artchatter with Gaynor Leverett-Jaques & Karen George

How to show? Hang it all, go solo or team up with beautiful collaborators? Whatever you do, do it with generosity of spirit and a smile on your face! This week’s links and mentions: Image by Photo by Brigitta Schneiter on Unsplash Maya Angelou: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Luke Holcombe h...

What are we all trying to achieve? We have so many to-do lists, time pressures, work pressures, life pressures… and so many of us are spinning.  Can we take time to breathe? Focus, prioritise and just let ourselves be for a few minutes..? This week’s links and mentions:  Photo by Rowan Freeman on Unsplash Kellee Wynne Studios https://www.kelleewynnestudios.com Stu McLaren Cam Valley Arts Trail Abo...

How do we all handle failure? How many rejections can we deal with - do they make you stronger or knock your confidence? Do we learn or feel dejected? There’s always something to learn and we grow-so let’s do it together!  Luckily (well, maybe not!) Karen and Gaynor have experienced it all… so here we go, let’s all hold hands and fail spectacularly together!  This week’s links and mentions:  Image...

Sometimes life is a bit of a slog. We drag ourselves to the studio, to events, …to no avail! What to do when everything is an effort, nothing is going quite to plan and we hit a patch of despondency. Luckily, your friends, Karen and Gaynor have had those moments and have ideas about how to switch up the plan, lift the mindset and get back on the horse (enough clichés for you?). We’d like to thank...

Let’s be honest, there are some things we all like to “manage” and “steer”. We want events -and artwork- to go a certain way, can any of us actually relax and go with the flow? Do you have lots of chaotic moments, but need to control the end results? Are you a genuine collaborator or do you tweak the final edit to your own liking?  In this week’s episode Gaynor and Karen realise they aren’t at com...

Do you consider yourself an artist? Do you get to call yourself an artist even when you’re not painting, taking a break or working in paid employment as well? This week’s podcast was inspired by an Instagram Post by Harry Martell - he got us thinking about why when artists have a paid job too they may consider their artist credentials “less than”. What qualifies the word and our work?  As two peop...

We can all have those racing thoughts and going-nowhere ideas, but when you’re a solo artist, hiding away in your studio space, who do you turn to? Who do you share and bounce ideas off?  Sometimes it takes a friend, accountability partner or mentor to hold a mirror up to us to realise just how much we’re capable of. Are you part of a mastermind group, do you love your mentor? Who’s championing yo...

Everyone else is doing ALLLL the stuff, they’re all great, but how do we get back into the groove when our mojo mosies off? As always, Karen and Gaynor have some ideas to share!  Thanks for listening, do follow on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to be notified when each episode drops (and let us know what you think with a review) Episode Links:  Photo by  Andrew Neel  on  Unsplash @karenvenio_art  Extra...

When you think of a big challenge, do you revel in the idea? Do you rub your hands together and relish the task … or do you fight self-doubt, second-guess yourself and tell yourself everyone else is better than you anyway?! This week we ponder why we don’t see ourselves as others do. Why do they see us as braver than we sometimes feel - and how do we take the leap of faith? Thanks millions to our...

Karen went VIRAL!!! What does this mean? Is she now a superstar with a millionty billion followers?? Yeah…nooooooo. Not so much.  In a keeping it real (as opposed to reel) chat we look at the benefits and downsides of the socials.  Thank you for your patience during our tech hitch, and as always, thanks for listening. Do follow the podcast to avoid any future slightly delayed episodes! Episode Lin...

Oops! Unfortunately dear friends, there’s a technical issue so please pop back tomorrow for the real thing!

How lucky are we that we get the chance to do this all again… but with the benefit of hindsight! What happened last year that lit you up? Which events felt like fun, what’s on the ‘loved it’ list and what went on the ‘never ever ever again in my whole life’ list? Join us as we talk about doing more of what lights us up. Let's make 2024 your success because it’s full of the good stuff. Episode...

“Nothing that is meant for you will pass you by” a great reminder to us from a younger artist we shared space with recently: things will happen if you can keep the faith, keep going and remember to do whatever it takes to maintain a positive attitude to your art practice, finding your audience and community. Episode Links: Photo by Abbat on Unsplash @studio44AD @ruththorpestudio @easyframe @gemmas...

