Art Juice: A podcast for artists, creatives and art lovers

It's kind of magical how one thread of an idea can carry through so many different projects in so many different ways. And for Kellee Wynne Conrad that has been colour (or color!) With a Virtual Art Summit coming in June 2021 listen how this single focus has lead her through creating courses, memberships and a book deal. Having this focus has helped Kellee through what she calls 'the curse of all...

This week, we’re discussing Louise’s story with Alice leading the conversation. We track back through Louise’s life and discuss the touchpoints - three key moments when things shifted for her.  These include moving back from New York to Yorkshire, meeting Alice and following her instincts, and finding a life coach who helped her move past her limiting beliefs.  We also discuss Louise’s j...

Have you ever wondered how we came to be doing what we're doing? If so, the next two episodes are for you. This week, we're diving into Alice's story, in a conversation led by Louise. You'll learn all about Alice's journey from graphic design to a full-time career as an artist, and what exactly that entails. We travel through Alice's past, talk about the role depression played in making her an art...

Recently, we both launched a series of paintings via our websites, and in this episode, we discuss the experience and what we learned. For both of us, this was a relatively new experience - Alice usually launches her new works at in-person events and Louise has traditionally added paintings to her website on an ad-hoc basis, rather than as a series. Both our launches went well, and we hope our exp...

This week we're celebrating our one millionth podcast download, something neither of us imagined when we started. And it made us think about expectations ... where do they come from? What effect do they have? And how can we learn to manage them? During the course of the discussion, we unpick the difference between intentions and expectations and discuss whether Shakespeare had it right when he dec...

We start today's discussion with a quote from artist Chuck Close, who said "inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work." This sounds a little confrontational, but the he continues with an explanation: "If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightening to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come o...

Scott Denholm is a rapidly emerging and award winning ocean artist, living on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. It was his love of the natural world and previous work which first inspired his art, and also to find ways of making better choices for less impact on the environment. He has gathered a decade of research into The Artist Guide to Eco Friendly Art. We asked, and you had questions; lots of th...

Probably! We all are to some extent... After all, it's not unusual to enjoy it when other people like our work. However there are times it can become a problem and block you from moving forward.  We discuss times when we have been guilty of making work with too much consideration for what other people may think of it and have some ideas about how to spot when this may be having a detrimental...

This week, Louise is joined by special guest Lewis Noble. Lewis is a UK-based contemporary landscape painter with a unique style and a well-established reputation. He exhibits widely and has been teaching workshops for over 15 years.  In this episode, we discuss his approach to abstracting from reality, a unique process that involves a combination of plein air painting and studio work. Our wi...

This week, we're discussing the challenges of finding time to make our art when we all have so much else going on. Many of us balance family, work and art-making and then somewhere in there, we also need to find time to market the work and manage the admin side of things. This means posting on social media, managing a website, keeping inventory, dealing with galleries, communicating with buyers, p...

This week, we're diving into the world of Instagram. This is perhaps the most popular social media platform for artists, but it can feel overwhelming, confusing or just downright frustrating. What are the right hashtags? Why do some posts do better than others? How can you increase your following? Do your clothes have to match your paintings? And what on earth is a reel? In this wide-ranging discu...

We recorded this episode in response to a listener question about the ways in which we both use sketchbooks. The ensuing discussion demonstrated how different we are in this regard. Louise uses many of her sketchbooks as judgement-free playgrounds, places in which to relax and explore while Alice does this kind of work on loose sheets of paper and keeps her sketchbook for a more thoughtful develop...

This week's main topic was inspired by some recent events within online art communities. These included an anonymous letter intended to hurt and intimidate one artist, an ill-informed discussion of Cy Twombley's work, and an angry email that turned out to be the result of a mistake. We discuss how our attitudes shape our experience of the world. It is true that our assumptions often determine not...

This week, we are joined by representational painter Gabriel Lipper who has been painting professionally for over 20 years and teaching for more than 15 years. In this conversation, we discuss Gabe's transition from classical figurative work to a much looser style that brings in elements of abstraction and he shares his reasoning for making this move. During our chat, we learn about Gabe's passion...

This week, we're digging into the subject of abstract and non-objective art. We consider the different types of abstraction, from its beginnings with Hilda F. Klimt through the abstract expressionists and their focus on emotion, all the way to the more conceptual modern day abstraction. We also consider where to draw the line between art and simply making marks, and we share our own experiences wi...

This week saw us both experiencing self-doubt brought on by limiting beliefs. This inspired us to create a list of the most common beliefs that we feel hold artists back. This is so important, because these beliefs are often unspoken and we might even experience them, not as beliefs but as facts of life. When this happens, we don't even realise there is anything we can do about them. By bringing t...

This week our special guest is Californian artist and Art2Life founder Nicholas Wilton. Nick has been helping artists to raise their game for many years and he has been a pivotal figure in both our careers. In this conversation, we discuss what it takes to elevate your work, whether talent has anything to do with success, and the magic that can happen when you start to make unique and personal wor...

Have you found your creative well has run dry of inspiration? Especially recently? This week we have two projects to share with you which will help inspire and re-invigorate your art. The 100-day project was started by the designer Michael Beirut and has since become an annual free global art project for creatives. Just pick an action, do it consistently for 100 days and share it. Today we meet Li...

This week, we answer a listener question from Maxine, who asked about the best ways to sell art online. This is a huge topic and perhaps a little ambitious for a one-hour episode, but we decided to give it our best shot! In a wide-ranging discussion, we discuss the importance of a website and email list as a "home base" for your marketing, so that no matter where people find you, they can sign up...

As working artists, we have both used social media to build an audience and make sales. In this episode, we discuss how we approached social media when we first started, what we learned along the way, and how it plays into our marketing strategies today. This is an honest and open discussion that includes what we didn't understand, what we got wrong, and where we still need to improve. But having...

As we look ahead we ask if the creative space you have suits the artist you want to become and look at some ideas to help you grow. This week we're discussing the pros and cons of our different studio set-ups. Louise has a studio in her garden while Alice recently took the leap and rented a large studio away from her home. As our discussion reveals, there are pros and cons to both arrangements. Fo...

As we develop our plans for the coming year, we dive into a discussion about our goals. This episode was recorded two weeks in advance, so it’s early in our planning process, but we already have some ideas forming. Our discussion includes how we each use Trello as an organisation tool; the value of clear mission statements; and the role of limiting beliefs (how much do we shape what’s possible thr...

Last year we ran a special event called Your Best Art Year Ever, in which we led 3,500 people through a planning process to ensure that 2020 would indeed be their best year ever. Of course then Covid came along and threw everything up in the air. Nevertheless, life continued and this week, we’re looking back on our plans to see where they went well, where we had to change course, and whether we le...

This week, we feature our third positive lockdown story - this time, our guest is American artist Rachel Davis, who transformed her attitude and her art business when Covid forced the closure of an important show and the cancellation of all her plans. Initially depressed and listless, Rachel was inspired into action after a friend held a successful online event. Despite her lack of technology expe...

This week's episode was inspired by two different listener questions. Cathie asked whether likability matters when it comes to appreciating art (for example, does it matter that Gauguin might not have been the nicest person?). Meanwhile, Pam asked how much she has to reveal about herself in order to sell her work. We decided it would be interesting to debate this idea of the artist persona and how...