Q&A: Answering your Questions. From Home Studios To Galleries: Real-World Art Career Advice Artwork

Just Make Art

A conversation about making art and the artist's journey with Ty Nathan Clark and Nathan Terborg, two artists trying to navigate the art world, just like you.

In each episode, the duo chooses a quote from a known artist and uses it as a springboard for discussion.

Through their conversations, Ty and Nathan explore the deeper meaning of the quote and how it can be applied to the artists studio practice. They share their own personal stories and struggles as artists, and offer practical advice and tips for overcoming obstacles and achieving artistic success.

Whether you're a seasoned artist or just starting out, "Just Make Art" provides valuable insights and inspiration to help you navigate the creative process and bring your artistic vision to life. With their engaging and conversational style, Ty and Nathan create a welcoming space for listeners to explore their own artistic passions and learn from two artists working hard to navigate the art world.

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Just Make Art

Q&A: Answering your Questions. From Home Studios To Galleries: Real-World Art Career Advice

November 20, 2025 • Ty Nathan Clark and Nathan Terborg

We are excited to answer your art questions! In this episode we will discuss: how do you keep your practice thriving while navigating space, money, and access? We dig in with honest, field-tested advice and personal stories from two working artists who’ve built momentum in imperfect conditions.

We start with the studio question everyone wrestles with: home vs separate space. You’ll hear why a “setup” beats square footage, how to protect focus if interruptions tank your flow, and scrappy ways to work larger without taking on a lease you can’t sustain. From there, we lay out a gallery game plan: what a strong approach package looks like (10–15 works with depth behind them), what “consistency” really means, and how to get on the radar through open calls, smart social presence, and showing up at the right level.

International showing gets a reality check. Culture changes the conversation, but logistics can make or break it. We walk through shipping options, customs surprises, and how to avoid vanity traps with contracts that shift costs onto artists. We also talk residencies, including why many invite-only programs pull from boards and alumni, and how relationships can open doors when applications can’t.

Collectors and sustainability round out the heart of the episode. We share favorite delivery stories, why early-stage artists should sell to keep making, and how ideal collectors help build careers over time. For anyone staring down a short financial runway, we offer practical steps: emergency grant resources, low-cost materials that keep you prolific, and the mindset shift that treats bridge income as a patron rather than a detour.

If you found value here, follow the show, share it with an artist friend, and leave a review so more creatives can find these conversations. Got a question for part two? Send it our way—your prompts shape the next round.

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SPEAKER_00: 0:11

All right, Ty, you ready for some questions and answers? I'm always ready. We've got, thank you all, thank you all so much. We've got some fantastic questions. We've got probably 40 or 50 questions that came in from various sources for us to answer today. In this episode, which will likely be part one of a multi-part uh episode, we've got questions related to studio space, uh, galleries, career advice, different questions on how to approach a gallery, residencies, very tactical, career-related questions, that and more on this episode of JMA.

SPEAKER_01: 0:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 0:50

Thank you, everybody. We've got some amazing questions that we are super excited to answer. I think we've got, I don't know, probably close to 40 or 50 questions. And uh yeah, this is gonna be fun. So we'll we'll dive right in. Uh, we've done our best to sort of organize these a little bit. Ty, indulge me and let me color code these and get weird with organizing them, which I appreciate. I'm a big sharpen the axe before you start swinging kind of person. So we are uh ready to jump in. How are you feeling?

SPEAKER_02: 1:18

I'm feeling good. I'm excited. You know, we obviously we get a lot of questions here and there, not like in big bulk groups like that, but we get a lot of questions offline, online, Instagram, YouTube, wherever we are. And so I think this is just fun kind of answering some of y'all's questions that you've sent us. So I'm really excited. I'm pumped.

SPEAKER_00: 1:39

And keep them keep them coming, by the way. So we now have a very, very complex system in place where we're gonna tag these and put them into our QA uh tab on our super bloated uh Excel spreadsheet that we track everything on. So when things come up, even when we're not asking for them, uh, we'd love follow-up questions too on just different episodes as well. Or if there's something that we touch on today that you're like, ah, I actually wanted to hear more about something else, or you didn't quite touch on it. Feel free to send us your follow-up cues as well. With that, let's dive in. So, a couple questions about studio space. We're gonna get into that first. So this comes from, and forgive our pronunciation, we're gonna do our best if we get it wrong. Do our best. Just know that we tried. Just know that we we did our best. First question comes from uh Aidine Mitra from Instagram. And the question is separate studio and living space versus working where you live, which do you lean towards in your experience? I've had both within you kind of have both right now, actually. It's it's interesting.

SPEAKER_02: 2:39

Yeah, and I've had both throughout different times of my art career. You know, I'd say probably about 70% of the time my studio has been in my living space. Like that would be a garage or a back porch, extra bedroom, all those things. And I would say I, you know, I just moved from uh a studio that was about a 15-minute drive from my house and then recently built a studio on my property. Now, I think it's all your personality, your character. You know, some people have a really hard time working from home because they're at home every day, and it just becomes this stagnant experience of I'm always at home, and so it gets in the way of your creating. I absolutely understand that. But I love having my studio at the house. I love being able to walk, I leave the house to go to my studio in the backyard, and I love that for me because I can just walk out and make work anytime I want. I don't have to get in a car, I don't have to drive anywhere, I can just walk out and make art. So I think as your career advances and you have the ability to make that choice, then you're gonna have that ability to make that choice. But I would say for the majority of artists out there, most of you are probably working from home in a garage, in an extra bedroom, in a hallway. I've had artist friends who literally took the front bedroom and made it, you know, their studio. And then the bedroom off that is a studio, and the family doesn't use the hallway or those two rooms. They come in the back door, and you know, they've made those sacrifices. And I've had other artist friends where their partner said, Hey, take my office in the apartment and I'll work from the kitchen table, or things like that. So it's all up to you. And honestly, you should have no excuses for making. I guess that's the main point. Wherever you are and whatever you have, make as much as you can so that when you get to the next place, you're able to create in that next place as well because you're gonna have the same types of resistance no matter what studio you're in. Too big, too small, too wide, not tall enough. You're gonna have an excuse when you're not making work. So just make work.