We all do things out of obligation, make ourselves do things we’d really rather not and keep going regardless of our heavy hearts! But, should we? Do we have to? Why not choose to do the things that are fun-which immediately improves the chance of success. What if (this is radical-so hear us out!) we ONLY did things that light us up, make us happy and bring some fun into our work time? Wouldn’t th...

Busy! Busy! Busy! Rushing to all the art events, open houses, open studios, art trails, Christmas things: prep, selling, posting out, updating the website, posting on insta (reels… carousels… oh and heck did I do story thing?)  …and then… Post Event Collapse Syndrome (it’s a thing) PECS or a blinking great SLUMP…  Let’s get through this together!!  Episode Links: @studio44AD About the podcast Gayn...

“You DID NOT say yes to THAT” seems to be on repeat in our heads… is it just us that can’t say no?! While it’s lovely to step in to help, sometimes priorities have to be acknowledged, work needs to get done and “not today” “no thank you” and “I’m busy” become well rehearsed mantras! If you enjoy artchatter, please give us a like and share 💕 Episode links: Photo by Camylla Battani on Unsplash Anna...

The guilt of success. It’s a real thing…like survivors’ guilt but the whole doing well when someone else in the room isn’t. Do you cringe either when an arts trail is going great for you, or when it isn’t… Veering off track a little and giving tips on engagement, being present and generally having fun at real in-person events, because, let’s face it, it’s That Season! Episode links: Photo by Fotos...

There’s a chronic condition many artists suffer from-and it’s contagious. Do you, or someone you know suffer from comparisonitis ?  Do you have insta-fatigue, art trail alarm, everyone’s-doing-better-than-me-attack, or I-can’t-do-this malaise? Here at the artchatter podcast emergency room we may not have a cure, but we do have some great ideas to prevent it and some tips to help assuage the rising...

Let’s talk collabs.  Working together, working together but apart, sharing space, exhibiting with friends, inspiring each other… can it work? Why does it work? …and would you risk your arty friendships to stretch yourself?  We’ve watched our lovely friend artist Bron Jones collaborate with more than one other artist…all hands on engagement and sky high talent. She’s kindly shared her thoughts on t...

The life of an artist can be very complicated. It sounds like a breeze doesn’t it, happily painting, but reality is there’s lots to consider - not limited to health and safety! We also chat free courses, paid courses, online learning and when to just stop signing on to everything! (Maybe that’s just Gaynor).  Episode Links: Photo by  Rob Wicks  on  Unsplash Combe Down Arts Trail   http://www.cdart...

While many of us can rely on family to LOVE that we’re creative, the ones we love often aren’t the audience for our work. They’re not our buyers. Sometimes they’ll buy a small piece or two as we step into the abyss of social media, galleries, websites, art trails and all the other scary unknowns. Then we’re on our own. Where to find our people…the ones who fall in love with our work? Once we’ve fo...

Are you too late? Too late to start something new, to jump onto the new thing, is everyone else doing what you thought of a few years ago, but didn’t get around to and now you feel you just can’t? Ugh. Right? Actually, no. You do you. When you’re ready. Anytime could be your right time to get on board, jump in or get to paddling. Warning: this episode contains mixed metaphors. Do leave us an hones...

🎶🎵“It’s beginning to look a lot like… 🎄” 🎶🎶 Erm… soooo this is awks BUT hear us out! All the big conglomerates and high street chains will be dragging out their tinsel with no shame as soon as the next month hits. They have mega expensive plans and goals and targets and all those things that make many an arty type cringe. But… what about us? Flailing to catch up as November screeches in?! Ohh...

How do you summer? Are you basking in pools, drinking exotic cocktails and completely switched off, … or manically wrangling children, grandchildren, dogs, cats and longingly eyeing your pencils and paint? Or are you able to embrace your sketchbook and sit, people watching, sketching and looking super bohemian? (The last one is my dream 😉) Maybe you’re all of the above, or non of those things… an...

We all know that feeling (not just us, surely?) when we can’t move a painting forward… worse-can’t start a painting, or worst thing ever-can’t even face stepping into our studio space.  Gahhhhhhh WHAT TO DO? Worry not, dear friend, we’ve got ideas. We’ve got ideas because we have been there…  As always, if you enjoy spending time with us, do let your friends know… share on the socials and follow u...