new artwork every three months.

You can find out more about The Brewhouse Gallery on their Facebook page here.

You can listen to how AJ Brockman started The Brewhouse Gallery in my Episode #71.

Read more about the article #71 AJ Brockman: Creating a New Model for Selling Art

#71 AJ Brockman: Creating a New Model for Selling Art

AJ Brockman is an artist turned entrepreneur in Lake Park, Florida. He is a talented artist living with a progressive disease, but it has never held him back from his art goals. After attending art school and working the art show circuit in Florida, he realized that there must be a better way to sell his art. He created a new concept, called The Brewhouse Gallery, where people can enjoy a nice craft beer in a unique gallery setting. After less than five years, the gallery is a huge success for AJ, his partners, and the artists and musicians who now call it their creative home.

Listen here or download from iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, CastBox, or Stitcher.

AJ Brockman

AJ working it on the outdoor art show circuit.
AJ with his artwork.
AJ with an image of the artwork that he took two months to create. He was then able to meet President Obama and present the original to him.
A close up of how AJ uses one finger to create his art on the computer.
Working on the computer to make his art. I provide a link below to a video that explains his process.
The interior of The Brewhouse Gallery, a concept created by AJ to sell art and provide entertainment.The artwork is changed out every three months.
The Brewhouse Gallery is located at 720 Park Avenue, Lake Park, Florida.
The interior of The Cave, an expanded section of The Brewhouse Gallery.
The back side of the strip of stores is covered with murals by local artists.
They also hold events in the back alley.
The Kelsey Theater is an entertainment space that hosts bands and a variety of other acts.
The back alley murals are changed out every 3-6 months, giving other artists an opportunity to paint a mural.

AJ Brockman’s website for his art is singlehandedstudio.com.

You can find a video on his website where AJ explains his process for making art on the computer.

You can find out what’s happening at all of AJ’s properties on their websites:

The Kelsey Theater

Kelsey Cares, which is their 501c(3) organization which raises funds to pay for murals and scholarships for artists.

You can also find them on Facebook, with a list of all upcoming events:

The Lake Park Arts District

The Brewhouse Gallery

The Kelsey Theater

Kelsey Cares

Here are some great takeaways from this episode:

  1. Don’t ever let an idea hold you back. Once you put your mind to something, do everything in your power to make it happen.
  2. You have to be willing to work and put in the sacrifice without any guarantee of return. Then good things will come your way.
  3. His gallery business model is different in that the artists pay for the space on the wall, but they receive 100% of their sales.
  4. The Brewhouse model gets a lot more people coming in per week to see your artwork.
  5. The buyers can imagine the artwork in their home because it’s displayed in a living room-type setting
  6. If you want to create public art or murals in your town, but there aren’t laws that allow it yet, consider helping your town write the new laws.
  7. If there’s a type of art or a particular project you’d like to try, consider collaborating with another artist to learn from them.
  8. Make sure when you are accepting art jobs that you are getting paid for them.
  9. Consider creating a crowdfunding campaign to finance large projects, like he did to renovate an old theater.
  10. As long as you have the passion to do something, you can ask questions and get with the right people to get it done.
  11. If you do your best, things will happen, even if it’s not instant gratification and it takes a little time.

As AJ said in our conversation, The Brewhouse Gallery is a fanchiseable model. Get in touch with him if you think this concept would be great in your town.