Most professional artists know the value of their work; not least because they sell it.  Lots of artists fail to understand that value of getting EVERYTHING they create photographed or in the case of paintings, maybe even professionally scanned. There are a many reasons why this is important and we will set out a few of them here: It is impossible when you create something to know when or where you will want to use a digital image of that work in the future. By having the foresight to get the work digitally recorded, the options availible to you are limited only by your imagination. Do you need an image for a magazine retrospective artitcle about you, your work or, your studio?  Could you use it for your website?  Might it feature in a coffee table book or could it be used on a tea towel as merchandise?  Do you need it for your catalogue raisonné? If you have no visual record of your artwork, any [...]

So you are a professional artist.  You are self-employed.  You are the Chief of Production, Finance Manager, HR, President of Marketing & Sales.  You are the Chief Executive. You wear many hats and that's just the way you like it.  You like spinning plates; or else why would you be here? There isn't anyone who will tell you in the morning that you are late for work or indeed early to clock off, and these are human temptations especially when the sun shines. The problem Just like the singing Sirens in ancient Greek mythology, the women whose beautiful singing lures sailors to wreck their ships on the rocks; just so the prospect of lingering a little too long in the deli for another cup of tea, taking time away from making for a tennis match to be had with the folk down at the courts, maybe you might be able to squeeze an hours sailing, a dog walk, cutting the grass, or painting the gate...all beckon!  They are sent to stop [...]

We are what we do and a lot of what we do hinges on how we see ourselves and how others see us. By definition, artists create art and by extension, those who create art are artists. When someone asks you that annoyingly common four worded question; "What do you do?", how do you answer?  What are your reactions in your mind and your body? For some the prospect of saying the four worded answer of "I am an artist", is too much.  This is sad. Coming Out Declaring yourself as an artist to folk you know and strangers you meet can take guts and is a coming out like any other.  Just as there is a plethora of sites and pages dedicates to help young folk come to terms with the person they have grown up to be; to love who they want, so this post is to assist, support, encourage and otherwise hammer home the reality that if you spend your time creating art, you are [...]

We are starting a new thread which will be updated from time to time, relating to some of the more common mistakes made by artists which we might not have experienced but can at least relate to.  There has been a lot of debate here about whether to even do a list such as this. The argument goes along the line "Mistakes is a word which is negative, can't they be referred to as 'habits'?". "What?  Bad habits?  Isn't that negative too?"  How can we make the list positive?  It's about things to avoid. So, it goes on and the conclusion;...."Common Mistakes Made By Artists...and how to avoid them". Folk who fall into these habits can and do produce incredible pieces of work every day and we are in no way suggesting that any part of hell is reserved for those who relate to what we write here; rather this is all just food for thought.  We do not stand in judgement since we reside within same the [...]