Read more about the article #154 Faith Evans-Sills: The Time to Try Something New
Faith Evans-Sills

#154 Faith Evans-Sills: The Time to Try Something New

Faith Evans-Sills is a painter based in Charleston, South Carolina. She has both a BFA and an MFA, and she has taken her years of painting experience and built a thriving art business. Many of her art classes are built in partnership with Mati Rose McDonough, despite Mati living in California. You can hear my original interviews with Faith in Episode 102 and Mati in Episode 103. Today you’ll hear Faith talk about how she and Mati responded to the shutdown of travel and how it affected their live classes. She also tells us how she is engaging their community of artists with art challenges and new online classes.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple iTunes, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Faith Evans-Sills

Faith with a few of her paintings.

Here are some of the things we discussed in this episode (click on the names to follow the links):

Faith’s website is faithevanssills.com and you can also find her on Instagram @faithevanssills

You can find all of her online classes on her website here. 

Through April 30, 2020, Faith is offering 50% off all of her online courses, including those that start after that but have already been announced for launching in May and June. Use the discount code UPLIFT to take advantage of this offer. 

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

  1. Faith teaches online classes and in person workshops with her art partner Mati Rose McDonough. Faith and Mati had a workshop in Costa Rica scheduled for the beginning of April. They had to really tap into the latest travel advisories and messages from the World Health Organization so that they could make a quick decision on whether they could still hold this workshop. Because they were proactive about the situation, they understand the enormity of the situation sooner than most, and they were able to act to change their workshop and inform their students. When you are hosting classes and distance workshops, it’s imperative that you keep up on what’s happening in the world and you keep your students in the loop.
  2. As you listen to these new episodes where I’m talking to artists who offer online classes, I’m asking each one which online platform they use to host their courses. I’m doing this so that you’ll know the many options that are out there. Faith uses Ruzuku to host her online classes. In Episode 153, when I talked with artist Jodi Ohl, and she told me that she uses Thinkific. In Episode 152, Luci Duclos told me she uses Skillshare. Check out all the options to determine which will be best for your business. You should consider how much it will cost you monthly to use their platform; if they will take a cut from each of your classes that is sold, and how much; whether they will market your classes to other potential students; and whether your classes will be hosted on your website or theirs.
  3. When you have to cancel something big like a retreat, you need to recognize how disappointed your students will be too. Faith and Mati wanted to give those students the sense of community that they were losing, so they quickly put together a 14-day class that those students could join right away.
  4. It was also important to Faith and Mati to offer something affordable for their students that they could even take with their kids. A lot of their classes are long, about six weeks or so, and they are a significant investment in your art practice. They decided this new offering would be just 14-days and they priced it at a lower more affordable level so that it would be open to many people.
  5. Faith recognizes that the virtual connection that you can get from online courses is needed more than ever now. She’s always seen how good that connection can be and she’s glad that others are seeing it now too as new people embrace online classes.
  6. Watercolors are a good option for painting because there’s less set up than with acrylic paints, less mess, and it’s very portable. It’s a great choice if you want to paint outside or at a park. Watercolors are also a nice thing that you’re kids can do with you or that you can add to an art lesson for their homeschooling.
  7. Faith pointed out that as we are all dealing with these sudden changes to our lives and our businesses, it is affecting us just as grief would affect us from the loss of a loved one. Give yourself space to grieve and go through the stages of mourning what your life was like before all these changes were forced upon us.
  8. We are all going through this process right now of accepting our changed lives and figuring out what we want our new lives to be. Faith and Mati have thought about how they can offer art making opportunities to others to help them through this process. You may want to look at your business too and see if you can offer anything to help others during this time, maybe something that is different than your usual offerings.
  9. Faith also expressed that because we are all going through these changes, and these changes are unprecedented, there is some freedom that goes along with that. The fears that you’ve held about trying new things don’t matter anymore, and we can look at this as an opportunity to try something new. Now is the time to give yourself permission to step into different arenas that may have been scary before.

Faith has collaborated with artist Mati Rose McDonough on a book, online classes, and retreats. You can listen to my interview with Mati on Episode #103 of the podcast.

Faith and Mati

Read more about the article #153 Jodi Ohl: North Carolina Abstract Artist and Teacher

#153 Jodi Ohl: North Carolina Abstract Artist and Teacher

Jodi Ohl is an abstract painter and mixed media artist who has taught live classes and sold her artwork at a studio and gallery in North Carolina. We originally spoke way back in September of 2018 in Episode 31. When we recently talked again, it was in early April near the beginning of closing down stores and businesses. We talk about how these changes have affected her art business and how she’s focusing now on online classes.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Jodi Ohl

You can find everything you need on Jodi’s website.

