Artist As Brand
Thanksgiving weekend, I gave myself a present. I saw that an Artist As Brand workshop was going to be held on Thanksgiving weekend, in Al Hambra—I had that Friday off from work already, it was close to my neighborhood…it had to be.
The workshop was being given by Greg Spalenka, who was a former instructor of mine at CSUN, for an illustration class. Also, a phenomenal artist. I’d learned so many valuable tools in that class, that I already knew the workshop was going to be of great benefit to me.
And I was so right…
The first thing we did was to ask some questions of ourselves, to figure out what our Core Purpose or Personal Vision was. Who are you? What do you love? What makes you angry? What makes you emotional, what touches you deeply? Then we took some time and formulated words to hold those concepts for each of us—it was a great collaboration, since we all helped each other find the right words, that felt right. From there, we made a sentence that also felt right, as to our Core Purpose. And that is the hub of the wheel, from which everything else flows.
From there we alternately learned about the business of marketing ourselves-- both with the Internet and by connecting with people—and honing in on what our product lines could possibly be. This we would find by listing everything we love about life (mental, physical and spiritual), then by figuring out who would our niche market be from that (others who love those things equally), and further, what kinds of things might they find intriguing or charming or just plain cool enough to buy. Picture this as concentric circles flowing outward from the Core Purpose at the center.
There were tons of examples and experiences and stories of people who actually DO this (including Greg’s wonderful wife Roxana, who creates organic perfume), so it gave authenticity that this DOES work. Also a plethora of resources…things we can use right now, like blog sites and e-mail signup lists. There was information given about the nuts and bolts of starting your own business, like registering your DBA, contacting the BOE and getting your resale license, copyrighting your works, budgets, bank accounts and taxes. Working out a Five Year Plan of building our businesses, our art empires!
We received a map and tools—where to go and what to do when we get there. And confidence, that we CAN be entrepreneurs with our own art and not have to rely on other people giving us work.
This was the very thing that I needed. Personally, I felt I was so far behind in my art career that I was never going to catch up—no portfolio, no direction, several different areas I was interested in but couldn’t focus enough on one to build anything substantial…it was a mess. Now I feel like I can stand tall and be self-reliant, creating my artwork pieces (and the products that come from them) as I go and selling them.
If you are an artist and feel a pull to be making a living doing what you love by your art, TAKE THIS CLASS. No, seriously. Go here, sign up, and TAKE THIS CLASS. NOW.
I just want to say thank you to Greg—and to Roxana—for sharing the wealth of this knowledge and educating others. I am most grateful for the opportunity to have learned so much. Thank you also to my classmates—you guys are such wonderful folks and amazing artists. I had the pleasure of getting to know you and laugh with you—and drum with you!
May we all keep in touch and support each other in living our art!
The workshop was being given by Greg Spalenka, who was a former instructor of mine at CSUN, for an illustration class. Also, a phenomenal artist. I’d learned so many valuable tools in that class, that I already knew the workshop was going to be of great benefit to me.
And I was so right…
The first thing we did was to ask some questions of ourselves, to figure out what our Core Purpose or Personal Vision was. Who are you? What do you love? What makes you angry? What makes you emotional, what touches you deeply? Then we took some time and formulated words to hold those concepts for each of us—it was a great collaboration, since we all helped each other find the right words, that felt right. From there, we made a sentence that also felt right, as to our Core Purpose. And that is the hub of the wheel, from which everything else flows.
From there we alternately learned about the business of marketing ourselves-- both with the Internet and by connecting with people—and honing in on what our product lines could possibly be. This we would find by listing everything we love about life (mental, physical and spiritual), then by figuring out who would our niche market be from that (others who love those things equally), and further, what kinds of things might they find intriguing or charming or just plain cool enough to buy. Picture this as concentric circles flowing outward from the Core Purpose at the center.
There were tons of examples and experiences and stories of people who actually DO this (including Greg’s wonderful wife Roxana, who creates organic perfume), so it gave authenticity that this DOES work. Also a plethora of resources…things we can use right now, like blog sites and e-mail signup lists. There was information given about the nuts and bolts of starting your own business, like registering your DBA, contacting the BOE and getting your resale license, copyrighting your works, budgets, bank accounts and taxes. Working out a Five Year Plan of building our businesses, our art empires!
We received a map and tools—where to go and what to do when we get there. And confidence, that we CAN be entrepreneurs with our own art and not have to rely on other people giving us work.
This was the very thing that I needed. Personally, I felt I was so far behind in my art career that I was never going to catch up—no portfolio, no direction, several different areas I was interested in but couldn’t focus enough on one to build anything substantial…it was a mess. Now I feel like I can stand tall and be self-reliant, creating my artwork pieces (and the products that come from them) as I go and selling them.
If you are an artist and feel a pull to be making a living doing what you love by your art, TAKE THIS CLASS. No, seriously. Go here, sign up, and TAKE THIS CLASS. NOW.
I just want to say thank you to Greg—and to Roxana—for sharing the wealth of this knowledge and educating others. I am most grateful for the opportunity to have learned so much. Thank you also to my classmates—you guys are such wonderful folks and amazing artists. I had the pleasure of getting to know you and laugh with you—and drum with you!
May we all keep in touch and support each other in living our art!
Comments
Peace
Greg