Read more about the article #65 Amanda Grace: Artist and Pilgrim Soul

#65 Amanda Grace: Artist and Pilgrim Soul

Artist Amanda Grace has the mission is to help people recover, express, and care for their creative expression of Self. She’s used journaling for self-expression and discovery in her live classes for years, and now she is offering some great online classes as well as two art retreats in Ireland in 2019. Her journaling classes help you to develop a creative practice using a combination of writing, painting, and collage.

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

Amanda Grace

Here are some links to Amanda’s offerings and other things we discussed in this episode:

You can visit Amanda’s website at amandagrace.ie.

You can also find Amanda on Instagram @amandajgrace.

Her Facebook account is Pilgrim Soul, and you can join her free Facebook community called Pilgrims on Deck.

Amanda offers a Sunday newsletter.  Subscribe for exclusive content, inspiration, reflection and resources for your creative recovery, here.

Amanda’s retreat on the west coast of Ireland will be held April 3-7, 2019 and September 28- October 2, 2019. These are 5-day all-inclusive retreats. Here is the link for more information.  Croí: The Art of Receiving. 

Amanda’s RAW 4 Week Online Course is a deep dive into creative freedom. You can Register here for her wait list and to receive a FREE journal lesson: Harbour & The Art of Dwelling.

Amanda has just launched RAW (e)nergy, a 30-day email course to energize and inspire creative process and practice. Amanda is offering a 15% discount to the listeners of this podcast. You can register here with the promo code: MYLEFTBRAIN.

Here are some great takeaways from this episode:

  1. Recognize that your self-expression is inherently creative, whether you call yourself an artist or not.
  2. Being creative does not mean that you can draw well. You can be creative through many things that you do, in how you do them and why you do them.
  3. Journaling can be used as a form of self-expression, and it can include art with it or it can be just words.
  4. Journaling is a creative practice through which you use a combination of writing, painting, and collage, in a way that connects you to your inner wisdom, clarity, and guidance.
  5. Anyone who feels they are not creative can still recover their creative self if they take the journey back to the essence of who they are.
  6. In a pilgrimage it can be a solitary thing, but there is room for others to go on all of it or some of it with you.
  7. Self-expression is valuable because of the process. The outcome is not what matters.
  8. Journaling is a vehicle for all you know and an oracle for all you have yet to know.

Check out my Episode #66: The Art of Visual Journaling.

Read more about the article #64 Making Goals for the New Year
Wandering the Wetlands Trail, 11" x 14" on canvas paper

#64 Making Goals for the New Year

If you’re not still on a Christmas vacation from social media, you will have noticed that everyone is talking about their resolutions or goals for the new year, or they are evaluating what they accomplished during the last year. I think you can’t help but think about new goals this time of year. January seems to give you a creative energy and hope for good things to come. In this episode I give book recommendations to help you create new habits for a happier life, and provide resources for learning how to do specific art goals.

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

In 2018, I made a goal of making art almost every day. I held myself accountable by posting them to Instagram. While I didn't do it every day, I came pretty close, and I've greatly stretched my art muscles.

Here are some links to things I’ve discussed in this episode:

I highly recommend Gretchen Ruben’s books, starting with The Happiness Project, Better than Before, and The Four Tendencies. These can help you create habits and get things done to make your life happier. 

She talks about her 19 for 2019 goals in her podcast episodes 199 and 201.

On Instagram, look for these hashtags: #18for2018 and #19for2019 to see what others have listed for their goals.

Here are links to some of my podcast episodes which can give you the steps to take for specific art goals:

Episode #35 Tonia Jenny: Creatively Editing, Writing, and Coaching (Tonia can help you if your goal is to write a book about your art or art techniques.)

Episode #27 Anthony Burks: Creating Beauty with Colored Pencils  (Anthony talks about how he started pop-up art exhibits in his own home.)

Bonus Episode #28 Hosting a Home Art Show

Episode #29 Trina Slade-Burks: Artist and Businesswoman (Anthony’s wife Trina talks about how they started pop-up galleries in empty store fronts.)

Bonus Episode #30 Creating a Pop-up Gallery

Bonus Episode #20 Keeping Track of Your Art Inventory

Bonus Episode #10 Everything You Need to Know about Online Classes

Here are some artists who have hosted their own art retreats:

Episode #39 Jana Freeman: Creator of Way Art Yonder Studio

Episode #45 Connie Solera: 21 Secrets, Art Retreats, and Classes

Episode #57 Laura Horn: Australian Artist, Instructor, and Social Media Master

If your goal is to attend an art retreat, you can search for them on the internet or specifically on Instagram.

