The Art Biz ep. 119: Growing Beyond Being an Instagram Artist with Sara Schroeder

Have you ever been successful beyond your wildest dreams and realized it wasn’t what you thought it would be?

Or just felt icky or incomplete about the whole process?

In this episode (#119) of The Art Biz podcast I talk with Sara Schroeder.

Back in 2018 Sara was just getting into the groove of working in the studio again. She decided to start posting the work to Instagram, and followers began responding to it instantly. Within a year she had 10,000 followers. A few months later, there were 20,000.

Now she has more than 70,000 followers.

It was quick success. And a little unexpected.

You’ll hear the creative way Sara overcame the fear of selling and what she wishes she had known to do differently while in the throes of that success.

For more than a year, Sara has been using tools like journaling and the Enneagram to discover more about herself and explore where she wants her work to go.

Now she wants more. She knows there is more than posting and looking for sales online, so she has stepped back and reassessed. She’s ready for a brave step.

You’ll hear Sara mention the solo show she has scheduled. This is part of a challenge I issue to students in my seasonal programs because I believe that exhibiting in person and by yourself builds your courage muscles and professional chops.

We also discuss why her Instagram strategy has changed and what her new approach is for Instagram and marketing in general.

Highlights

• “I fell in love with making art all over again.” (2:00)
• The value of finding a dedicated space for your art. (7:11)

  

• The difference between Sara’s maximum and minimal art. (10:18)
• Sara’s Instagram took off and the success quickly became overwhelming. (12:20)
• When app demands take over making artwork. (18:55)
• The evolution of Sara’s work since pulling back from Instagram. (24:07)
• The process of self discovery through journaling, meditating, and the Enneagram. (28:01)
• Details of Sara’s latest 100-piece collection. (32:00)
• How Sara would have handled her initial success and systems differently. (34:49)
• Sara’s modified Instagram presence and increased in-person collaborations. (39:47)
• Sara’s typical work week and why she starts work at 11am. (46:32)

Mentioned

• Lisa Congdon’s illustration classes
• Andy J. Pizza
• Art:21
• Enneagram
• Natalie Goldberg’s Freewriting
• Artist Planning Sessions

Sara Schroeder Quotes

• “I fell in love with making art all over again.”
• “I was stuck in this pattern of making a lot of less expensive artwork.”
• “I was spending so much time on Instagram that I wasn’t spending much time in the studio making the artwork.”
• “I felt I was being controlled by the app instead of doing what I felt like I needed to spend my time doing.”
• “I’ve given myself time to do things that are important to me rather than scrolling on my phone.”

About My Guest

Sara Schroeder is an abstract painter living and working in Miami, Florida. Her work is gestural, bright, and lively, and addresses the interplay between spiritual and corporeal worlds. Often, a grounding force is represented as well as rhythmic patterns of human existence. Sara finds conversations between our humanity and spirituality endlessly fascinating and uses multiple mediums and the emotive power of color to give visual form to this dialogue.

Follow Sara on Instagram: @saraschroederart