Episode 4: Nigga We Broke! (featuring Whiskey Girl)

The "starving artist" stereotype is one of the most dreaded shadows looming over any active artist, especially anyone who is a full-time artist. Not only do you have to use your creative energy on your work, but you also have to be creative about how to bring in money in the most consistent ways while also befitting of your specific lifestyle. For the majority of us who are trying to make a decent living off of our artistic pursuits, we see many times where more money goes out than coming in. A lot of us are very likely to be "broke" for a long time before the momentum shifts and the money starts to look like a substantial profit. An even larger percentage of those artists might never see enough of a profit to live off of. But we have to try anyway.

This episode features Art Life Confidential's very first guest: writer, blogger and spoken word artist Whiskey Girl. We share our experiences with figuring out ways to monetize our passions as we try to beat the label of "starving artists." Listen to the episode and let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

Tap the image above to check out the written expressions and musings of Whiskey Girl!

Artist Spotlight: Whiskey Girl

Whiskey Girl is not for the faint of heart. This multifaceted writer, blogger and spoken word artist hailing from Washington, D.C. is as passionate as she is honest. Art Life Confidential is honored to be able to feature her as the guest for the upcoming fourth episode of the podcast. Get a hit of her unique style of black girl poetry in the video above, recorded live at Distinctly Creative in Brentwood, MD. 

Her latest ebook, Mercury in Retrograde...But the Rent is Still Due is now available for purchase on her website. Find and follow her via her social media spaces listed below:

website

instagram

facebook

patreon

Episode 3: Creative Slumps

The third episode of Art Life Confidential is about a topic that is near and dear to my heart, because it's one of my biggest struggles to sift through: slumps. I'm currently wading through my own slow period where the motivation to work just isn't there. It fucking SUCKS to be stuck in your creative life, but it's only a part of the process. Understanding that and accepting it already puts you ahead of the game and serves as a way to ground yourself during those times. This episode is a bit of a venting session for me, but I also share what has helped me work through creative slumps.

What helps you get back on track when you suffer a hit to your morale? I want to know! Listen to the episode and comment with your thoughts below.

11 Things That Scare Creative Artists (and what you can do about it)

I found a great post from the Skinny Artist blog titled 11 Things That Scare Creative Artists (and what you can do about it), and I want to share an excerpt here. I encourage you to check out the full post and/or bookmark it, because it lists some deep-seated fears that we face as artists and it also serves up some possible solutions to combat those fears. Here's a sneak peak at some of the topics that the post covers:

1.) We’re afraid of failure

Failure is inevitable.

It doesn’t matter how smart you are or how successful you are, you will encounter failure.

One thing we fear more than success is failure. We fear nobody will buy our art. We fear we will not make it as an artist. We fear our gallery showing will be a bust. These fears pile up until we are paralyzed. This leads to the ultimate failure, giving up.

2.) We’re also afraid of success

This may seem counterintuitive but one of the biggest fears we all have is a fear of success. You might think to yourself, “I am not scared of success.”  You might not have those exact thoughts, but if you look deep enough, you can find signs of it everywhere.

The most common way you’ll encounter the fear of success is in the “What Ifs”. What if someone steals my ideas? What if I can’t find the time to work on my art? What if I don’t know how to price my art?

7.) We’re afraid to ask questions

When we are kids, we have no problem asking questions. Just ask any parent. They are barraged with questions from their children non-stop. As adults, however, we take for granted how much we know about the world. We forget what it feels like to have a beginner’s mindset.

How often do we try new things without giving up in frustration? How often do we ask questions in order to help us understand what is causing our frustration?

9.) We’re afraid to ask others to pay for our work

“I’m an artist. I don’t need to sell my art for money.”

Does this sound familiar? Have you heard yourself or another artist make this claim? Do you believe it?

Are we telling this to ourselves because we believe it or because it makes for a convenient excuse? How many hours did your art take to create? Would you rather continue doing what you’re doing or would you rather make a living off your art?

Do yourself a favor and read the original post to see the full list!

Episode 2: Art + Fear

This episode of Art Life Confidential digs a little bit into the relationship between art and fear. This topic was inspired by the awesome book, Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, written by David Bayles and Ted Orland.

I've been rereading it lately to help with my own mindset towards my work and it speaks a lot of truths. The book offers practical, honest advice to guide the reader through the common pitfalls we impose on ourselves as artists. It's not a book that spews a bunch of feel-good shit into your head though, so be warned, but if you're serious about maturing as an artist then I suggest that you get yourself a copy to have on hand in your library. I'm sure that I'll be referencing parts of this book in some way in future episodes. It's such a grand topic that I think that I'll end up making it a full series on the podcast.

Check out the episode here, and be sure to subscribe, rate, and comment so you can stay in the loop and join the conversation.