In this episode, we continue our accountability group series by introducing you to Heather Bourque, an artist from Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada, who illustrates her love of coastal living and travel through her wholesale and retail online shop, Paper and Wings. We travel deep into Heather’s world of creating and distributing wholesale products alongside her online retail shop. We know you’ll love Heather’s Startist story – and Heather – as much as we do! Oh - and did we mention she created...

In episode 49, we introduced you to Elizabeth Silver, a surface pattern designer and educator who is the creator of a fantastic course called Start Your Surface Pattern Business. This week, Elizabeth is back to talk to us about reasons you might not be getting your art in front of potential paying clients. We know you'll love Elizabeth's frank, no fluff business advice as much as we do!  STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES: startistsociety.com/gettingseen/ CHECK OUT ELIZABETH'S COURSE: Start...

In this week’s episode, Laura and Nikki share 5 quick tips to help improve your artwork and take it to the next level. We discuss strategies that can help elevate your artwork and set you apart from the crowd and share some really fun tools, websites and products that can help with implementing these techniques! STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES & FREE PDF TIPS DOWNLOAD: startistsociety.com/arttips/ JOIN THE STARTIST SOCIETY FB GROUP: facebook.com/groups/startistsociety/ FOLLOW STARTIST...

In our last episode, we introduced you to Maria Brophy, an author, teacher, art consultant, agent and brand manager who wrote the incredible book Art Money Success. This week, Maria is back to share her 5 best tips for achieving success with your art. STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES & FREE PDF TIPS DOWNLOAD: startistsociety.com/mariastips/ JOIN THE STARTIST SOCIETY FB GROUP: facebook.com/groups/startistsociety/ FOLLOW STARTIST SOCIETY ON INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/startistsociety/ LIKE...

In this week’s episode, Laura and Nikki interview Maria Brophy, the author of Art Money Success. Maria discusses her journey from corporate cubicle life to becoming a successful art business owner and coach. She is a proven expert at marketing, licensing,  and selling artwork, having played a key role in growing husband Drew Brophy's successful art career.  We chat about tangible and proven strategies you can use to network in-person, getting your artwork in front of potential buyers and how...

In this week’s episode, Laura and Nikki explore the basics of professionally presenting your art business - both online and in person. We cover everything from communication etiquette to curating your portfolio, creating artist statements and a consistent brand identity, prepping physical artwork for galleries and more. We know you'll walk away with some great tips to put into action as you grow your art business.  STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES: startistsociety.com/presenting/ JOIN THE...

This week, Laura and Nikki do a deep dive into getting professional high resolution images of your artwork. Do you need a fancy camera or will a phone camera do? How do you prep your space and art for the best images? What are key things you should know before hitting the shutter button to ensure you get clear, well-lit photos?  When are scans useful and how do you properly scan artwork?  We'll cover all of this and more in today's episode. STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES: ...

Grab a cup of coffee (or bourbon) and join Laura & Nikki as they review what went well last year, what could have gone better, and what their plans are for the upcoming year (both for their personal/professional lives and for the Startist Society podcast). STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES: startistsociety.com/anewyear/ JOIN THE STARTIST SOCIETY FB GROUP: facebook.com/groups/startistsociety/ FOLLOW STARTIST SOCIETY ON INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/startistsociety/ LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR? BUY US...

In this episode, Laura and Nikki dive into the deep sea of art sales, but not in the way that you might think. They take you off the beaten path, exploring 12 unconventional, out-of-the-box methods to help you sell your art and turn your passion into profit. If you've ever felt stuck or unsure of how to get your art into the world, this episode is crafted just for you! STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES: startistsociety.com/unconventional/ JOIN THE STARTIST SOCIETY FB GROUP: ...

We talk a lot about just getting started. But what about finishing? Do you have trouble finishing projects? Do you have a million half done or barely started projects lying around the studio?   Today, Nikki and Laura dive deep into the world of unfinished projects, sharing their personal stories and advice to help you muster the inspiration and motivation to bring unfinished projects to a close (or release the ones that no longer serve you)! STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES: ...

In our last episode, we introduced you to Charly Clements, an illustrator and mentor who licenses her art to clients all around the world, is a top teacher on Skillshare, and has a great new course called Out of This World Portraits. She does all of this while traveling the world. This week she is back to give us her top tips on building an engaged audience. Listen to the episode and don't forget to download the free PDF with her tips! STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES & FREE DOWNLOADABLE...

Charly Clements is an illustrator and mentor who has built a thriving illustration business, licensing her art to amazing clients all around the world, and has taught tens of thousands of students through her online classes as a top teacher on Skillshare and through her new course, Out of This World Portraits. She is the founder of Facetober and has built an incredible online community. And she's done all of this as a digital nomad, currently living and working in Thailand! Listen in as we...

