The Messy Studio with Rebecca Crowell
The podcast at the intersection of art, travel, business, philosophy, and life in general.
We found 10 episodes of The Messy Studio with Rebecca Crowell with the tag “business”.
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Episode 236: Clarity and Focus in 2023
January 14th, 2023 | 34 mins 12 secs
ambition, art, business, creativity, goals, new year, priorities, rebecca crowell, resolutions
The beginning of a new year is a time to consider what will bring clarity and focus to your art practice in the months ahead. For many artists, that means setting goals and intentions, and to do that means gaining clarity about what to prioritize. Artists’ goals tend to cover a lot of ground--some may be for the work itself, for improving and advancing skills and techniques, or for completing projects. Others may be more personal, like taking steps to overcome procrastination or negative self-talk. Still other goals fall into the realm of career or professional goals like gaining gallery representation. Which are most important for you?
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Episode 232: The Demons of Procrastination
December 3rd, 2022 | 37 mins 22 secs
art, business, creativity, procrastination, productivity, rebecca crowell, work habits
Procrastination may be human nature but identifying its role in your life can be a big help in moving forward. Instead of simply laziness or looking for distractions, procrastination can also be active avoidance behavior in which you channel energy into activities other than what you really want to achieve. Today we look at how artists in particular are affected by procrastination and ways to confront it in your own studio practice.
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Episode 229: Pricing Quandries
November 12th, 2022 | 34 mins 5 secs
art, business, creativity, galleries, personal relationships, pricing, rebecca crowell
One of the trickiest issues that artists deal with is pricing their work, especially when a situation is not straightforward. At those times, even experienced artists can find themselves feeling indecisive or worried they are charging too much or too little. Today we will explore some options for times when it's not clear what to charge.
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Episode 224: The Challenges of Exhibiting
October 8th, 2022 | 40 mins 25 secs
art, business, creativity, exhibits, galleries, rebecca crowell
Whether it’s your first exhibit or you are a veteran of many, an upcoming show of your work can take you on a wild ride of emotions and expectations. In anticipating the planning, production, and stress involved, you may even wonder, why bother? Yet for most artists, being able to show their work in a public space is important to their identity as artists. In today’s episode, we’ll look at the benefits and rewards of exhibiting and the role it plays in an art career, as well as some of the emotional and logistical challenges.
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Episode 223: Your Upcoming Exhibit
October 1st, 2022 | 42 mins 3 secs
art, business, creativity, exhibits, galleries, rebecca crowell
Nothing energizes and motivates an artist like being offered an exhibit, especially one that involves showing a lot of pieces together. Even experienced artists with a history of exhibits feel excited by the opportunity, but also a little daunted by all the work and planning involved. For artists preparing for their first big exhibit, there is a lot to learn and figure out. Today we’ll go through some of the practical aspects of preparing for a show, based on Rebecca’s almost 40 years of experience with exhibiting her work--and in a future episode we’ll consider some of the other challenges involved with showing your work.
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Episode 222: Self Assertion for Artists
September 25th, 2022 | 40 mins 49 secs
art, business, confrontation, creativity, personal relationships, rebecca crowell, self assertion
When artists deal with the world outside their studios, they are often called upon to state their needs, assert their rights, and sometimes to confront unfair actions by galleries, organizers, or clients. Most of us don’t have agents or employees to handle these situations for us, and so we need to handle them on our own. To be effective, you need to be confident and straight-forward with the discussion. But instead, your personality may cause you to feel shy, socially awkward, or less than confident when you need to be self-assertive. Today’s episode is for those of you who struggle with confrontation and self-assertion in your dealings with the art world.
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Episode 221: Creative Momentum
September 18th, 2022 | 33 mins 12 secs
art, business, creativity, galleries, mindset, momentum, rebecca crowell, sales, work flow
Studio practice has noticeable ebbs and flows in terms of productivity, sales, exhibiting and marketing. There is also an energy flow that is less specific and harder to quantify that runs through our days in the studio. Sometimes our energy is strong, and we feel carried along by ideas and excitement, and other times we feel sluggish, lack ideas, and must push ourselves to even go to the studio. When we lose creative momentum, it’s hard to feel we’re doing our best work. What is creative momentum, and how can we create and sustain it?
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Episode 219: The Confidence Game
September 4th, 2022 | 33 mins 18 secs
art, attitude, business, confidence, creativity, personal development, rebecca crowell
As artists and as creative entrepreneurs we all know the challenges of building confidence—in our own attitudes and in our encounters with people we want to engage with our work. To a large extent, we invent ourselves as we go along, developing a vision for our work and an audience to appreciate it. And often we tackle all of this without much emotional or practical support, and the times when we struggle have a way of depleting our confidence. Today we will talk about understanding the role of confidence in your work and in your business dealings.
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Episode 218: About Teaching Workshops
August 27th, 2022 | 43 mins 50 secs
art, business, creativity, entrepreneurship, rebecca crowell, teaching, workshops
Last week we talked about workshops from the point of view of artists taking them, what they look for, and how to make choices from the many options available. Today we want to talk about workshops from the perspective of workshop instructors. Many artists who have ideas and experience to share are drawn to workshop teaching. And teaching can be a very rewarding, interesting, and lucrative side job that fits well with an artist’s own studio practice. But it’s also a completely unregulated territory where success depends largely on personal reputation and endorsements, and where sometimes the best laid plans fall apart. What does it take to do well as a workshop instructor? What are some of the rewards of teaching workshops and what are some things to watch out for?
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Episode 216: The Personal and The Professional
August 14th, 2022 | 41 mins 50 secs
art, business, creativity, galleries, openings, personalism, professionalism, rebecca crowell, sales
In every field of work, there are some interactions that are professional and some that can be more personal, and the lines between them are not always clear. How casual, how revealing, how personal can you be while keeping a businesslike and professional attitude? In an art career, this issue impacts your interactions in many ways—in talking with dealers and collectors, when you give talks and interviews, in setting the tone of your website, and any time you are meeting the public. Today we’ll talk about the boundaries between personal and professional situations in an art career.