Read more about the article #70 Getting Back to Art

#70 Getting Back to Art

Many artists that I’ve interviewed studied art in high school or college, but then worked in another field for many years. The timing has been right for them to return to art making and start their own art business. In this episode I’ll talk about how you can get back into making art, how you can meet other artists that will encourage and inspire you, and how you can find art opportunities.

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How do you get back to art?

Make art.

Then make some more.

Read more about the article #69 Katiana Jarbath Smith: Honoring Her Culture with Her Art

#69 Katiana Jarbath Smith: Honoring Her Culture with Her Art

While artist Katiana Jarbath Smith was born and raised in South Florida, and she makes her home in the West Palm Beach area, her parents emigrated here from Haiti. Katiana started making art in middle school, went to a high school to study art, but then she abandoned art for many years. When you see her artwork, you’ll be amazed to discover that she only picked up painting again about a year ago. She’s now making a splash in the South Florida art scene with her meaningful paintings that are greatly influenced by her Haitian culture.

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Katiana Jarbath Smith

Jubilee
Joined Asunder
Tomorrow's Dream
Femme, Elle, Je, Reine (Woman, She, I, Queen)
Endurance
Kanaval Ayiti I (Haiti's Carnival I)
Ti Zwazo (Curious Gaze; Little Bird)
Espwa de Jen (Hopes of the Young)
Ayiti Cheri I (Haiti My Love)

Katiana Jarbath Smith’s website is jarbathart.com.

She can also be found on Facebook and Instagram.

Katiana has been involved with the Art Prevails Project with Darius Daughtry.

Katiana lists her upcoming art shows on her website here.

Here are some great takeaways from this episode:

  1. As an artist, there is nothing that you’re supposed to do. You have to do only what works for you. In art school, Katiana was told to always keep a sketch book and draw every day, but she knew that wasn’t something that worked for her, so she didn’t do it.
  2. Every artist has a story to tell. For Katiana, it is her Haitian culture and her family’s lives as African Americans. Find your story so that you can create more authentic artwork.
  3. Go to art shows and talk to other artists for guidance.
  4. Start an Instagram account and post everything you do.
  5. Even if you’ve been away from art for a long time, like Katiana was, you can return to art.
  6. Ask for permission if you want to use someone’s photo as your painting inspiration. She has even paid for some images so that she’ll know she definitely has the right to use them.
  7. Be a part of an art community, whether it is in person or online.
Read more about the article #68 Are You Accountable?

#68 Are You Accountable?

When you are self-employed and creating your own business, you need to be held accountable for making your own art and doing all the necessary business tasks. In this episode I give you great ideas of how to find accountability partners from your art community both in person and online. I also talk about getting accountability from business experts who can help you with tasks you either don’t want to do or don’t know how to do. And finally, I give you some tips for getting out of an art block and being accountable to make art on a daily basis.

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These are some friends of mine from the local artist group the Wellington Art Society. This group keeps me accountable because I go to their monthly meetings and I'm inspired to make art that I can show to them. From left: Edrian Thomidis (I interviewed her in Episode #63), Andrew Hollimon (painter), Lara Chapman (photographer), me, and Carolina King (mosaic artist and President of the Wellington Art Society.
I made my own goal of posting an artwork a day on Instagram. I was only accountable to myself, but I felt like I was accountable to everyone on Instagram. I established an every day practice of making art, and I made 45 of these watercolor and pen pieces, plus 16 collages in another series.

Look for accountability groups online in meetup.com. You can search by city.

Join Facebook groups and message people to create a small accountability group, like I did with a podcast group I’m in. 

Look for art challenges online — just search using key words like 30 day challenge, 100 day project, or 52 prompts.

Read more about the article #67 Lisa Sonora: Traveling Artist in Oaxaca, Mexico

#67 Lisa Sonora: Traveling Artist in Oaxaca, Mexico

Today’s episode is with artist Lisa Sonora. Lisa is an artist who travels the world taking and teaching art classes, and a few years ago she settled in Oaxaca, Mexico. She now hosts art retreats at Art House Oaxaca, and other artists teach there as well.  Her website and blog feature many free resources and she has online classes to help you effortlessly create art. 

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Lisa Sonora

Lisa invites artists to be in Mexico to experience The Day of the Dead.

Lisa's book The Creative Entrepreneur can be found on Amazon.

Lisa Sonora’s website is lisasonora.com. 

You can also find her on Instagram.

You can find the list of retreats hosted at Art House Oaxaca on her website here.

Lisa will be hosting write Phil Cousineau at Art House Oaxaca in 2010. Visit her website later for information. You can find out more about Phil Cousineau at his website here.

Lisa hosts Connie Solera for retreats in Oaxaca a couple times a year. You can find out more about Connie and the retreats that she hosts at her website.

Here are a few takeaways from this episode:

  1. When we develop our non-dominant skills, we actually become better at what we’re good at.
  2. Lisa teaches people to travel like an artist and keep a richly layered travel journal. She recommends that after you collect your mementos, you write and sketch about what you have done.
  3. Women are relationship-oriented in how they do their business, and you can use that as your strength.
  4. Our art-making is influenced by all aspects of our personality. For example, if you are introverted or extroverted, or if you are a leader or a follower.
  5. When you work alone, you risk falling into the danger of not having an external deadline. You need to give yourself your own accountability.
  6. Lisa recommends to everyone that they combine creating with traveling.
  7. Start your January by budgeting the time and money to take an artful adventure this year with a teacher that you really like.
  8. It takes a lot of energy to travel, but it’s worth it.
Read more about the article #66 The Art of Visual Journaling

#66 The Art of Visual Journaling

Art journaling is extremely popular for artists as a way to work out their thoughts, try new art techniques, or record their life milestones. Whether you call it art journaling, visual journaling, or something else, it can include writing, painting, pasting, and can use many different tools and techniques. As Amanda Grace in episode #65 tells her students, it can be a way to get back to your creative self. Today’s episode will talk about the different kinds of journaling and why you may enjoy doing them.

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

Here are a few books that I own that give you some great art journaling ideas. You can find many more in the library or bookstore. You can also find how-to videos on YouTube or through artist websites.

These are some art journal pages that I’ve made, The first was the cover for a collaborative book swap. In the center photo, I was practicing backgrounds as well as my ability to draw faces. And the third one is a spread I did based on some prompts in Connie Solera’s 21 Secrets series of classes. (This was not the current 21 Secrets, but a few years ago.)

What are your favorite tools for art journaling?