Read more about the article #63 Edrian Thomidis: Maker of Figurative Ceramic Sculptures
Edrian Thomidis

#63 Edrian Thomidis: Maker of Figurative Ceramic Sculptures

Artist Edrian Thomidis has only been making sculptures for about five years. It starts back in high school, when she enrolled in a school that offered visual arts and a path straight into a college arts program. She ultimately received a degree in communications and worked creating graphics in the early days of website design. With the start of her family, her work schedule allowed her to once again explore her artistic roots and take classes to develop a new art path, which is now in the world of ceramics. She recently completed a new body of figurative sculptures as well as paintings that she exhibited in a well-received solo show.

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

Edrian Thomidis

Edrian's exhibit at Hatch 1121 in Lake Worth
Swimmer
Disappointment
Secrets
Loneliness
Journey
Subconscious
Digging Deep
Deceit
Calling

The website for Edrian Thomidis is artsysoul.com.

You can also find Edrian on Facebook and Instagram.

Edrian went to the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida.

She took ceramics classes at the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Edrian is a member of these arts organizations, which are local to South Florida:

WITVA: Women in the Visual Arts

WAS: The Wellington Art Society

APBC: The Artists of Palm Beach County

She finds many Calls to Artists in the online South Florida publication The Rickie Report.

She will be showing her art at the West Palm Beach pop-up gallery Continuum starting January 10, 2019. Continuum will have loads of special events during their two-week exhibit and you can find all the details on their website here.

Edrian’s solo show was at Hatch 1121 Gallery in Lake Worth, Florida.

Here are some great takeaways from this episode:

  1. A huge benefit of taking a ceramics class at an art school is that you can use their tools and equipment.
  2. See if the art school offers studio time to students so you can create pieces there before investing in the equipment needed for a home studio.
  3. When creating a series, choose a consistent theme and give yourself some parameters to work with.
  4. When making large sculptures, support the works in progress with cut down pool noodles. (I love this idea!)
  5. Use foam and bubble wrap for transporting large pieces.
  6. Join artist groups to find local shows they are hosting or talk to members to see where they are exhibiting.
  7. Search to see if there are online lists for Calls to Artists in your area, like we have with The Rickie Report.com in South Florida.
  8. Take photos of your artwork right when you finish a piece, so you’re ready with the photos when needed.
  9. Keep a calendar of the shows you’re doing with drop off and pick up dates.
  10. Large projects need to be planned in the design phase to account for stability and transport.
  11. When working with a gallery, discuss with them how much promotion they will be doing for your show, as well as the promotion you will be doing.
Read more about the article #62 Facebook Pop-up Shops

#62 Facebook Pop-up Shops

Online art sales can be quite lucrative for artists and are easy to do using Facebook. In this episode I go over step by step how you can plan an art sale on Facebook in the coming year. It’s a great way to sell a couple dozen items in a short period of time. The key is to establish a good following on Facebook and develop your inventory of artwork.

This episode will explain all the steps needed to plan and execute a pop-up shop for great art sales in the new year.

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

Thank you for a great year! I appreciate everyone who has listened to and downloaded my podcast. I look forward to a wonderful new year of 52 new amazing artist interviews. 

Merry Christmas!

There will be no new episodes Christmas week, so I’ll see you with another new interview on January 2.

Read more about the article #61 Kecia Deveney: An Artist of Many Talents

#61 Kecia Deveney: An Artist of Many Talents

Artist Kecia Deveney, has a style that is clearly her own. She paints, she sews, she creates 3D art pieces using vintage objects. She worked hard to develop her artistic style and now teaches art in many disciplines, from her home in New Jersey, to as far away as Australia. She tells great stories about her Australia trips, and how she’s has successfully sold her artwork through a Facebook pop-up shop.

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

Kecia Deveney

This is the piece Kecia was working on while we talked. It's painted fabric with added stitching. Will she stuff this to make an art doll or keep it as a wall hanging?

You can find Kecia’s artwork on her website keciadeveney.com

Her main social media account is Facebook, and she cross-posts to Instagram and Twitter.

She teaches through Art is You, also known as Eat, Cake, Create.

Check out her website and Facebook for updates to her teaching schedule, as she is planning on teaching in Australia again in the summer of 2019.

Here are some great takeaways from this episode:

  1. Don’t be too precious with your art supplies. You’ve gotten them to make some art, so make some art.
  2. Have a comprehensive style over all your art that is uniquely your own.
  3. A great way to make art sales is to do a Facebook pop-up show around Thanksgiving.
  4. Art sales are more fun when they have meaning to it. What she means by this is, make art that means something to you, and you will enjoy the selling process.
  5. If you can develop an established relationship with people through Facebook first, then it will be easier to make them customers later.
  6. Save time by linking your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts so that one post hits them all together.
  7. If you want to teach a new subject, start taking classes to learn it.
  8. Formulate a way of making art that works for you, rather than just replicating the way it was taught to you.

Kecia also talked about how she creates a holiday pop-up shop on Facebook to see her artwork. I’m going to talk about that in my next business episode # 62, so be sure to tune in for that.