I think I’m becoming more patient, more Zen as I grow older. I’ve realized that I can have all the lists in the world and the most challenging goals in the world, but everything gets thrown out the window when life happens. Things don’t usually go as I would like them to, so I need to change my game plan. Case in point: I wasn’t planning on the Colorado Rockies entering the NL baseball playoffs. But there they were last week and I couldn’t resist becoming a fair-weather fan and cheering them on for each game. I had loads of work to do but, heck, the Rockies were in the playoffs! I had to change my plans in order to watch them (or at least listen to them). Another case in point: The day before I flew out for my workshop in Omaha, my cat Tofu brought me a present from outside--a snake! It disrupted my work for a short time and kept my heart rate up for a much longer time. What was I going to do? I can’t get mad at her because she found a new toy, but I couldn’t have a snake in the house. Had to change my plans. It’s kind of the same in my workshops. I come with an agenda, but participants have questions of their own. I’ve learned to change the plan. What’s more important? That I make it through my list or that they get answers to their questions and feel empowered? My clients go through this as well. They apologize for not making the type of art that was on their plan for that week. As long as you’re making art, it doesn’t matter that it wasn’t part of your plan. The only thing that matters is that you’re making art and being present for your art. To your success in the studio,

How to Get Your Art Published in Magazines

Teleseminar - Wednesday, October 17, 6 p.m. MT

Veteran magazine editor Jennifer King will give you an insider’s look at the process of getting published in this teleseminar. She’ll show you how to think like an editor so you communicate effectively and achieve your goals and cover the five essential steps to getting published. Just $9.95. http://www.artbizcoach.com/classes/magazines.html

See You in Iowa

Live Workshop, Saturday, October 28

I take my show to Spencer, Iowa this time for the “I’d Rather Be in the Studio! (But I have to Eat)” workshop. Get an introduction to self-promotion basics and some hands-on practical experience you can put to use right away. If you can’t attend be sure to share this information with any contacts you may have in the area.
http://www.artbizcoach.com/workshops 

► View all upcoming classes and events.
 

FEATURE ARTICLE

Straighten Out Your Bio and Statement

In the current “Promote Your Art with Confidence” class, there was a question about what the difference is between a statement and a bio. After I responded, other participants commented that they were grateful for this information because they had similar confusion. Others have mentioned to me--in horror--that they have been doing their bios and statements all wrong to this point. In truth, there really isn’t a right and a wrong. However, I do provide guidelines to make it a bit easier.

Here’s how I distinguish between your bio and your statement.

Your bio is about you and your artistic accomplishments. It is written in the third person (otherwise, it would be an autobiography). It helps to think of it as your résumé in paragraph form. Write it in reverse chronological order, acknowledging that your most important accomplishments are those that are most recent. I think it’s nice to open a bio with a short paragraph summarizing your current work. This can be taken from your statement and reworked for the bio format.

Listen to this podcast about making your bio more interesting:
http://www.artbizblog.com/2007/04/podcast_spice_u.html

In contrast to your bio, which is about you, your statement is about your work--the current direction of your work, not the history of how you got to this point. It’s your opportunity to define a body of work before others respond to the work and define it for you. Your statement--because it is a statement--is written in first person. It is not the definitive statement about your work forever and ever because your work changes. You must allow your statement to get better and to grow along with your art. My litmus test for a good statement is that it makes me want to quit reading and look at the artist’s work again. Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of words.

Please listen to the audio on this page (it's a link in red text about halfway down) for further thoughts about your statement. http://www.artbizcoach.com/resources/statement.html