Artist Academy

This week’s episode is yet another addition to the Quit Your Day Job series, where I interview current members of the Artist Academy to discuss how they recently quit their day jobs to pursue art full-time. Making that leap into full-time creativity after spending years working for someone else can be a rollercoaster of emotions, but Summer Paradiso is handling it with supreme optimism. Summer joi...

This week’s episode features professional calligrapher, author, and educator Margaret Shepherd . Throughout her 55-year career, Margaret’s calligraphy is currently in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum, the Rare Books Department of the Boston Public Library, along with freelance work for multiple colleges and law firms. She has taught workshops and given live calligraphy demonstrations to ar...

We are ending our two-month-long mural podcast theme by saving two of the best for last. Christian Stanley is the artist behind CStanleyCreative , and his wife, Jessica Stanley, is the marketing mind behind it all. In this interview, we chat about the specific roles both Christian and Jessica take on to grow their mural business. From getting a jumpstart in 2021 to now, just a few years later, the...

I’m declaring this week Up-and-Coming Young Artist Week. I sat down with a couple of relatively young muralists recently who have a lot of spirit, and I think you’ll enjoy hearing their stories. This episode features 17-year-old Maddie Deiters . Despite being only 17, Maddie has painted thousands of square feet of murals in multiple states. She’s a go-getter! What I took from this is that there is...

I’m declaring this week "Up-and-Coming Young Artist Week." I recently sat down with a couple of relatively new muralists who have a lot of spirit, and I think you’ll enjoy hearing their stories. This episode features 23-year-old muralist Ana Gabriele Honsowetz, aka Ana the Artist . She shares her journey into full-time creativity and the hoops she has to jump through to make muraling a profitable...

This week’s episode is a coaching call with Artist Academy member Jessa Aber . She is one of the many artists I have met who are doing all the right things: sharing photos, making videos, pitching ideas, following up with potential customers, etc. But even though her efforts are good, combined with working a full-time job, there’s little time to stretch past her current situation. Jessa lives in a...

This week’s episode of the Artist Academy Podcast features muralist Jolene Rose Russell . Jolene’s professionalism stood out to me when I first spoke with her, and in this interview, we dive into how that trait trickles into her mural business. There’s such a fine line between being creative yet professional, a free-spirited artist yet someone who shows up on time and does what they say they’re go...

This week for a special May Mural Month episode I decided to bring back an interview I did 4 years ago with Mural Joe. You know how everybody has those *kinda famous* people they look up to in the industry? Mural Joe is one of those for me. His tutorial videos combined with his discipline to keep painting and making videos for so long in order to grow his business and better his skills at the same...

This week’s episode features muralist Chera Brooker . After we got off the interview, Chera and I both agreed that we would likely hang out if we lived in close proximity to each other. She’s my kind of creative personality. You’re going to get a lot of good vibes from this interview, along with hearing us geek out over creating videos to promote our painting. Chera shares her process for creating...

This week for a special May Mural Month episode I decided to bring back an interview from 3 years ago with muralist Pamela Kellough . I remember this being one of my most favorite interviews from 2021. Pamela has such a warmth about her which made talking with her such a delight.  She is almost 70 now and still muraling. If anyone has ever tried painting large scale for any amount of tim...

This week’s episode features multi-passionate business owner and creator Gretchen Leggitt . This woman has my heart with her multifaceted pursuits in business. I  really  enjoy talking with muralists, but give me a muralist with a thriving side business on top of it and I can feel the excitement bubbling within my brain.  You know how when you paint a mural with dimensions that are...

This week for a special May Mural Month episode I decided to bring back an interview I did 5 years ago with a muralist I started out working under. Melvin Lovejoy and I met on the job site of Bass Pro Shops. The very first memory that pops into my head when I think of Melvin is when we were working together at a store near Vancouver, British Columbia. A really big wall needed to be painted with an...