You can also find her on:

 Facebook 

Instagram

Her studio and some of her art can be found at Art Works Vass in Vass, North Carolina.

Her online group classes are on this page of her website.

Jodi is offering a special discount for my Left Brain Artist listeners for her Abstract Bundle of classes. Through 5/31/20, use the discount code lba15bundle to receive $15 off the sale price.

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

  1. Jodi shows some of her art at a local gallery called ArtWorks Vass. The owner of the gallery, Jean Skipper, has put a lot of the artwork right on her website so people can see it and purchase it. Buyers can go right to the store to pick up their purchased artwork. If you have your art in a gallery, encourage them to put the art on their website for sale.
  2. Jodi uses the online teaching platform called Thinkific. This platform doesn’t sell your classes for you, it’s just the mechanism for setting up your classes that you then sell through your own website. One aspect of Thinkific that she likes is they don’t hold your money for 30 days and you get it right away.
  3. We also talked about Skillshare as an online class option. They put your classes on their website and they will market them to thousands of students, but they do take a cut of the sales, something that Thinkific does not.
  4. Another benefit of Jodi offering her classes from her own site is she doesn’t have to worry about someone else going out of business and losing the place for her classes. Having them on her own site allows her to keep control over them all.
  5. As Jodi says, diversification is key to success. Offer multiple things from your website, like original art, prints, as well as classes. It’s not too late to offer something new. Jodi has experienced live art classes cancelling because the venue doesn’t want to offer them anymore. You need to have other sources of income available in case something gets cancelled like that.
  6. Instead of focusing on how many live classes Jodi has had to cancel, she’s focusing on what she still has. That’s a very positive attitude to keep.
  7. She’s also thinking about painting and marketing smaller pieces because she doesn’t think people are interested in the large paintings right now.
  8. Now is the time to keep your face and your art out there so people don’t forget you. Keep doing the Instagram and Facebook posts, stories, and videos.
  9. She also says it’s a good time to give back if you can to charities and others who are helping right now.
  10. If you’ve been teaching in person, you’ve already got the content that you need for an online class.
Read more about the article #152 Lucie Duclos: Teaching Online Classes and Making Daily Art

#152 Lucie Duclos: Teaching Online Classes and Making Daily Art

Artist Lucie Duclos and I first spoke in August of 2019 in Episode 115.  Lucie lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, where she creates cut paper collages and surface patterns. Up until recently, she had been teaching in person classes. That’s been put on hold for now, so she is increasing her online class offerings and is engaging artists through Instagram with her 40 Days of Postcards.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Lucie Duclos

These are a few of Lucie’s 40 Days of Postcards.

Lucie’s website is duclosdesign.com.

Her online classes are hosted through Skillshare, but you can use the link on her website.

Feel free to follow her on Instagram @lucieduclos.

You can find her surface pattern designs on Spoonflower.com.

Lucie is the Uppercase Magazine Issue 41 cover artist. To learn about Uppercase and get a subscription, go to their website here.

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

  1. Lucie has offered online classes through Skillshare for awhile. She has seen an increase in students since everyone has been staying home.
  2. She has also seen an increase in business from fabric and other home items sales from her patterns she has uploaded on Spoonflower.
  3. Now is also a good time to offer free content so people can get to know you and your teaching style.
  4. If you have been teaching in person classes, but they’ve been cancelled, you can use that content to create online classes.
  5. Lucie uses a lot of recycled paper items for her artwork, like cardboard from cereal boxes or other food boxes. Now is a great time to look at what you have around the house that you can use in your art, since we are not able to go to art supply stores now.
  6. You can also use found items so set up your photos for Instagram. Lucie has found scraps of wood that she uses as a background for her photos, and sometimes she will paint it with a white wash for something different.
  7. Lucie also makes her photos more interesting by arranging other items around the artwork. Sometimes she uses one or two of her art supplies, sometimes she uses a painted rock or a leaf from outside.
  8. Lucie has been doing 40 Days of Postcards. During this crazy time when nothing is guaranteed, it’s nice to have a daily ritual of making some art. You can count on taking a few minutes each day to make something beautiful and to relax while doing it. We all need a little self-care right now, and your art making can be a part of that.
  9. Now is a great time to set up a camera and show clips of your work. Just share with others what you’re doing and they will get to know you.
  10. When you’re creating your first online class, Lucie has found it helpful to write down your steps when you’re making something. This will help you to keep the lesson organized.
Read more about the article #151 Fiona Grayson: Helping Business Owners with her She Can. She Did. Podcast

