This is Sheila’s website: skarora.com

Instagram: @sheilarora

Facebook: Sheila Arora

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

1. Don’t limit yourself to certain colors if many speak to you. You can always do different series for your different color palettes.
2. Mark making is a way to add more interesting elements to your paintings. It can be done with many different tools and materials.
3. Art journals are a great way to try out new techniques, color combinations, and designs. They’re not as big a commitment as it would be when painting on a canvas. They’re also a great way to tap into your feelings because you’re free to do whatever you want in it.
4. Art journals can be any size you want. Sheila has been using one that is a spiral-bound pad of 14” x 17” paper. Try out a few of them to see just what type you’d like.
5. Sheila also paints on really large papers, currently 4’x5’. She’s found an easy way to paint on paper that large is to thumbtack it to the wall.
6. She also noted that you don’t have to have a perfect studio or tons of supplies to make art. She just needs a little space, and even if she just had only a couple of colors, she could still make art.
7. Sheila has found she gets a lot of Instagram engagement when she does Instagram Lives. You can also easily add music to your videos to make it more interesting.
8. She also utilizes something new in Instagram called Instagram Reels. That just launched in August. It’s a way to create fun multi-clip videos with audio and effects. If you can’t find it by clicking on the camera in Instagram, it may be that it hasn’t been rolled out to your account yet. Make sure you have an updated version of Instagram, and eventually it will come to you.
9. It’s a good idea to paint collections, so you have similar works that can be displayed together. Sheila makes about 30 paintings for each collection, and they will be on the same substrate and similar size.
10. Sheila believes that if you lean into your intuition when making art, you’re able to get past overthinking a piece and you get into the feeling of a piece. Again, this is something that will come to you the more you practice and make more art.
11. Sheila knows a painting is done when the composition looks complete and the colors are balanced. This may not seem like a specific answer, but it makes sense to me. You’re doing the painting, and you will know when it feels done to you.
12. A new material Sheila has been using is Liquitex Acrylic Inks. They can give a thin translucent layer on top of your acrylic paints, and can be dropped or brushed on. You can also mix them into your other paints to create a new tint.

This is Jen’s website: jenjovan.com

Instagram: @jenjovanwalls

Facebook: Jen Jovan Walls

You can also find Jen’s artwork on artfinder.com and prints on Fine Art America.

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

1. Art journaling is a great way to get into art. You can be messy and work on small pages, and if you don’t like it, you can move onto another page.
2. Jen takes new classes about every quarter so that she is always learning and developing her style.
3. When Jen first got her art into a gallery, she showed them that she was willing to work hard and help in the gallery to earn her spot there. Helping at the gallery is also good because you can learn new skills, like how to place art around the room and how to hang it.
4. Jen has done an artist residency at a gallery in Ireland two different times. She’s found that galleries in other countries will offer residencies with a place to stay in exchange for helping at the gallery. That’s a great way to do some world traveling, that is, when we can start traveling again.
5. We talked about the importance of putting a title on your art. Jen feels that if the title is quirky, or emotional, or deep, it will grab someone’s interest and they will want to see more.
6. Jen feels it’s very important to be brave in your art. Do what you like to do and put it out there, even if it’s not the best. She will show everything she does because the more she puts out there the braver she gets. She’s also letting others know that it’s ok to be vulnerable and brave.
7. Just like brick and mortar galleries, online galleries each have a distinct style and culture. You may have to try out a few to see which one works best with your art.
8. We are doing so many things distantly now, it’s a great time to contact another artist and propose a collaboration. Jen has done that with some authors, and she has provided illustrations for their books.
9. When collaborating with someone, it’s important to lay out the plan of who does what and how you will split the sales. You also need to make sure you are all marketing the product in the same way, so there is one voice.
10. Jen has put about 90% of her art in online sales. That saves her on the hustle of doing markets and shows. She’s also switched from galleries to smaller boutique locations. That gives her a larger split of the sales so it has increased her income.
11. We also talked about how important it is to take good photos of every piece of art. Even if you sell the original, you can sell prints at a lower price.
12. Jen paints figures, and creatures, as well as abstracts. There’s no reason to limit yourself to one style, if that’s what you want to create, because you will find buyers for all.