SPEAKER_00: 4:43

Yeah, I've had both as well. I I like having a separate, separate space entirely. My studio is about 12 minutes from the house. I do end up taking a lot of work home with me so that I can also spend time looking at it, listening to it, journaling, writing, maybe not working on it necessarily. A lot of what I most of what I do in the studio would be really difficult to do, you know, indoors or in a um in a non-industrial space. But I think that it's uh for me, I really like having that separation of I am sure to make art. Like this is this is what happens here. I am also really bad at dealing with interruptions or distractions, like embarrassingly so. And so having a dedicated space where you know the front door is almost always locked. Uh and so it's it's it this is I I like having that like sacred space where this is this is what happens and and when it happens. That's kind of my preference. Yep, I get it. But again, to your point, it is a is a luxury that not everybody has. So I would actually add to that, you know, we've talked about this I think in previous episodes, but this is an idea from David Lynch that he writes about in his book, Catching the Big Fish, which we've talked about before. Love, love, love that book. But he talks about the importance of having a setup, is what he calls it. So have a setup for whatever your creative pursuit is, having a setup where this is where I do what I do, no matter what the scale is, even if it is like, all right, I've got these three, you know, storage bins and this is pull them out, and then boom, I'm in it. You know, what we don't so he just talks about the basic um premise of that idea is that you don't want there to be any the closer you are between having time and space to make to make something uh or inspiration and idea, the shorter the the feedback loop is between the thing and being able to do it, the better, you know. Yep, and that can be applied to your point in any setting that you have, no matter if it is just you know a kitchen table or uh yeah, whatever, whatever square footage you've got to work with, be ready to make.

SPEAKER_02: 6:47

Plenty of great art has been made without a professional looking studio. Let's just say that. Plenty. And probably far more has been made in that setting than has been made in the other in history.

SPEAKER_00: 7:00

Next question. Nancy Clunan writes I'm an abstract painter who only looks forward to painting on wood panels. My studio is in my home. How many months rent do you think I need to jump into a studio rental? I know this is a somewhat personal decision, and I'm interested to hear your answers. Oh, uh she goes on to add, I forgot to add that the reason I'd be looking for a studio is for space to go larger. It's getting tight in my cozy space.

SPEAKER_02: 7:30

That's a that is it's a really good question because what is the number one debilitator of all artists is finance money, having the ability to do things that you really want to do. And I know from experience going bigger, you can go bigger in space, but when you're working in certain areas like wood panels and you want to go bigger now, that really starts to take storage space and take the ability to have the freedom of space to make really big pieces. And so, as far as how many months rent do you think you need to jump into a studio rental, I don't know. I mean, it's gonna depend on where you live, how far you're willing to travel into an area that's less expensive than others, where maybe art studios may already be, maybe finding alternative alternative methods to cut that cost down, like small warehouse spaces or small office space at a low rent. But I think, you know, you're gonna have to look at your budget and figure out because you you're not gonna be able to sign a three-month lease usually. So you don't want to just take all your art supplies and you have three months of rent for a three-month lease, then you can't afford it and you're gonna move everything back. Like that's just a nightmare. So I would probably just sit down on a spreadsheet and start looking at lists of places where you can rent space that you need. Uh are there any artists that you could share a space with that have a bigger studio space that are looking to kind of sublease to another artist? Um, can you go outside? Do you have the ability to paint outside for a while while you save up? But I would think you're definitely gonna want a year's worth to be able to fall back on if you do make the jump to a studio space because you're now you're taken out of your normal budget and you're probably gonna have to sign a one-year lease depending on where you are. So you're definitely gonna want at least a know you can afford a year's worth of rent, would be my suggestion. But I would say take as much time as you need and maybe save up rather than thinking about just having the ability to um pay over a long period of time.

SPEAKER_00: 9:32

So yeah, I just echo that idea of just think outside the box. You know, it doesn't have to be, I mean, the natural thing, of course, would be to go on and, you know, whatever, search for studio spaces. But there are a lot of non-traditional spaces, you know, like you mentioned, Ty, whether it be office spaces, industrial spaces, this definitely is not, was has never been and probably, well, might in the future be an art studio after I leave. But like this is um, you know, it it's something that's very, very different, and you wouldn't you wouldn't find it in a normal, you know, art studio listing listing. The other thing too I would encourage people to consider is just reaching out to your natural network of of friends and whatever contacts and let them know what you're looking for. Just put it out there. Hey, I'm looking for some some space. You know, there's a lot, a lot of people that have, you know, storage sheds, garages, you know, whatever. Maybe it's it's commercial space that they're just not using. Yeah. So if you're willing to be flexible in terms of you know what it looks like, you will likely get flexible terms, you know, in terms of you know what it looks like to make payments as well, you know, especially if it's somebody that you know, it can certainly you know be a month-to-month situation where they're happy to whatever carve out a little corner, you know, over here or some space and let it just be month to month where you're not locked in. Yep. Yeah. Next question. Buzz from Minneapolis. What up, Buzz? Hey, Buzz. I've just started listening to your podcast. I love it. I have a question related to this episode. When approaching a gallery, how many completed pieces should you have to share?

