The Art Biz ep. 103: Juggling Multiple Art Styles and Audiences with Robin Maria Pedrero

Whenever you have multiple art styles or subjects, you probably also have multiple audiences. The abstract work might have one following, the functional pottery another, and the pet portraits yet a third. It’s hard to find people who are interested in all of them.

This means you’re kind of running multiple businesses.

On the one hand, you’re looking for exhibitions and venues for showing your abstracts. On the other, you’re promoting your handbuilt ceramics to people who appreciate their beauty far above what they would find at a big box store.

At the same time, you are trying to connect with pet guardians proud enough of their animal that they want to memorialize their mug with a framed original piece of art.

This is a lot of work you’ve created for yourself!

I’d never tell you not to do this, though I’d be tempted, because experimentation is such an important part of your life as an artist. Sometimes you need the different styles because they feed off of one another. Or they fulfill different parts of your artist’s soul.

Still, did I mention? It’s a lot of work to juggle different styles and audiences. You’ve been warned.

In this episode of The Art Biz with Robin Maria Pedrero, you’ll hear about the three different styles and subjects she paints. Robin has a very full art business, and she has joined the podcast to share her story about how she juggles her various styles of art and the diverse audiences for her work.

She also has fun during the process.

Highlights

• Robin’s evolution into the artist she is today. (1:30)

  

• Trying new things, making mistakes and moving forward. (7:05)
• Multiple art styles means multiple audiences and more effort. How does Robin juggle it all? (13:34)
• Track your inventory with tools that work. (16:49)
• Robin’s approach to marketing on social media. (18:23)
• Managing multiple Facebook groups and social media sites means creating more content, but Robin has a system for all of it. (26:36)
• Robin’s tools for staying productive with such a long to-do list. (31:09)
• Lessons learned for successful print on demand. (35:45)
• Robin’s simple approach to bookkeeping and connecting with buyers. (39:11)
• The tools, assistance and move that are keeping Robin moving forward. (43:04)
• A snapshot of Robin’s typical day. (45:39)
• Providing excellent customer service is a major part of what the best artists do. (48:12)
• Paper planner or electronic task list, and all that Robin uses Artwork Archive for. (50:38)
• What’s coming next in Robin’s very full art business. (52:45)

Mentioned

• Robert Brackman
• Café Tu Tu Tangos
• HGTV and DIY Networks star Tamara Day
• Mary Mirabel

Robin Maria Pedrero Quotes

“Play is so important in art and so important in discovering things. It’s okay to make mistakes and to keep going.”

“Being organized is probably the best thing you can do.”

“Building relationships is really important to me.”

“I like that my days are mixed. That’s always invigorated me.”

“My collectors are important and making their experience of opening my art and owning it and communicating with them is all part of what I do.”

About My Guest

Robin Maria Pedrero is an award-winning artist with work in museum permanent collections in Florida and Greece, and in public, corporate, and private collections. Her abstract paintings are defined by layers of translucent color and overlapping forms, while her whimsical nature work, the paintings she calls “Joy Bringers,” is characterized by bold color and texture. Robin has had solo exhibitions at the Orlando Museum of Art and Lake County Museum of Art. More recently, Tamara Day of HGTV’s Bargain Mansions selected Pedrero’s artwork for her show. Pedrero creates from her studios in Frisco and McKinney, Texas.

Follow Robin on Instagram: @robinpedrero