Tough on Art

Art Practice & Promotion in these Weird Times Join Jen and members of her artist community for a casual and insightful conversation about creating and promoting art in these difficult times. We discuss how to feel that your work has meaning and purpose in these challenging times, how to keep showing up in the studio when things seem dark, and how to keep promoting your work through it all. Aft...

Today I chat with abstract expressionist painter Natalie Dadamio, who has a very special view on art, art making, and the business of art. We discuss a lot about how art and spirituality intermingle, can heal, and the power of vulnerability and authenticity. Natalie embraced the Artist Alliance's 100 Rejections Challenge, and discusses how it empowered her and opened her up to new possibiliti...

Jen talks with Austin based artist Laura Klopfenstein, discussing what it's like to work full time in the science world, be a mom, and create her strange and beautiful pieces (often that contain teeth!). Laura creates collages and paintings that are intricate and curious, often reflecting her science-based life. Her work can be subtly political and often humorous, with subjects about climate...

Today Jen Tough dives into the most common mistakes artists make and gives a variety of simple solutions and helpful advice on how to avoid them. The top mistakes are: 1. Out of date website 2. Confusing online name identification 3. Not networking enough 4. Not entering enough juried shows 5. Not having a spreadsheet to keep track of gallery approaches 6. Not having a simple annual marketing plan...

Today my guest is Gina Tuzzi , one of my favorite artists (and humans). Gina lives in Blue Lake, California and teaches art at Humboldt State University. Gina was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California, has an MFA from Mills College in Oakland, and a BA from Humboldt State University. Gina's paintings are both magical and energetic: her bright saturated palette with complex detailed and dr...

In this episode, Jen Tough answers questions from artists about how to get art galleries. Unscripted and off the cuff! Sign up for Jen's April 24th live workshop (via Zoom), " The Tough Method for Getting Galleries ". You'll have a chance to ask questions relevant to you and your situation, get email scripts, a spreadsheet template, a printable workbook, and more! Go to JenToug...

On today’s show, I’ll be speaking to Marie Cameron. Marie Iis a realist painter and mixed media assemblage artist living and working in Los Gatos, California. Her work ranges from large scale realist paintings with images from the natural world, some creating a repetitive kaleidoscopic image, others that involve quiet contemplation such as birds perched on dainty teacups. During the pandemic, Mari...

Laurie Blessen lives in San Francisco and focuses on minimalist, color-field monotypes. Her works are bright and bold, with rectangular or square fields bumping against each other while intermingling with more delicate textures and pattern. Reminiscent of aerial views of landscapes and fields, Laurie says she creates with intuition leading the way.  She says the “magic happens” when a 1500 pound s...

Unscripted and "off the cuff Tough" for episode 9 of Gallerist Q&A! Questions include: Making prints, and does it devalue work Pricing on websites How to get a gallery Best online places to sell Are online shows worth it? And more! Submit your own question here and it may be answered on the podcast! https://airtable.com/shrCGnbW4gHtctcKa Become a member of one of Jen's artist co...

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Ellen Dieter’s interest in art began at an early age. After graduating high school, she began traveling in between studies at the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Cooper School of Art. llen settled in Paris, France for over a decade and studied part time at L’Ecole des Art Appliqué. Over the years, Ellen has worked as a seamstress/designer in a leather shop, a...

Today Jen does another artist interview with Bay Area artist Liz Steketee. We discuss moving to California from the midwest, how her photography has evolved over time, motherhood, exhaustion and how to keep going with your work, how mothers who are artists tend to get less attention in the art world simply because they are mothers, and why one of her favorite sayings is "plant the bulbs now&q...

All artists know the importance of showing their artwork. But what about showing themselves? Ask most artists, and you'll get.... "ugh". Today Jen talks with therapist and artist Dr. Dee Tivenan, EdD, MFT about the anxiety of showing up online, showing ourselves, selfie culture, and how it can cause, well.... dread. Dee presents easy to follow tips and tricks to help alleviate this...

