Are you feeling trapped in the confines of your expertise? Embrace the liberating power of the beginner's mindset and discover how it can catapult your artistic journey to new heights. Join me, as I candidly discuss my own struggles and triumphs in launching this podcast and how embodying the newbie helped me grow.
Don't stop there! In the second half, armed with insights from my art consultant, Laura Brown, explore the game-changing concept of a 'visual resume'. Get ready to curate a captivating snapshot of your work and achievements that can impress potential clients. From composing a compelling artist statement to selecting the perfect headshot, I've got you covered. This episode is designed to equip you with the right tools and mindset to level up your art career. So, tune in and be inspired.
Are you feeling trapped in the confines of your expertise? Embrace the liberating power of the beginner's mindset and discover how it can catapult your artistic journey to new heights. Join me, as I candidly discuss my own struggles and triumphs in launching this podcast and how embodying the newbie helped me grow.
Don't stop there! In the second half, armed with insights from my art consultant, Laura Brown, explore the game-changing concept of a 'visual resume'. Get ready to curate a captivating snapshot of your work and achievements that can impress potential clients. From composing a compelling artist statement to selecting the perfect headshot, I've got you covered. This episode is designed to equip you with the right tools and mindset to level up your art career. So, tune in and be inspired.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to Mind Over Medium, a podcast for artists who want to make money doing what they love. When you tune in a twink you will learn how to attract your ideal commissions, approach galleries for representation, have a great online launch of your work, and how to do it all with less overwhelm and confusion. You will have the opportunity to hear from amazing artists who will share how they have built their successful creative businesses. My hope is to create a space where artists and the creative curious can gather to learn about one of the most important tools creative entrepreneurs need in their toolbox their mindset. Thanks so much for tuning in to Mind Over Medium podcast. Let's get started. Hello there, my creative friends. How are you today? I hope your day is going well. Before we dig in today's topic, I wanted to take a minute to share with you an experience that I had and I hope you find it encouraging.
Speaker 1:
Here it is it's okay to be a beginner, and what do I mean by that? When we make the decision to do something new as adults, I think we have this idea that we shouldn't suck at it because we're grown-ups, I don't know, and that we should just skip all the hard, uncomfortable parts of learning and know how to do it already. We can get so caught up in the cycle of self-judgment when we're doing something new and it keeps us from trying new things. I experienced this with this podcast. I'm new at it, I'm still learning, I'm experimenting and figuring things out. I am uncomfortable and sometimes I want to quit, but I keep coaching myself on this idea of being a beginner. I decided I would rather be a beginner and suck at something for a while rather than to not try something that looks fun and interesting to me. Being a beginner isn't a bad thing or something to feel embarrassed about, because we need to give ourselves that time to be beginners. We need to create space for ourselves. Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. In a nutshell, it's okay to be new at something and suck at it. Just keep plugging away at it, because consistency beats talent about 99% of the time in my experience. All right, so what is this episode actually about?
Speaker 1:
Today, I want to talk to you about something that I have named a visual resume, and we're going to talk about what it is and why you need one. So I was introduced to this tool or concept by my friend and amazing art consultant, laura Brown, a few years ago. I hired her to help me with a few things in my business, and this is one of the things she told me I needed. So I did it because I trust her and she's smart. So it's something that I have used over and over again and shared it with my coaching clients too. So what am I talking about? Okay, so I call it a visual resume. You can call it whatever you want, but I call it a visual resume because it's a visual snapshot of your work and your accomplishments that you can use and share with prospective clients very easily, and those clients could be galleries, events or shows, retailers, licensing agents, designers. You get the idea. Here's why I like it and I want to share it with you.
Speaker 1:
As artists, we need a way to quickly showcase what we do, what is our visual style, what is our resume. We are not going to do this, probably, with a traditional resume, or maybe we could, and then add some attachments of images of our work to an email, but this is a way to do that with more ease and what I think is professionalism, and it's a way for us to have all of this at the ready when opportunities come up, because it is the nature of this business that sometimes we have to respond quickly to an opportunity, and my goal is to help you take away as many roadblocks as possible to getting your work out into the world. And while this might require some upfront work getting everything together, I promise you it is worth it. So trust me, for instance, let's say you're hanging out with an artist friend of yours and they tell you about a great new show that they applied to and think you would be a good fit as well. Instead of dreading the process of gathering all your images and info and your artist statement and blah, blah, blah all the things required to apply, once you get everything together in this one visual resume, you have it all in one place and it's just ready to go whenever the opportunity comes up. So here are a few of the things that you will need. You might want to take some notes.
Speaker 1:
Number one a great headshot of you. You the artist, the person creating the work. People want to know you, they want to see you. Please don't shy away from this part. This is super important. People want to connect with the artist as much as they want to connect with the art. So, yes, number one thing you need is a great headshot of you. Number two several clear, well lit images of your work. I like to show mine, my work in its entirety, and then I like to add a close up so they can get some of the details of the texture and whatever else I have going on, and then sometimes even a shot of the edge so they can see the depth of the work. So I like just to reiterate that I like to do have an image of the piece in its entirety, with a close up or detail, and then maybe of the edge. If you have amazing shots of your work installed in a very cool space, add those to this visual resume as well. Those are amazing and very impact. Those add, give your visual resume a lot of impact.