In episode 104, we introduced you to Elli Milan, an artist, educator, speaker and founding owner of Milan Art Institute and Art Social. If you haven't had a chance to listen to that episode yet, definitely go back and check it out. Elli is back to share her 10 best tips on getting past perfectionism as an artist and entrepreneur.  MILAN ART INSTITUTE: Milan Art Institute Mastery Program  STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES & FREE TIPS DOWNLOAD: startistsociety.com/perfectionismtips JOIN THE...

Today's guest is Elli Milan, an artist, author, educator, and founding owner of Milan Art Institute and Art Social – an online art education program, social learning, and art patronage platform. She has been a successful artist since 1996, selling over 10,000 pieces of original art. She is passionate about empowering artists and has transformed the lives of thousands of artists worldwide, helping them find their voice and turn their passion for art into a profession.  Aside from hearing all...

A lot of us become artists because we want to express ourselves, we have something to say and sometimes we want to stand out from the crowd. But we often see a lot of work in the art and design worlds that looks alike. Why is that? Are people following trends because they think they'll sell? Are they copying others because they don't have their own style yet? Do we need to think about these things if we want to have a career in art or design? Should we follow what's on trend – what we see...

As artists who are putting ourselves and our work online hoping to make connections and sales, we can be really vulnerable to all kinds of scams, because we are being very optimistic in thinking that people are really interested in our art. It's important to be aware of the types of scams that exist and what you can do to avoid becoming a victim to one of them. From NFT and payment scams to art contests and vanity galleries... listen in as Laura and Nikki discuss the types of art scams you...

So why is it so hard for us to answer the question, "Oh, you're an artist. What do you do?" When that happens, do you freeze? Do you shrink and mumble under your breath something about how you're both an artist and you do other things and you're working on several projects right now but it's too hard to explain? Do you go on and on for about five minutes without actually answering the question? If you identify at all with this, it's time to learn how to talk about your art. If you can't...

Join Nikki and Laura and help us celebrate the huge milestone of our 100th episode! Listen in as we have a very chatty episode about our lives in the last few months, our art practices, our jobs, and the future of the podcast. You'll hear lots of talk about bourbon (naturally) and hear a funny story about a recent episode upload faux pas! You won't want to miss our 100th episode! STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES: startistsociety.com/100episodes/ JOIN THE STARTIST SOCIETY FB GROUP: ...

In episode 98, we introduced you to Jennifer Long, who started with the dream of becoming a fabric designer for her favorite company, Riley Blake Designs, and she did just that. Jennifer is a Riley Blake Designs fabric designer, quilt and doll pattern writer, machine embroidery digitizer and online educator. She is the creator of the Bee Sew Inspired Makers Club, and is also a wife, a mom to four and lives on a hobby farm in the prairies in Manitoba, Canada. Here she shares her five best...

As we mentioned in the first of our accountability group series of episodes, most of our interviews have been with people who are much further along in their creative businesses. But one of our basic premises of starting this podcast was to have you come along with us on the journey of just getting things started. The women in our accountability group all began with goals, but they didn't know where to begin. In the last couple of years they've achieved big things by putting one foot in front...

Whether you're a fine artist or a surface pattern designer, you may have heard about the importance of creating in collections. If you're at the start of your art journey, you may be creating a lot of one off pieces of art. So how do you go about starting to work in collections? And how many pieces do you need to have to be able to call it a collection? How do you create in a cohesive way? Do you need collections to have your work shown in a gallery? Are collections necessary to have your...

In our last episode, we introduced you to Isabelle Wood, a perfect example of a Startist and one of the women in Laura and Nikki's accountability group. One of Isabelle's big goals was to create digital products and sell them on Design Cuts. She made that goal happen and today she's going to share with us her five tips for getting started selling on digital marketplaces. STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES: startistsociety.com/digitalproducts/ JOIN THE STARTIST SOCIETY FB GROUP: ...

We've spoken many times about how we met in an accountability group for Bonnie Christine's Surface Design Immersion course. Today, and in a few upcoming episodes, we want to introduce you to the other women in our group and tell their inspiring Startist stories. In our peer group, each of us had one or two main goals that we hope to accomplish with our creative careers, and we want to share what we've all been doing to reach those goals. We've interviewed quite a few experienced artists who...

Last week, we introduce you to Larry Pile, a prolific kiln-formed glass artist who has displayed and sold his artwork in over 250 art festivals. Today Larry's back to share his six best tips on getting started with art festivals.  STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES: startistsociety.com/artfestivaltips/ JOIN THE STARTIST SOCIETY FB GROUP: facebook.com/groups/startistsociety/ FOLLOW STARTIST SOCIETY ON INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/startistsociety/ LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR? BUY US A COFFEE BOURBON: ...