Bay Area artist Karl X Hauser joins Jen for a conversation about his long career in art. Karl creates narrative drawings and sculptures that are quirky, playful but also a little dark. His characters spring from his imagination, and seem to be up to childlike antics, but always with a slightly sinister edge.  Working in materials such as cast metals, kiln formed glass, wire and nails, and keeping...

Miriam Hitchcock is a California based artist, mother and teacher, who has had a fascinating and prestigious career that has taken her from San Francisco, to Yale to Italy and back again. We dig into the "boys club" that was present in the east coast art scene when she was there, living in Italy, the east coast vs. west coast critiques, the "camp" of abstraction, motherhood, an...

Artist Tom Owen joins gallerist Jen Tough for a fun and casual conversation about his life and work. Tom is part of the roster of Jen Tough Gallery. Tom and Jen met five years ago when he responded to a call for entry for a show called Guilty Pleasures. Tom is an art collector and painter living in northern Kentucky, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. We nerd-out on spreadsheets and their powe...

Take away some great tips from two seasoned artists who are also married and run a thriving art business. It's a casual conversation (pre-pandemic) with artists Diane Williams and Chuck Potter, who are some of the hardest working artists we know. They both maintain prolific painting practices, work full time, are addicted to art collecting, and also run a thriving art workshop business. We di...

One of the most common questions artists have is about achieving gallery representation. In this episode, I present three ways to improve your chances of representation: research, connection and understanding the actual mechanics of selling art and how a gallery operates. I also cover the importance of maintaining a database to track your approaches, the best way to maintain a positive relationshi...

Discussing the ideas behind emerging and re-emerging artists, older artists and marketing, painting the edges of your painting, concern about too many creative directions, online sales, and switching gears in your art making.  Visit the gallery website: www. JenTough.gallery Ask a question for the podcast: www. ToughonArt.com Join the Artist Alliance: ArtistAllianceMembership.com

How many times a day do artists think this to themselves? This thought happens on the micro (with each new change to a piece of work) as well as on the macro (a whole career).  In this shorty episode, Jen talks unscripted about how to take more risks with art marketing (and maybe not hate it quite as much) if we throw the "this may not work" fear into the trashcan. Maybe there are some n...

" Different is better than better". Author and all around deep thinking marketer and branding expert Sally Hogshead coined this term. She argues that "different is better than better" because better is transient.  But what does “different is better than better” mean for artists? In this episode, art dealer Jen Tough discusses what being different means as far as your art and ar...

Today I talk with Writer and artist Maya Stein, who just published a new book The Poser: 38 Portraits Reimagined. In it she documents how she transcended the pandemic isolation by re-creating contemporary portraits as part of the “museum at home” movement. For more information and photos of this project, please go to our website, Tough on Art .com JEN TOUGH GALLERY 2.0 Jen Tough Gallery is rebuild...

Welcome to an unrehearsed Q&A where Jen read a variety of artist questions and answers them totally freeform. That means a few mistakes, lots of "umms" and a bit of swearing mixed in.  You can ask your own question by visiting ToughonArt.com where you can enter your question on an online form, or you can ask your question old school and on the air here on our podcast, by leaving a me...

Jen Tough will discuss exhibiting at art fairs for artists. The world is opening up, so now is the time to get prepared to exhibit at an art fair! Topics covered include: which fairs to exhibit at, planning and buying your booth, packing list, installing, selling and best tips for a successful fair. Sign up for our new, month-long seminar, Art Fair Advantage ! You'll learn all the ins and out...

A Colorful Trajectory: Artist Erika Rier In this episode, part one of our Making Moola series, Jen talks to Portland artist Erika Rier about how she entered the art world through hard work, a few bi-coastal moves, and killing it on Etsy, Patreon, fairs + galleries. We touch on:  Using both Etsy and Patreon as a fine artist How Erika uses Patreon as what she calls “an incubator” for ideas Being def...

Dealing with rejection after rejection for artists can be demoralizing and depressing and sometimes can even cause an artist to lose all hope and stop creating altogether. In this podcast, I'm going to break down this process and discuss ways to cope, feel stronger and weather rejection storms just a little bit better, and we'll touch on why certain outdated expectations for pathways int...