SPEAKER_02: 11:04

That's a great question, Buzz. I have a lot of artists that have asked me that question in the past. And honestly, my suggestion is I would have at least 15 really strong works to have a small catalog available. So I don't think you need more than that. I think 10 to 15 is fine. I wouldn't go less than 10 because you really want to show that you have some really good ideas going forward with this work. And I think, you know, I tell artists all the time, they say, Hey, I just created these two really great paintings. Should I start pitching galleries? And I'm like, no, why don't you make 30 more? Because you need to have a little library of work. You need to have something behind you rather than just a few really strong pieces you just did, unless somebody's reached out to you about the work. Now, if you're reaching out to other people, you want to have a really good library of work behind you. And then I would share 10 to 15 of those strongest pieces in a catalog, a PDF, something on Canva that you can share if they ask. And then if they say, hey, we'd like to see more work, now you can add to that 10 or 15. You want to make sure you have a good group of work because what if you send those 10 and that person, that curator, that gallery owner, that art dealer says, I love your work. Now I want to come do a studio visit. And you only have those 10 pieces. You want to be able for them to come and have seen those 10 and then look at 20, 30, 40 more that you've been working on over time and that you're building this great catalog of work behind you. So I would say if you're gonna share if somebody asks, make sure you have 10 to 15 really strong works and use your artist network to say, hey, which ones do you think are the strongest? Hey, to your friends or your other artists, send them 30 pictures and let them kind of go through and tell them which ones they think are strongest. And then you can kind of condense with the ones you like and the ones other people think are really strong and put together that that catalog.

SPEAKER_00: 12:57

There's another question, Todd, that pairs really well with that. Valerie Capewell from Spotify. The question came from Spotify, it shouldn't work there to my Valerie Capewell asked a question on Spotify that pairs really well with this one. Can you speak to galleries wanting to see a consistent body of work? I saw this. I can't, I'd like to be able to cite my source on this. Somebody who I follow that seems to know what they're doing on Instagram said the number was 30, that you should have 30 pieces that are consistent within a body of work. I think the number is, you know, variable, obviously, there, but speak tied to the consistency of that body of work.

SPEAKER_02: 13:38

Well, I would say every gallery is different. Like there, everybody is different because every gallery owner, those selecting the work or looking to put on the roster, they have different tastes than the other gallery owners. Yeah. And so I would say, yes, galleries want to see consistent body of work, but that doesn't mean if you have some really strong work that they don't take a chance on you. Now it's going to be a little bit more minimal than on the other side. So I would say you absolutely want a consistent body of work. Now, that doesn't mean that all the work looks the same. That doesn't mean that all the work is the same color. It just means that you have a body of work that is showing who you are as a consistent artist. It's not radical jumps and leaps between every single piece of the 10, 15, 30 pieces that you show. It's just showing a consistent body that is being processed, worked on, growing, and developing, if that makes sense to everybody. So, but I would say from the last question, have that 30 or 40 and then piece together that smaller, really strong grouping of work that is within that 30 or 40 pieces.

SPEAKER_00: 14:47

Love it. Next question, gallery related as well. Uh Adi and Mitra asks, how did you both get in a gallery initially, struggling to get representation in a seemingly gatekeep art market?

SPEAKER_02: 15:02

Well, let me let me give some confidence building first for Aiden. Uh struggling to get representation is about a 98% tile that you would fall into in the art world. So this isn't a normal thing, artists getting represented by galleries. There are far more artists who have work being shown in galleries than actually being represented by that gallery. So galleries have rosters of artists, 10, 15, 20 artists that they represent on a regular basis. And most of them have 10, 20, 30 other artists whose work they show every now and then, but they don't really represent them. So this is the absolute most difficult thing for an artist is to get represented by a gallery. So, but that shouldn't be discouraging because that doesn't mean you can't show in group shows and open calls with galleries and things. That's fine, that's great. I got noticed on Instagram. Now I was showing, I was doing a lot of things, and I happened to be on Instagram at the time when art wasn't really a thing yet. So I was swept up in that initial buzz of artists being on Instagram. And so I got noticed by galleries and dealers 100% from Instagram. Does that still happen today? Yes, but not as much as it did maybe 10, 11, 12 years ago. So I would say open calls. You need to be looking for open calls, places that are close to you, close enough to you, and apply to be in those calls online. You can go to artenda.net, you can go to cafe.org. There's plenty of art sites online. Just type in open call art and you're gonna get a whole list of websites. Look for ones that fit you and your work and your style and start applying to those.