Speaker 1:
Your accomplishments, okay. Where have you shown your work? Who have you collaborated with? Is your work hanging anywhere, fun and interesting? I have a lot of artists I coach who are just getting started and may not have a lot to put in the section, and that is okay. That is absolutely fine. I got you. If this is you, I always recommend finding at least one event, one festival, one show or a business where you can apply to and or ask to hang and show your work, and you may have to start out by doing events that you know you probably won't do long term to gain momentum. I did this exact thing for me when I was first getting started. I did a lot of outdoor art festivals outdoor and indoor, but mainly outdoor art festivals. I did several for over maybe three years and it was a great way to help get me established and get a lot of momentum, but at this point I don't do them anymore. So If there's something that you an event or a show that you might shy away from in the long term, it's okay to do it for right now to get you started.
Speaker 1:
Your artist statement this is another thing you're going to need. Here are a few tips to writing a brief artist statement because, remember, this is a snapshot of your work. This is not like the detailed nitty gritty. This is just a quick glance for people to be able to see who you are, what your work's about, and give a brief statement about you and your work. Here's what I recommend, including the reason behind creating your work and its history. What's your overall vision, the context of your work, what's your medium, your artistic process, your technique and maybe your influences we also, on this visual resume that I use and I've created for you, there's a place to expand on what makes you and your work unique. Do you have a process that is distinctive? Are there certain tools you prefer? Be specific about what inspires you. This is another opportunity to connect with your audience and to have something that makes you stand out. And here's some other things you can include when you're talking about your work. Some more details about it. Describe the medium you work in. What substrate do you work on? What's your inspiration? Tell me something about your process. Describe the general dimensions you prefer. Describe your general lead time needed for new work. Will you create custom or commission pieces? You're trying to give the person looking at this resume an idea of what it's like to work with you.
Speaker 1:
Next is an about you section. Who are you? Why do you do what you do? How long have you been creating?
Speaker 1:
People want to connect with this art, with the artist. Like I said, this is a theme. They want to know the artist. They want to know how you came to be where you are right now in your process. Share your story.
Speaker 1:
This is a chance for people to get to know you, and it's so important. If you are an artist and you're represented by a gallery or your work is hanging somewhere or juries shows, things like that, there's a place for you to list your current and previous places that have carried your work. If you don't have anything to put here, that's okay, I got you. We can delete this page and over time you will have this. You will be able to fill this out. Last but not least the most, and probably beside you and your, besides you and your work, this is really important. How do people get in touch with you? How to contact you? What's your email? Where do they find you on social media? Okay, so that's really it.
Speaker 1:
It's not too labor intensive and it's pretty straightforward. Like I said, I use this often and I update mine pretty frequently, and it's pretty easy. Once you have it, it's easy to tweak it and change it as you need. I do all of this in Canva, which is a very user friendly tool or website. So when and where do I use it? You may know a lot of shows or events have specific application processes and you're going to be required to fill those out for that specific show, and if that's the case, that's exactly what you should do. But if you're cold calling on designers or galleries or licensing agents, I think this is a great tool to have and to use for those type of situations. And you're thinking okay, so this is a lot of information. What do I do? Do I use tape and scissors? No, I've.
Speaker 1:
Like I said, I've created a template for you in Canva and it's very easy for you to follow along, and I have some more instructions along with this document. You can go to the link in the show notes and grab yours, or it's in my Instagram bio too. It's called visual resume. It's in both spots and you might have some questions as you're going about this, and if you do, I'm happy to answer them, if I'm able I probably am so you can either DM me on Instagram and I'll answer them there, or you can send me an email. I hope you find this to be a valuable tool in your creative business. My goal is to help equip you with not only the practical things needed to have a successful creative career, but also the more intangible things needed, like mindset, confidence and consistency. So, if you would like to apply to work with me one-on-one as your creative coach. You can go to my website to learn how, or, if you want to get in touch with me about anything else, you can go to my website. It's my name Lee and Slotkincom, or you can find me on Instagram at the same name.
Speaker 1:
If you found this episode to be helpful, the best thing you can do is to leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. I'd really appreciate it and share it with a friend. Alright, have a great day. Thanks for being here and keep creating. Thank you so much for listening to Mind Over Medium Podcast today. If you found the episode inspiring, please share it with a friend or post it on social media and tag me on Instagram at leannslotkin, or head to my website, wwwleannslotkincom, to book a discovery call to find out more about working with me one-on-one. You can also head to my website to get a great tool I've created for you to use when planning your own online launch of your artwork. It's an exercise I've taken many of my coaching clients through and it's been very helpful. It's my way of saying thank you and keep creating.