Alyson Stanfield

Artist Kelly Pelfrey on The Art Biz

The Art Biz ep. 162: She Knows Exactly How Much Her Art Income Will be Every Month with Kelly Pelfrey

Kelly Pelfrey’s goal in 2020 was to replace her $50,000 teaching salary, but she quadrupled that. Her income has allowed her husband to leave his job to focus on his doctorate, feel comfortable about taking maternity leave, and save for college for her children.

In this episode of The Art Biz, Kelly shares her income sources, which are dominated by sales of commissions, followed distantly by releases of small paintings.

The Art Biz ep. 161: My Money Odyssey and the Evolution of Art Biz Success

I’ve always thought that my money story was pretty boring. As it turns out, I have some good (and funny) stories around my encounters with money throughout the decades. They involve balancing checkbooks, collecting for charities, perfect accounting scores, starting a business with too little money, and the creation of the income accelerator for artists.

This is from Parker Stevenson’s interview with me on The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance podcast.

Heather Beardsley

The Art Biz ep. 160: Overcoming Anxiety about Making Art World Connections with Heather Beardsley

Heather Beardsley has managed to transform her social anxiety into opportunities—realizing that real growth could only happen when she overcame the urge to play it safe by sticking to open calls for entry.

Heather has learned to navigate the art world with intention, which has led to her current solo show at the Chrysler Museum of Art. We discuss funding, being prepared for opportunities, and building authentic relationships.

Mixed media work by Ellen Hathaway

The Art Biz ep. 159: How Do Artists Make Money?

One thing above all else can get in the way of feeling successful: Money. So let’s talk about it—starting with income sources. Where does the money come from?

In this episode, I discuss why you might want to diversify beyond originals, how to categorize your income sources, and how to analyze where the money has come from in the past so you can plan for the future.

The Art Biz ep. 158: Following Her Curiosity and Making New Connections After 60 with Jan McCarthy

Discover Jan McCarthy’s vibrant life beyond 60, where being an artist is more than painting or drawing. She prefers the term “maker.”

With a diverse portfolio ranging from businesses and fundraisers to artwork and interior design, Jan pursues her passions. We discuss her creativity workshops for corporations, casual yet impactful women’s mastermind dinners, and her heart-driven project, Art for the Heart. Jan also reveals her strategies for connecting with interior designers.

The Art Biz ep. 157: Increasing Self-Sales by 400% with Sarah Becktel

Sarah Becktel reveals how she increased her self-sales income by 400% by focusing on 5 indoor art fairs per year—all juried or curated—with different price points, up front costs, and markets.

She talks about her strategy for selecting the work each one: one is for only originals, another for only reproductions and products, and the third is a mixture of the two. Sarah also shares wisdom for other artists.

Four paintings hung on a wall

Pointers on Wall Labels for Your Art Exhibition

You don’t really think about art exhibition labels until you can’t read them or they look like a sloppy afterthought.

In order to give yourself proper credit for your art, it should have an object label next to it—wherever it’s shown, in person or online.

The only wrong way to do this is to not do it at all. I suggest you standardize your format so that it’s easy to use every time.

Kimberly Santini

The Art Biz ep. 156: Using Patreon as a Teaching Platform with Kimberly Santini

Kim Santini and I discuss her dedication to blogging, but the bulk of our conversation focused on how she uses Patreon to teach and build a community of artists.

We talk about the features of her Patreon tiers, how her workflow keeps aligns with her studio practice, and how she differentiates the content for patrons from the content she creates for her blog, newsletter, YouTube, and social media.

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(Almost) every week I share updates about interesting news in the art world as well as  new episodes of The Art Biz, a weekly links playlist, and program offers. May I send it to you?