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

This week's episode was prompted by a question from Kate, an Australian artist who asked: "Should you like your own work? Do you ever stop fighting that inner critic (and external critics) and just start enjoying the process?" We both believe that loving your own work is crucial, touch on how we evaluate our work (and the importance of doing so) and share our feelings about where we find ourselves...

This week, we’re considering the shifts that we see happening in our artist communities. As galleries closed and art fairs were cancelled, many artists began to look for different ways of selling art.. Many are setting up (or re-designing) websites or sending out their first newsletter or getting more active on social media and we are both thrilled to see it. We have both long been huge advocates...

As the UK lockdown continues, we discuss the unfolding situation and the continual emotional shifts we are all experiencing. Here in Britain we are seeing some of our most well-known artists responding in different ways. Tracy Emin wrote an online diary; David Hockney is making new paintings; and Grayson Perry is filming a new TV show designed to encourage people to make art. We ask whether these...

This week, we are joined by special guest Karen Stamper. Karen is an accomplished painter and collage artist with a special passion for sketchbooks. She teaches workshops in person and online and in this episode, we pick her brains about helping adults loosen up, have fun and learn. As a former art teacher in high schools, Karen has an interesting perspective on the difference between adult studen...

This week, we are joined by a special guest. Laura Horn is an Australian abstract artist who is also a successful podcaster, teacher and businesswoman. Over the years, she has worked to establish a regular art practice and build a full-time business while also juggling responsibilities as a wife and mother.  In this episode, we learn how Laura turned a short sabbatical from her office job int...

This episode is a little different, Usually we record with hundreds of miles separating us, but this week, we take a rare opportunity to meet up and spend some time chatting about studio spaces, art careers and whatever else comes up. We drink tea, drive through London, and eat sugared chickpeas while we geek out about recording equipment, discuss the importance of resilience, and visit both of Al...

This week, we’re discussing comfort zones. This is a phrase coined by a business consultant called Alasdair White who described it as: “a psychological state in which things feel familiar to a person, and they are at ease, and in control of their environment, experiencing low levels of anxiety and stress. In this zone, a steady level of performance is possible.” That doesn’t sound too bad does it?...

If you are an artist, this is the time of year when you start to hear about CVP, the online 12-week course taught by Nicholas Wilton. (Full name: The Creative Visionary Program). We have both taken this course in the past and Alice now works as a CVP coach. In this extra episode, we discuss our own personal experiences with the program and answer some of the questions that we are most frequently a...

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Do you find that your painting time is being eaten up by admin and emails and marketing and social media ... not to mention spouses and kids and parents and pets?  Even when we love what we do, it can be stressful to cope with competing demands on our time. This week Alice is fiercely protecting her painting time despite pressure to do other things, while Louise...

This week's episode was inspired by a question from an artist who wrote: "I can draw well, and I paint in watercolour and acrylics but my style is all over the place. How can I find a style and settle on it?" We discuss whether you need to settle on a specific style, or whether it's OK to have multiple strings to your bow. Perhaps this varies depending on your goals for your art. We also share our...

This week's chat was inspired by Michael Neill's book "Creating the Impossible." The book, which is subtitled "A 90 Day Program to Get Your Dreams Out of Your Head and into the World," argues that we can accomplish more than we ever imagined without the constant stress and pressure associated with high achievement and asks "what if creating what you want to see in the world isn’t dependent on...

Louise is flying solo as Alice prepares for an art fair. Many artists dread the idea of marketing, but this week, Louise shares her belief that marketing doesn't have to feel pushy or unpleasant. With content marketing, it can be as simple as  letting people know what you're up to. In this episode, she shares the lessons she learned from corporate marketing including why documenting is so muc...

This week American artist Nicholas Wilton returns to discuss the question: "what do you wish you had known 10 years ago?" Our discussion ranges from materials and brushes, to deeper more personal realisations, including tough lessons about authenticity, the need to find your own process, and the importance of relaxing into who are you really are. We also discuss our experiences as teachers and the...

This is our one-year anniversary. When we started the podcast, it felt like quite a risk ... neither of us had any idea how to make a podcast and we had to figure it all out on the fly. Reflecting back on the last year sparked a discussion about courage inspired by the Brene Brown book "Daring Greatly."  The title for her book came from this Teddy Roosevelt quote: "It is not the critic who co...

At one time or another, most of us have considered giving up making our art. In this episode, we share our own experiences and discuss why this feeling arises. Perhaps we have ambitions that exceed our current skill level and this leads to disappointment with the results. Sometimes, we are not creating what we really want to create, leading to boredom and burn-out. It is also common for people to...

In our first episode of 2020, we tackle the idea of success. Many of us have been planning for the new year, but what is it that we want to achieve? Is money the ultimate measure of success? Is recognition more important? What about our success as a friend or spouse or parent? In this episode, we dig into our own personal definitions and, as with most things, we find that there is no one right ans...

We had planned to take break this week, but we just couldn't do it! So, here we are with a bonus episode all about preparing for a new year. This year, we are taking very different approaches - Alice is relaxing into letting things happen in an easy way, while Louise has spent some time defining clear goals and then breaking them down into scheduled tasks. This is a reversal of roles from prior ye...

The last module of Louise’s Find Your Voice course is all about risk and adventure. Alice has just been on an adventure of her own - one that Louise also could have experienced but chose not to. This week, we discuss how important risk and adventure are in our work and in our lives. Can we have one without the other? Do we tend to take risks in some areas of our lives while avoiding them in others...

Rachel Davis joins Louise as a special guest this week for a fascinating mindset discussion.. Rachel is an artist, a practicing psychologist, and a creativity coach, making her especially qualified to discuss this week's topic - imposter syndrome. First identified in 1978, this is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a fear of being exposed as a "frau...

As artists sometimes we are not that organised... we like to be free spirits, right? But this really doesn't work if we want to move our careers forward and take advantage of all the opportunities available to us. This week, we discuss our own approaches to planning for events such as exhibitions, contests, art fairs and workshops. Louise admits that she has missed out several times because of a l...

This week, we're diving into a topic we've both wondered about ... how much should we share? If we let people in to all aspects of our creative process, does our art lose its mystery? Do collectors really want to see the good, the bad and the ugly of our artistic process? And what about sharing with other artists? Should we keep some things as trade secrets? If we share everything, are we worried...

This week, we welcome a special guest.  Nicholas Wilton is a Californian painter who also runs a successful online art course called The Creative Visionary Program (a course both Alice and Louise have taken in the past). Nicholas has an unusual take on the age-old topic of selling art  - and it's one that might surprise you. In this special conversation, we discuss his counter-intuitive...

As the holidays approach, we discuss how you can encourage others to give your art as a gift (or to ask for your art as a gift). The challenge, of course, is that art is a highly personal choice, so buyers might be concerned about "getting it wrong." We put our heads together and came up with a range of tips and tricks designed to make it easy and risk-free for someone to give your art to a loved...

This week we’re discussing art fairs. We both have a slightly different perspective on these events - one of our rare disagreements - so today we’re tackling it head on. Louise asks: “Are art fairs really a viable sales vehicle for most of us? Or are many artists paying high fees to rent space without earning a return on the investment?  We debate our differing viewpoints and discuss how you...

Today's special guest believes creatives best get clear "with our mouths open" . Talking, and more importantly, listening is key to her role as a coach.  Judith Morgan has been coaching for 15 years and Alice's coach - rather on a whim - for the past 5 years and today we are talking about what exactly coaching involves, sharing some of the practices which have helped many different creative e...