#151 Fiona Grayson: Helping Business Owners with her She Can. She Did. Podcast

Fiona Grayson hosts the podcast called She can. She did. Fiona is based in England, and she interviews women business owners. Until recently, she also hosted live chats throughout the UK with a panel of business owners so that others could learn from their experience. A couple weeks ago, she temporarily changed her podcast name to We can. We will. to better reflect her new focus. Fiona is working to help business owners by sharing the experiences of these women, and she is now offering podcast episodes five times per week.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Fiona Grayson

Fiona Grayson

Fiona at a Midweek Mingle event.

You can find Fiona’s podcast at her She can. She did. website here.

Her podcast can also be found on most podcast apps.

You can find a list of her podcast episodes here.

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

  1. Fiona started her interviews of women business owners because she was curious. She wanted to know how these women had gotten their starts. If you want to learn something, don’t be afraid to reach out to others and ask them how they got started.
  2. For Fiona’s interviews, she keeps in the fun chitchat even if they go off on tangents. It makes it real and interesting, and she thinks that’s why she’s gotten so much interest in her interviews.
  3. About 11 months into her interviews, Fiona looked for a way that her readers could meet founders in person and have an opportunity to talk to them. She started Midweek Mingles, which is a casual networking event where she invites a few female founders to sit on a panel and tell their stories. Think about all kinds of media and the different ways you can get your message out there. Her online interviews were great, but the in person meetings made her message get out there even more.
  4. With the change in the economy and the inability to do business in person, you need to change the tactics of your business. Fiona has temporarily changed the name of her podcast from She can. She did. to We can. We will. This is a brilliant way to give the message that we are changing, but we can help each other and get through this together. A temporary rebranding of your business will show your customers that you’re reflecting what’s happening in the world, but you’re still in business and can provide products and services but in a different way.
  5. We talked about how different artists and business owners are reacting to the changes in the world. It’s O.K. if you still haven’t figured out how to change your business. Everyone is in a different situation with their family. Some are focusing on keeping their family safe, some are even caregivers, some need all of their spare time to do homeschooling for their children. It’s never good to compare your business situation to others, and I think now more than ever. Make the changes, if you can, and at your own pace.
  6. In this time, you’re allowed to carry on and keep marketing and selling your art. People expect you to because they know that businesses are trying to stay open and remain viable.
  7. Many artists are still selling and shipping their art right now. They’re just making sure they’re careful with their packaging and making sure to minimize any exposure to their goods.
  8. Many business owners have discovered that they can keep their businesses open by scaling down. They may reduce their number of offerings, they may even create an entirely new aspect of their business. But they realize that a smaller business during this time is better than no business at all.
  9. If you’ve had to stop a portion of your art business, like in person classes, or demos, you might want to offer gift certificates for future classes. These are a great way to get cash flow in now while guaranteeing future business.
  10. If you’re considering offering paid online classes, offer a free mini class too so people can see your teaching style and what you’re like. They want to get to know you a bit before they commit to buying one of your classes.
Read more about the article #150 Kellee Wynne Conrad: Creating a Virtual Art Summit

#150 Kellee Wynne Conrad: Creating a Virtual Art Summit

I first spoke with artist Kellee Wynne Conrad June of 2019, in Episode 107.  Kellee lives in Maryland where she creates beautiful floral paintings. More importantly, she provides resources so others can develop their own art style. Her goal is to help you make your most authentic artwork. She’s done this for 2 years through her True Colors membership program. She provides weekly content for artists, including videos, demos, lessons, and critiques. In response to what’s happening right now, Kellee quickly created a Virtual Art Summit. It includes art lessons from 17 great artists. You can still take advantage of that throughout the month of April. 

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Kellee Wynne Conrad

Kellee’s website is kelleewynnestudios.com

Her Virtual Art Summit with classes from 17 different artists is available for FREE until April 30, 2020. Here is a link to join that on her website.

Click here to learn more about her True Colors Art Program.

True Colors is a membership program and you can join monthly or yearly. She posts new content every week and you can see all the old content from previous weeks when you are a member.

Kellee does Friday Happy Hours on Facebook Live. Her Facebook page is Kellee Wynne Studios.

You can also find her on Instagram @kelleewynnestudios