SPEAKER_00: 16:50

Yeah, my experience has been, I guess, kind of similar to yours, Ty, more recently though, but I got every every opportunity that I've had so far has come as a result of being discovered, being found, my work being found uh and seen on Instagram. Yeah. And so I was uh definitely not in that in that first wave that that you were in, but I think it does speak to, and we've talked about this in in many episodes previously as well, but it does speak to being willing to put your stuff out there and put yourself out there and be discoverable, you know, in terms of because you just never know. You know, everything that we put out, we talk about all the time. We we you you say it, Ty, frequently. We never know who's watching, we never know who's paying attention. And uh it's safe to say that the more is that how I want to say it, the more you do. I don't want to say that, Ty. That's not the right way of phrasing it, but the more willing you are to put your work into the world. And well, not everything. Right. It's not, you know, every study, every, I mean, you know, we both share a a fraction of a fraction of the work that we're working on or the work that we're making. So there's certainly some intentionality, you know, around that, but being being findable and understand too that when you do apply for those open calls and those sorts of things, people that are interested, galleries, et cetera, that are interested, are probably gonna check out your profile. They're probably gonna look more for, hey, what's this person about? What do they got going on?

SPEAKER_02: 18:18

Yeah, and I would say, you know, be really intelligent though about it, because what galleries do you want to be in? Are you at that level yet? I mean, so many of us go, I know exactly where I want to be. But then when you look at it, you're like, well, I definitely can't be showing in there yet because I don't really have any representation right now. So as you're looking for galleries, sure, have your dream galleries out there, have them in your head of someday I'm going to get here, but you need to look at galleries that are at the level you're at art wise, and start researching them and start following them on their social media platforms and being really active, whether you're going to the openings and going to the gallery and spending time getting to know people there and the artists that are showing there, or by courting them online and paying attention, commenting, seeing what they're doing and they're showing. Do they have open calls coming up? Send them a message. Do you guys do open calls or group shows? Maybe you need to be on their newsletter so you're alerted when those type of things open up, but be intelligent. Don't start thinking about galleries you can't even get into at this point. Where can you get into? Where can you fit what's close and local? Start there, spend time getting to know the people there, whether that's online or physically. Physically is your best option. If you can go and get to know people and the other artists and who's working there, the gallery attendance, whatever, they may ask to do a studio visit sometime. They may ask to see your work, but be intelligent about it. Think about the level you're at, not the level you want to get to.

SPEAKER_00: 19:53

Next question. Kasha Fabianska. Again, we're doing our best. Doing our best. Apologies in advance. Asks, I've really been enjoying your podcast. Thank you. Here's my question. You both have a presence in European galleries, and I'd like to hear your perspectives on exhibiting there. Is the culture and attitude to art and artist different to the U.S.? I live in Australia, but would love to show something in my birthplace of Poland one day. Also, some practical tips, taxes, shipping art, import traps. I've had a few expensive, unsatisfying experiences trying to show work in overseas group shows.

SPEAKER_02: 20:30

First, I want to just correct. We have both had work show in some places overseas. And perspectives on exhibiting there, I mean, every culture is different, right? So you have to know that every culture is different. Language is different, food is different, people are different, the way that people perceive and see and talk and act is all related culturally to how they experience things in their culture and where they're from. So yes, things are different showing in the US, showing in Japan, radically different, showing in Germany, showing in Minneapolis, showing in Austin or Waco, Texas, showing in Canada. Everything is different. Now, what's the one commonality? Everybody loves art and they're showing the art, but everything is very different. Shipping is different everywhere. Buyers react to shipping in different ways. If you're shipping really far, somebody that's collecting and buying art knows that there's going to be a high shipping price. And so factoring that into your conversation with somebody buying art, very, very important. Giving them a few quotes on how things would ship ahead of time rather than just kind of leaving it at a flat amount. Hey, here's some options for you on shipping. I can ship it rolled rather than frame to save on cost, those type of things as well. Um, I always do a lot of front work with people, even with galleries. I always give multiple options on things so that I can try to save both sides money and whatever that means. Um import traps, like you're kind of at the mercy of customs to wherever you're shipping, to be honest. So there's everybody has a different story of somebody getting screwed over with shipping at some point in their life as an artist when you're shipping internationally. That's just kind of how it is. But if you do your legwork up front ahead of time, it's usually easy for you to not get screwed over if you rush to ship something, which I know a lot of artists rush to ship things at times, and then they end up eating a bunch of costs in the end rather than the buyer paying the actual shipping cost. Um, I am sure that your expensive, unsatisfying experiences showing work overseas in group shows could possibly be from showing with vanity galleries or vanity fairs where you kind of get stuck with costs you weren't expecting, um, things that are contractual for shipping and marketing and all those things. If you're showing overseas and there's a contract, read it. Have somebody else read it, have another person read it, make red lines on the things you don't understand and then ask questions. You can even ask for those things to be removed. So again, be intelligent with everything that you get. Read every fine line, look at everything, then you have to make a decision. Am I willing to pay for some of these costs or not? Usually showing in some group things overseas that are through vanity galleries and vanity art fairs and things are going to do nothing for your career. So it's really a waste of money for you to do those things. If that's what you did, I'm just guessing.

SPEAKER_00: 23:46

Yeah, I'll just echo do your research, ask questions, you know, ask around. It's better to set expectations for yourself and everybody else involved on the front end than it is to find things out the hard way. That said, I've definitely learned a lot of lessons when it comes to you know international you know shipping. I've shipped just just this year in the last few months to you know Germany, India, Canada. It's it and every country's different, you know. And so you've it to your point, like Ty, you've you've just got to obviously play by play by the rules. Every time uh a piece or body of work, if it's for a show, arrives, that's like, okay, it's there. All right, step one. All right, step two. Did it make it through custom? It makes it, yeah, you know, um, because those are two two very, very different different things. Um, you know, but to the how it's received, you know, I think that that is the beautiful thing about art is that we are speaking a universal language.

