Are you a Professional Artist? Im not talking about if you have a corporate sponsorship or whether or not you are earning the big bucks.  Im not even talking about quitting your day job, if you have one, and living on ramen noodles and Starbucks (because even if youre poor you still need your Cafe []

In a perfect world, I would have a little writing bungalow nestled in the trees like Neil Gaiman (and 1/50 of his talent) In a perfect world, I would never have to stay up late or get up insanely early to get anything done. In a perfect world, I would never get sick, the coffee []

Why do we believe we arent good enough to create our art?  Maybe its because we keep telling ourselves the same stupid lies over and over again Its time to stop screwing around. Lets face it, we dont have enough time to create without constantly sabotaging ourselves in the process. We are filled up to our []

by: Chey Rasmussen For my whole life, I’ve wanted to create something amazing. Things I loved growing up like The Legend of Zelda, Harry Potter, and Disney cartoons inspired my young mind and caused me to dream big. Human beings made these awesome things; maybe I could too! As creative people, expressing ourselves effectively and making []

You don’t need 8 hours a day to be a creative artist I just dont have enough time to be creative. This is something people tell me all the time. They feel as if they never have enough time to really focus on their creative projects, which is certainly something I understand. Although, I have a feeling that []

I have always believed that the right words have a way of finding you when you need to hear them.  For me, quotes are little bite-sized messengers of courage, perseverance, and hope for the creative artist in this often overly materialistic world. Here is a collection of 150 (or so) amazing quotes that I often []

Lets face it, youve probably been working way too hard. Forget about all of those years toiling away in obscurity Forget about putting in your 10,000 hours of practice to master your craft. In fact, forget about creating any creative work at all, now its all about becoming famous for the sake of being famous. []

Do you remember happy? Were not talking about positive thinking or grinning-like-an-idiot kind of happy, were talking about the kind of happy that makes you smile when you put your head on your pillow at night. That subtle feeling of contentment. That feeling like youve added something unique to the creative conversation that day. Maybe []

by: Kevin Chung If you want to be a creative artist today, having a website for your art is an absolute MUST. This includes artists who sell most of their work through art fairs or in galleries. Websites let you share your art with an audience beyond the confines of where you live. They also allow []

Walking out of a store the other day and was approached by two girls who asked me, “If I would like to buy some Girl Scout cookies.” Now, of course, I don’t necessarily need another $5 box of cookies in our house, but was I really going to say no to these girls who were []

By Thea Fiore-Bloom, PhD Have you ever squandered a free day on strange, unimportant activities? I have. When I finish a writing project, I grant myself an open day. Twelve potential-filled hours lay before me to accomplish something epic. I often end up blowing every one of those hours on dumb stuff I can’t remember. []

Maybe you’re a writer who has always wanted to write and publish your own book. Maybe you’re a visual artist, photographer, or graphic illustrator who’s been wanting to put together a book showing others how to do a specific technique or simply not have to make all of the same mistakes you did when you []

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on. ~William Shakespeare Jealous much? Lets face it, now that almost every artist and their creative brother are online showing off their handiwork,  its easier than ever to become jealous of their artwork/writing/music their sales their []

So what happened?! Do you remember when you just loved to create? Do you remember that feeling of being lost inside your imagination while the rest of the world dropped away? When exactly did you lose that? When did creating your art become something less than it was supposed to be? As creative artists, we []

By Suzanne V Paddock Often creative artists are asked to donate their skills or their work for the sole compensation of exposure. While well intentioned, few of those situations can seem like real opportunities and many times, unfortunately, are more of a benefit for the person seeking the free work. A studio tour, however, can []

Getting started is hard. The beginning of almost any project is almost always overwhelming. We’re excited to get moving, but at the same time, we don’t have any idea where to start. So we put it off. Instead, we focus on figuring it all out. We read some books, check out some blog posts, maybe []

An open letter to the extroverts we know and love As introverts, we pretty much understand how extroverts feel and think, mostly because they are constantly telling us. On the other hand, I know that introverts can sometimes be a little difficult to figure out, and being involved in a relationship with one of us []

Going Local: 5 Ways to Market Your Art in Your Community by: Steff Metal As artists, were told again and again how vital it is for us to market online, to reach an international audience, to establish a profitable niche. And this is very true, but in extending our reach we often neglect a lucrative []

by: Kevin Chung As artists we live in fear You might as well give up. Youll never make a living as an artist. Being an artist is a great job if you want to starve.  These words have been ingrained in our thoughts for what seems like forever, but it wasnt always that way. Thats such a wonderful []

By Thea Fiore-Bloom The email list for my blog is small. Not small as in,‘Ah shucks,I only have 500 or 1000 people’–-small. My email list is just plain old small-—as in tiny. In fact my mailing list is so small that if I told you exactly how many people are on it right now you’d probably rush to your kitchen to make me a grilled cheese and some cocoa to comfort me. Thanks for the thought but I’m good, I swear.

by: Betsy Conlan I am the queen of indecision. In fact, before I figured out how to handle this struggle, I spent years stuck in indecisiveness and uncertainty. While I frequently waffled about which glaze and technique to use to finish a new clay tile, there was an even bigger decision to be made. I []

What the funk?! Sometimes we get tired of trying. We get tired of constantly falling behind, knowing that well never catch up. We dont know if were heading in the right direction, and were not even sure if we have the energy to get up and deal with any of it for one more day. Sometimes we find []

Ive got nothing How many times have you sat down in front of your computer to work on your latest blog post or writing project only to discover that youve got nothing to say. I know its happened to me, and its probably happened to you. In fact the only people who never get writers block []

Creativity isnt just for creating stuff. Being a creative artist is about more than just creating a bunch of stuff that other people may or may not care about. Simply the act of creating has a way of changing us and affecting areas of our lives that are far beyond our creative practice. Creativity can teach us how []

For whatever reason, when I was growing up, I never seemed to enjoy the same things that everyone else around me did. It wasn’t until college that I really started to learn about some of the differences between having an introverted and extroverted personality. At the time, I just assumed that I was weird, and []

#1 Self-Doubt (What if Im not good enough?) This is probably the number one fear of any creative professional.  After all, we are not creating necessities but luxuries for the most part.  As much as our art enriches our life and the lives of others, it remains something that we (at least as consumers) could []

by: Lois Sapare Working as a creative artist and getting to do what you love as a career can both be a blessing and a curse. Not many people get to do what they love and have it become their livelihood for the rest of their lives. However, behind the “We do what we love!” []

by: Amanda Truscott There’s a myth out there that stops a lot of people from creating things: the tortured genius, working feverishly in his squalid apartment while the muse whispers in his ear, which she does because he’s special He’s talented. Jack Kerouac, the story goes, banged out his great American novel, On The Road, []