This week’s episode features international street artist Peachzz (aka Megan Russell). You’ll hear Megan tell her story of how she got started with murals (using spray paint) with a theme of birds and wildlife. Her style evolved into also painting the human form, and fast forward to today with one that blends into both human and nature. Megan got her start by applying to mural/street art festi...

This week for a special May Mural Month episode I decided to bring back an interview I did 5 years ago with a muralist I started out working under. Susan Watkins is an Alaskan artist who paints beautiful nature scenes. We met on the job site of Bass Pro Shops and the memory pops in my head first is one where Susan and I were sharing a small lift while painting waves on an extremely tall wall. She...

This week’s featured muralist for May Mural Month is none other than Anat Ronen . She was highly requested within members of Artist Academy, so we sat down to chat about murals. She’s been painting full time since 2008 and had a lot of tips to give. If you follow Anat on social media, and I highly request you do in order to see the quality of her product, you’ll see her share tidbits of some of he...

This week’s episode is a jumpstart on our upcoming May Mural Month where I’m focusing on everyone’s favorite subject: MURALS. Here are some common questions along with a couple free resources to help: “Painting murals looks intimidating. I don’t even know where to start.” -   Come join the upcoming Missouri Mural Meetup on June 6th-9th for a hands-on learning experience! You can also check ou...

This week’s episode features painter, writer, musician, and creativity coach Lauren Spangler . Lauren helps artists find the sweet spot between passion and prosperity. Lauren’s mission is to empower artists to enjoy the creative freedom they crave without sacrificing the financial stability they depend upon. She has helped hundreds of professionals set and achieve their goals, and now she’s here t...

This week’s episode is a coaching call with Artist Academy member Samantha Brown. My favorite question to get from students is, “How do I get mural jobs?” Oh boy, do I have some advice for you! Samantha is just getting started in her muraling journey, having only painted murals in her home as a trial run. She knows who her target customer is (schools) so we work out a plan to start getting those t...

This week’s episode features artist Chanelle Jefferson . Chanelle is based in rural Nova Scotia where she regularly sells her original canvas paintings and hosts retreats. She is an energy, mind, and emotions practitioner, which she uses to help guide her customers through the process of commissioning a very special and meaningful piece of art. Chanelle uses her skills to extract the right informa...

This week’s episode features Texas artist Bryan Peterson . This is not your typical business talk but rather a reminder to create the art that makes you happy. Art that evokes emotion within the artist and creates excitement within the process. We take it back to the basics of drawing/painting because you love it rather than to make a dollar. If the product is great, the customers will buy. But wh...

This week’s episode is part of a coaching call with Artist Academy member Sheryl Corriveau . She asks me questions that revolve around how to kickstart her mural business to eventually quit her day job and be a full-time creative. Sheryl was recently trained on how to be an official Bob Ross paint party instructor, which I think is not only really cool but a great way to start bringing in income....

This week’s episode features New York artist ELLE . She’s been featured in a variety of different high-profile brand collaboration projects and has traveled around the world painting murals. I always give the advice of doing a free mural or two to get practice/photos to advertise later, but ELLE got her start painting, not just for free, but illegally on the streets of New York. She put her art in...

This week’s episode features sculptor/ceramicist Curt Hammerly . Curt sold and shipped over 5,000 pieces of work this past year at about $100 per item. You do the math, but this dude has the credibility to be giving us all advice on growing a social media following and making sales. With over 350,000 followers on Instagram, it’s best to listen when he gives tips on audience growth. Lucky for you,...

This week’s episode features abstract artist Jenna Kast . This is yet another interview with an artist who has a completely different perspective on creating than I do: she thinks about the art first and the money follows. I tend to find myself thinking about how I’m going to sell a canvas before I create it, but not Jenna. She spent the early part of her career creating for others so that when sh...

‘Tis the season for taxes. Hannah Cole, artist and owner of Sunlight Tax, was kind enough to come on the podcast and answer some of the most common questions like: How should I file? When should I hire a tax professional? What items can I list as an expense/deduction? Listen to hear answers to these questions and be sure to check out her extremely helpful resources below: The Sunlight Podcast: Cle...