SPEAKER_01: 24:41

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 24:42

Culturally, how it's going to be received, of course, is going to be different, and what the process to show and to sell work is going to be very different. You know, when I showed in in Germany earlier this year, uh Benjamin Eck uh at the gallery, he he gave me really, really good, not just uh, I guess, advice, but just kind of set proper expectations for me. He's like, just so you know, you know, I don't really have you know any big expectations for the first time that an artist shows. Yeah. Like the first time that you know we show, it's just to kind of introduce you to the European art market and just get, you know, get eyeballs and sort of like generate momentum for you know whatever happens in the future. And so that was very helpful for me to just know, like, all right, this is this is you know, this is step one of hopefully, you know, many. I will say that during the artist talk, now I mean we we have the the luxurious position of for us, you know, dumb Americans speaking a language that is spoken, you know, almost everywhere. I I was kind of surprised, I shouldn't say surprised, but I was I was curious how like when we did the artist talk, how that was gonna be received. Um, but it was uh that that experience in particular was was super fun and super satisfying. Like it's it's again, we're speaking a universal language of art and when the work connects, um, the words are great, but they oftentimes don't even matter that much. Yeah. Next question, RJ Robin Jack Sarner. One more question, but loaded. How does one get into an invited only residency? Looking forward to your next pod. You guys are awesome.

SPEAKER_02: 26:20

You're awesome, RJ. RJ.

unknown: 26:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_02: 26:23

Uh okay. So I'm gonna I'm gonna give two answers. Number one, how do you how does one get into an invited only residency? You don't until you know it. Number one. It depends.

SPEAKER_00: 26:38

The answer is kind of in the question.

SPEAKER_02: 26:40

Yeah, yes. Number two, if it's the type of invited residency where the artist can suggest artists to be in it, you have a lot better shot. So uh most in invited only residencies are usually foundation run. So let's just say, let's say the Joan Mitchell Foundation has an invited only residency, or I think McDowell. I think McDowell might be invite only. There, there's a few really big invite-only residencies. These residencies are selecting artists from their board galleries that they're connected to, um, local museums or really big artists they're connected to. Artists who um are very influential are suggesting artists to these residencies. So it's usually at a level that is mid-career at this point, or right at the absolute height of an emerging artist that's about to take the next jump. Now there are smaller residencies that are invite only where the artists who are there can actually suggest friends or suggest people to the gallery directors to be in there. So if you know somebody that's been to one, ask. Hey, are you able to connect me to that residency? I'd love to take that one. So that's going to be your best bet as that type of residency, because otherwise if you get an email one day that you're invited, then you know.

SPEAKER_00: 28:09

Next question. Jane Dameron asks, how would you describe your ideal collector? What does a true artist-centered collector look like?

SPEAKER_02: 28:19

I have a fabulous answer.

SPEAKER_00: 28:22

I've got a smart ass answer. Can I give that one first?

SPEAKER_02: 28:24

Yeah, give your smart ass answer.

SPEAKER_00: 28:27

Do they have money?

SPEAKER_02: 28:29

Anyone that'll buy my work.

SPEAKER_00: 28:33

Boom.

SPEAKER_02: 28:34

There you go.

SPEAKER_00: 28:35

You want to use it for a doorstop once it arrives? Rock and roll.

SPEAKER_02: 28:40

Yep, because now I can make more art. Yeah. Uh okay. My ideal collector is the person who asked this question, who was a collector of mine, Jane Dameron. Uh, and the reason I say that is not just because she asked the question, but because she is a collector who 100% cares and invests herself, her time, and her finances into the artists and the work that she's buying. She's collected a number of my pieces, a number of my friends' pieces. Um, she gets fun gifts sometimes from me as well, just because I adore her and how much she adores my art. And so I think, you know, it it really depends on who you are as an artist. Like, are do you just need the money to make art? Well, then you're looking for anybody to buy it, right? Now, I have friends that are at a level where they're now telling people no because they really want their art to go to a specific collector who is truly interested in the why behind their work and how they're making it. There are a lot of people that jump on trends as collectors and they're just buying, right? They're just buying for the trend. And so it's like I have friends that are like, no, I want no part of that. I want a somebody who loves my Work who wants to build into my work. And there are also collectors right that build careers. You get certain collectors that start collecting work and then you get gallery notice, you get museum notice because of these people. So it all depends on your level. And I will say for anybody out there that's a beginning or emerging artist, just sell your work. Don't hold on to it right now. If somebody wants to buy it, just sell it because you need the money to make art. You can't afford to hold on to things for a long time career-wise. Just sell, sell, sell so you can make, make, make. And then when you get to that point, you're going to start to learn what kind of collectors you really want and who you want buying your work.

