Proving It's Possible to be an Artist and Mother with Elizabeth LeMaster (ep. 188)
Release Date: 05/09/2024
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Daniel Sipe and Karlƫ Woods didn't set out to start an arts organization. They just wanted to talk to artists during the pandemic. Four years later, Lights Out has produced 95 artist documentaries, thrown 18 popup exhibitions across Maine, and built a funding model that includes everything from $10 monthly donors to six-figure state contracts. Their story, shared with host Alyson Stanfield, offers a masterclass in starting before you're ready, investing in what matters (yes, including marketing), and building something sustainable through collaboration rather than competition. They reveal: ...
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host: Alyson Stanfield In this coaching-style episode, host Alyson Stanfield coaches Ebony Iman Dallas through the challenges of building a sustainable public art career while navigating motherhood, a regional market, and the fear of rejection. Ebony makes 90% of her income from public art but struggles with systems, marketing that highlights events instead of her work, and waiting for opportunities instead of creating them. If you've ever felt stretched between creative work and life responsibilitiesāor stuck in a local marketāyou'll recognize yourself here. HIGHLIGHTS 01:30 Ebony's...
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The Art Biz
host: Alyson Stanfield In 2020, Dawn Trimble was laid off from her interior design job during the pandemic while navigating a divorceāand she felt relief. That moment became a turning point. Within months of painting full-time, she launched her first collection, which sold out in days and matched her corporate paycheck. Dawn talks about the practical steps she took to build momentum, what she brought from her design background into her art business, how she thinks about creativity as service rather than self-expression, and why she believes the most important thing any artist can do is...
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The Art Biz
host: Alyson Stanfield Alicia Bailey and Melinda Laz are part of a four-artist collaborative group in Denver that's been working together for years because it's made them better artists. In this conversation, they share the practical realities of collaboration: the systems that keep things organized, the communication that prevents problems, and the trust that makes it all possible. If you've ever wondered whether working with other artists is worth the effort, this episode will show you what's possible when you get it right. š¦HIGHLIGHTS 01:50 How their friendship evolved into collaboration...
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The Art Biz
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The Art Biz
Too many artists graduate from art school with crushing debt and then spend years figuring out how to make money while trying to maintain a studio practice. Stephanie Brown did the opposite. She graduated from a private art school debt-free, secured a fully funded MFA, and has been treating her art career like a business from day one. In this conversation with host Alyson Stanfield, Stephanie breaks down exactly how she did it, and why being strategic about money doesn't make you any less of an artist. š¦ HIGHLIGHTS 02:00 Why interactive art transforms viewers into participants and creates...
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Are You Undermining Your Art's Value? (246)
The Art Biz
Your art doesn't exist in a vacuum. Where and how you show your work shapes how people perceive its value before they even look closely at the piece itself. The venue, the lighting, the labels, the other work nearbyāall of it sends signals about whether your art should be taken seriously. In this episode of The Art Biz, host Alyson Stanfield explores what falls within your control and what doesn't, and why understanding that difference can transform how collectors see you and your work. She encourages you to vet opportunities before committing, establish non-negotiables to establish for...
info_outlinehost: Alyson Stanfield
Elizabeth LeMaster, my guest for this episode of The Art Biz, has, like so many of us, more to balance than her studio practice and business. She has a family. A young family. A big family. A growing family.
How do you find time for working on your art when you have 6 kids under the age of 8? š³
Elizabeth and I talk about how she has done it because she wanted to share her tips with all artist-mothers out there. She is also very honest about the bumps along the road.
Hereās my special Mothersā Day Conversation with Elizabeth LeMaster.
HIGHLIGHTS
06:12 Selling her art through a focused audience and relatively small subscriber base 10:06 Adapting art practices around motherhood 15:44 Strategic systems for productivity 19:51 Embracing the artist's life while parenting 36:28 Elizabethās Artisan Christmas magazine 40:32 Elizabethās future plans
š§ RELATED EPISODES
Raising Prices on Your Art, Valuing Community, and Balancing Motherhood with Bri Larson (ep. 166)
She Knows Exactly How Much Her Art Income Will be Every Month with Kelly Pelfrey (ep. 162)
Running an Artist Residency Alongside a Studio Practice with Shannon Amidon (ep. 151)
Injecting Personal Narrative into Your Art with Sara Lee Hughes (ep. 131)
š To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit artbizsuccess.com/motherhood-lemaster
āļø Connect with Elizabeth and see more of her art on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lemasterartistique/
š¶ Does your art business need a boost or a refresh? Please see my comprehensive art-marketing program, Essentials for Artist Success š¶ full of tools, strategies, and process you need to establish your professionalism and increase your visibility. For those with beginning and emerging art careers and those who need to approach their business with more thought and intention.
ā°ļø The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~
This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Hereās how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/