Launch. The very word made me queasy. What was a launch anyway? And why does everyone have one but me? “But didn’t you already launch?” ask well-meaning friends. Did I? Fate intervened, as she does, and just as I was grappling with the very concept of launches, the launch guru himself, Jeff Walker, released his […]
His name was Henrik. He’d been an artist in Hungary until he faced the stark reality that there were no opportunities there. London has the biggest art market in Europe so, like many of us, Henrik came here. And this is where his journey begins, selling small paintings on a cold, gray London sidewalk. For
“I used to have a band,” he told me. He’d played lead guitar and sang. It was the 80’s and he worked hard, toured the country, and started to gain a small following. But he never broke through.When he turned 30, he got a chance to play one of the biggest music festivals in Britain.
When it comes to representing their work, artists are often their own worst enemy. For example, when I ran an art gallery, I’d receive dozens of emails each day from artists I’d never met. The messages would arrive with a link to their website or a folder of images, “Here’s my work, will you represent
I think it’s in an artist’s nature to have faith in the unknown, to deal with intangibles. After all, we work from nothing more than an idea and a dream. It takes faith to actualize the invisible. But times are tough for dreamers, and faith is hard to come by. That’s why I love the
If you’re an artist you already know how important it is to keep learning. Curiosity is the artist’s calling card, and devotion to craft is what separates the professionals from the dilettantes. But don’t stop at the fun stuff. Taking artist workshops to learn new techniques or perfect old ones is important, but understanding the
When I worked in the art business I talked on the telephone constantly. So much for the glamorous life, who knew that cauliflower ear was an occupational hazard for art dealers? But I was moving and shaking baby! I needed to be on that phone. I couldn’t be disconnected! My phone defined my life. I
Hello, my name is Crista Cloutier and I am an obsessive list-maker. To be fair, lists have gotten me pretty far. It’s been a few years now since I first started dreaming of creating an online business school for artists. And, after checking off literally thousands of tasks on hundreds of lists, I launched the
Though we’d never met before, I was just as excited as if I were meeting an old friend. She’d read my blog post about the first artist I ever met. He was a blind man, who taught me how to see. More than art, my friendship with Andrew led me to a path of spiritual
I’ve just returned from the funeral of my dear friend Evan. Saying good-bye has got to be one of the most difficult challenges we face in life, especially when we look back and see how much that person has influenced us. I’ve worked in and around the business of contemporary art throughout my career. I