SPEAKER_00: 30:40

Yeah, I mean, that's that's it, right? When you've got somebody who really loves what you do and is buying the work because they want to live with it, they want to own it, they want to, they want to be a support of the art, the artists, and enjoy the work that they're purchasing. There's nothing better than that. And having you know, ongoing collectors who, you know, buy multiple works over time, it's pretty fun. It's pretty fun to, you know, when you get those pictures of seeing, I mean, even just, you know, one piece, but especially multiple pieces hanging, you know, where people live, where they work. I mean, how fulfilling is that to know that something that that we made lives with and is going to be with somebody who truly loves and appreciates it. There's another question I'm gonna tack on to this one as well. This comes from Kirk Perdon. Kirk's a friend of mine. We've never met IRL, but Kirk uh and I got to be friends back in the Clubhouse days. So shout out to all my my clubhouse, clubhouse homies uh from back in the day. Kirk's an amazing, amazing artist and incredibly gracious. Kirk has helped me with a lot of material-related questions as well. But he asks, what's been your favorite and or most unexpected reaction to a piece when you deliver it? You want me to answer that one first, or do you want to? You can just nod and smile. I love it when you smile. I'll do that. I'll nod and smile. For our audio-only listeners, it's you know not quite as engaging, but just know here, I'll just describe it. Ty is nodding his head and smiling with a delightful grin.

SPEAKER_02: 32:12

I I've had some incredible delivery moments in my lifetime as an artist. I've had some where the buyer has brought the entire family into the room, kids, uh, the wife, and literally sat and talked about the painting and just asked the kids to like talk about the painting, and they've all come around. And I'm just kind of you know sitting there in the background trying to like hold back tears as this whole family is discussing the piece and what it means and what's in it and all those things. So I've had incredible experiences like that. That honestly, I mean, when you talk about your ideal collector, right, you you want to deliver that piece when you get to deliver it, which we don't often get to deliver our work to people in person, uh, having that experience where you get to watch them see it for the first time and react to it and talk about it, and it becomes a centerpiece to the home. You know, I love thinking about I know that Jane Damron, who asked the question right before this, will stop in her house walking by a piece and look at it and think about it and spend time with it throughout her day, weekend, evening, like just randomly. And that that's a true collector. Like that's what a real art collector does. You have those pieces in your home, and when you're walking from the kitchen to the next room, you see it. And instead of just walking by it, you stop, you walk back to the piece and you sit there and look at it and think about it, and then you walk away with a smile.

SPEAKER_00: 33:44

Any unexpected in the opposite direction experiences that you'd be willing to share?

SPEAKER_02: 33:51

No, I actually I I haven't. Now crap. I've started, so I gotta keep going. Now there have been pieces in the past that I've delivered that I've gone, man, do I like that piece? Do I really love that piece that I'm delivering? You know, and my wife is always telling me, like, you do that all the time. You know, you you have in your head, you're such a perfectionist, but you also know that you're not going to achieve perfection with your work. So then when you deliver it and take it somewhere, you're always second guessing it. And I think that's just part of being an artist, too, is that every piece we have, we take it somewhere and we go, oh, what if I would have? What if I could have? Oh, maybe I should have. But what you know what I mean? And so I think that's really the only thing is my reaction sometimes when I'm like, God, they really love this piece. Man, you go, see, you put everything you had into it, yeah, and it's showing. Now go make more pieces and improve on what you wanted to improve on with the new work, you know. But no, I've never really had a bad or unexpected uh reaction. No, I've had a lot of friends that have where they've ended up taking that piece home and then changing and developing things, but I've always kind of made sure that when I do a contract with people that buy work, there aren't changes allowed. It comes as it is.

SPEAKER_00: 35:12

There is something about the finality of leave work leaving the studio, where theoretically everything that's still here that has not yet been purchased or on its way out the door, still we could, right? Still could could go full perfectionist mode and make adjustments if we so desired. But once it leaves, then it's then it then it is gone. Yeah. I think you know, to Kirk's question, I um I have, you know, whatever, knock on wood, but I I haven't had anybody who has seen my work in person, especially for people that have bought it without you know laying eyes on it, you know, in real life. Um I've yet to have somebody who hasn't been much more you know excited about it in person. And I think that's probably uh hopefully that's a product of all art, but especially just the sculptural and layered nature of my work. Try as I might to take good photographs and good video. There's really no way to communicate, you know, um how that's going to play in different settings, different lighting, uh, until somebody has it, you know, in their in their own space. I'll share a couple of quick stories. One was um I had a collector who bought a number of pieces, and they just said they they I I love the feedback that comes not just when they see it for the first time, but to your point, after they've spent time with it. Yes. And this was probably about two months or so after they had uh gotten everything hung. And they just said, I just gotta tell you, these, these I I just love spent I just love being in this space. The spaces they hung them in a few different pieces in a couple different rooms. But they said, I just I love I love my space. I love my home more. But they put some in their home and some in some in their place of work, but I just love being here more because your work's yeah, I love that. Like, oh my gosh, that's that made I I floated for a good week off of that one. At another collector who said, This this might be my favorite, who told me that every time, this is probably five, six, seven months after they had um after they had received it, said every time I look at this piece, I notice something new. I notice something different. It affects me in a different way. And that's a big part of really what I'm trying to do with my work, you know, overall. So that was that was another you know highlight moment of a of a delivery from a to a collector. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 37:28

Well, and think about the fact that somebody buys your art and makes it the centerpiece of their home. Right. That to me, that's just an overwhelming, like joyful, like celebratory feeling that I get that just makes me so excited that somebody took me, you know, my soul, my work, my art, and they made it a centerpiece centerpiece of their home, the home, the place where everybody gathers, friends come over, family is united, whatever, like where you spend most of your time. And that's a centerpiece of focus in that intimate setting. Like that's just one of the most beautiful things on the planet to me.

SPEAKER_00: 38:08

Yeah. Yeah, I think um, well, this is a recent one. So Audrey Cha.

unknown: 38:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 38:14

She's a former mentee, right? Yes. Okay. Uh, so this this is a more recent one, you just reminded me of as well, but Audrey Cha, former you know, mentee of yours. Um, so it's kind of funny. So Audrey reached out a while ago and said, I've really got my eye on this piece, uh, would really would really love to have it in our home. And then her boyfriend Serge reached out and said, Hey, I know Audrey really wants this piece. I'd love to buy it for her birthday. And so we figured it out, got the shipping squared away. This one was was going to Canada. So again, fingers crossed that it gets through customs and everything like that. It did, thankfully, and arrived before her birthday. But just, you know, seeing that photo of you know where they hung it next to the other other work that they have in their home. It was just, I mean, that's there's there's nothing. I mean, to think that somebody thought enough of you know your work to want to give it as a gift, you know, for a for a birthday, something they've been wanting for a long time, like that's it doesn't get any better than that.

SPEAKER_02: 39:09

Well, yeah, and she sent me the picture the day they hung it too. Yeah. Which I thought was just which to me is just even just as cool, right? It's like, yeah, you know, one of your close friends is buying work from one of your other close friends, and and ooh la la, it's symbiotic and it's all perfect. That ooh la la was for Audrey and Serge, by the way. It wasn't for me.

SPEAKER_00: 39:28

I know French. Next question. This is a juicy one side. Joel Woodward. I'm an artist and an art teacher who's been living with unemployment this year. Luckily, I do have one teaching job this semester, but I usually have three. I've been cashing up my retirement fund to pay the rent, and in another two months, that money will be completely gone. I want to ask about any tips or affirmations you have about sticking with your work and not losing faith that you're on the right track. I'm really into the work I'm doing, and the work is the most determined and confident that it's ever been. How do you justify continuing to make art in the face of financial collapse? And do you have any advice on grants or other kinds of funding for artists that I could get access to in the next two months? Thank you both for all you do.

SPEAKER_02: 40:13

First of all, Joel, sorry that uh you've been living with unemployment this year, and I hope that things turn around for you as far as as far as work's concerned. Um, man, I I would say you answered your main question in your question, and you said, I'm really into the work I'm doing, and the work is the most determined and confident than it's ever been. Well, then you're on the right track.

SPEAKER_01: 40:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 40:40

Is what I would say. You need to keep going. If you're feeling that, then you're doing what you should be doing. If you're not feeling that, then I would be like, okay, it's time to explore and experiment to get to that feeling. You know, it's very rare that we feel really determined with our work. I think we can you can feel confident with work, but maybe not determined. And I think just that word in itself is telling me that you're really going in the right spot. So just keep going. Now, your next part here, how to justify continuing to make art in the face of financial collapse. You're in a really big percentage of artists out there with that. I can't tell you how many artists I know are just struggling to make ends meet, that are struggling to find ways to pay to make art. And I think you just gotta figure out how to keep making, even if it's not using the materials and things that you would want to use. You can be really inexpensive with materials. I've used sheets, I've used blankets, I've used, you know, coffee and tea, I've used Kool-Aid. I've I've found so many things in those moments when I had no money to buy canvas, to do the cardboard. I used to do tons of painting on cardboard and things because I can go behind a Walmart and get a ton of boxes and then take them home, cut them up, and sew them together and make cardboard canvases and things. Paper, you can buy big sheets of butcher paper, things that you could later glue onto canvas. You could do things later on with work that you can roll and kind of keep to the side. Now, grants and other kinds of funding. I don't know where you are, Joel. Um, but yes, there is plenty of funding and grants for artists. It's just a matter of taking the time to research them. Um, Artenda.net is a great resource that has a lot of different uh grants and things that you can find on that platform. But just search artist grants, emergency artist funding. That's the big one right there. Emergency artist funding. There are plenty of um national, local. This is I'm assuming you're in the US, but I'm not sure. But you can find things in the US and other places searching emergency artist funding, but you're gonna have to apply. So it's just like filling out paperwork for a grant. It's gonna take time. But if you need the money to make art, that's what these are specifically used for. Some are used for insurance, some are used to help you with rent, housing, that funding, and others are just for buying art supplies and making art. I hope that helps.

unknown: 43:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 43:13

So thanks again for being so transparent and vulnerable in your question, Joel. That's that's we really appreciate that. I think, you know, the the thing that sticks out to me about this tie, and I'd love to hear you speak to this as well, but the the thing that would cause me concern is just the the time frame. Like it's a it's a pretty tight time domain, you know. So I think some questions that I would ask myself if I was Joel would be, you know, what what would need to happen in the next two months with the work for you to be able to, you know, financially sustain and and keep keep the wheels on, you know, keep things afloat. I don't have any answers because obviously we don't know the specifics. This is actually where if we could do a live Q ⁇ A and we could ask some follow-up questions, it would actually be really, really interesting. So we're just going to make some assumptions or just maybe not make assumptions on pieces of information that we don't have. But that's a really tight time frame, you know, and so I don't know. I would be personally nervous about you know having only two months of operating finances uh before finding something else or another way to you know have money come in. I think that a question, again, just a question that we can't answer for you, but one to consider for yourself would be is the confidence and determination that you're experiencing with the work right now, is that dependent on you spending the additional time that you have right now in the studio, or could that be continued? Can you carry that momentum forward and sustain it even if you had to take on more teaching gigs or you know, find a way to in the in the for whatever the foreseeable future, you know, bring more money in versus burning up what you've got set aside?

SPEAKER_02: 44:59

I mean, I I've scrapped for a long time, right? And even early on in marriage when Mandy and I like had no clue what we were doing, you know, we were scrapping. I was working retail, she was working catering, like doing things we absolutely hated. But the whole time in my mindset was like, this is my patron. This is the thing that is paying for me to make art. So no matter how shitty it was at the time, it didn't really matter to me. I'd get up, I'd grind it out for you know eight hours in a freaking mall working retail, but in my head and at my breaks, I'm sketching and I'm writing notes, and I'm like, okay, this is what I'm gonna do when I have the time to make art and when I have the ability to put a little aside to buy some canvas, and I was buying really shitty canvas at the time too, because all I could afford, you know, the packs of four at Hobby Lobby because I couldn't afford anything else, you know, the 18 by 24s, but I I was painting, I was making art. So, you know, like Nathan said, like sometimes sometimes we just have to figure out something in the meantime to get us back on track with everything else. And I mean I can't tell you how many of the artist books I've read where this is an echoed story of making art on a roll setback, time away. Yeah, back to making art on a roll, two major setbacks. And then it's a year, it's six months, it's whatever. Like this is the hard part about being an artist is how bad do we want it? How much are we willing to sacrifice in those things to make it happen? And sometimes we have to do really crappy things for a while to get back to where we are just so that we can be making art. It's hard. I feel for you, I do. I've been there over the years, and so like I'm very grateful for where I am now, but it wasn't due to a lack of suffering and grinding and taking steps back only to take steps forward.

SPEAKER_00: 46:56

And we we should also mention, too, we we both still to this day have side hustles that we we do to help, you know, absolutely, you know, not have to put all the pressure on, you know, financial reward coming from the work itself. You know, good spot to be in where it doesn't take up the bulk of our time, but it's still something that, you know, the majority of artists, you know, working artists have other other things going on to where they're not putting all of the pressure. I mean, that's a very, very small percentage of a percentage of a percentage, you know, of artists that are purely, you know, supporting their life, their lifestyle on just their work alone.

unknown: 47:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 47:31

Well, and even some that are, they're just doing enough to get by. Right. No retirement. No investing in their future retirement. It's they're just selling enough work to get by, to pay rent, to have art supplies, to have the studio, and then that's it.

SPEAKER_00: 47:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 47:48

You know, so that that percentage of a percentage of a percentage that are actually have money for a long time put away because of their art making is like is so minuscule. Um, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00: 47:59

Next question, Ty, comes from Teresa who asks, How can an advocate help promote artists? I currently do a show about once a month for local artists.

SPEAKER_02: 48:07

Well, I mean, you are far and beyond a lot of advocates doing that. Like that is a like honestly, I I'll bet there are artists that are going, who the heck is this? How do I find Teresa? Where is she? What does she live near me? Because let me tell you, of the one thing that an artist desires more than anything in life is to show work, to have the chance and the ability to show their art, to be in a space with your work up. I would say keep doing what you're doing. Like, can you do some, uh do some group shows? Great way for you to meet more artists rather than just doing a show for one artist, doing some group shows, having some of the artists maybe apply in your local area that you've worked with before, or ask an artist, you've shown, hey, do you have any other artist friends that would fit what I'm doing? Then put together a group show with 10 or 15 artists. Now you're just building your network in a way that's you know getting more artists interested in the things that you're doing as an advocate. And I think figure out a way to do some little talks with those artists when you do a show. So maybe even if you did a solo show for one artist, bring an artist and a couple other people, maybe even a couple people who collect. My friend Jane Dameron that asked the question earlier, she has a term called the starving collector. And that's what she considers herself is somebody who she doesn't have the finance to just go out and buy art regularly. But she has such a passion of being an advocate for artists that she and her husband budget money to be able to buy art at the level they can buy it at. And there's times where there's work a little out of their financial range that they literally make it as, hey, let's sacrifice a few things that we're doing just so that we can. That's a starving collector. That's a big advocate. Maybe there's some starving collectors in your area that you can bring into the fold to do some talks about collecting art or why do you love collecting art? So not just focused on the artists themselves, but also the other parts of that local art world that are important too. So bringing in some starving collectors and people, maybe a professor from the local university who's an art history professor or something, but do some other things like that to bring more community into the fold as well. Because usually the struggle for a local art advocate in doing a show is filling that room when you have the show for the artist, is really getting a good crowd outside of your own network. I think that's your next step is how can you create a further ripple in your local pond and bring other people into the fold and what you're doing. But more power to you. Like that's amazing. I love it. Teresa Designs on Instagram, everybody. Who is in Oklahoma, it appears.

SPEAKER_00: 50:50

Teresa, you're about to get some probably some DMs from some local artists. Heck yeah. All right, so Ty, that kind of covers our questions in the sort of studio space, working, gallery, career advice categories. We've got some amazing questions that we're going to answer in part two on materials, process, emotions, challenges, self-doubt, and some really good quotes and uh book recommendations that people are asking for and sharing as well, along with some really interesting just assorted questions that cover the gamut. So join us for our will this be our next episode? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, let's say let's say yes. Join us for what will probably be our next episode of Just Make Art for part two of Questions and Answers. Yes. Bye. Bye.