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Free Inspiration

When Artists Lack Motivation

 An artist asked how to fill his time when he didn’t feel particularly motivated or inspired to make something? I know that many artists sometimes struggle to find inspiration. I suggested that he use this

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The Truth About Success For Artists

   Artist, you cannot fail. What if that were true? What would you do differently if you knew that artists can’t ever fail? Well, guess what? It is true.  It’s a success just to be

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What the Blind Artist Saw

   Have you ever felt like your creativity wasn’t flowing? Maybe life wasn’t working out? Nothing was going according to plan? Have you ever struggled to keep the faith? In times of crisis I look

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How Artists Create Self-Confidence

   Have you ever found yourself questioning if you’re good enough? Or maybe you overthink something you did or something you said? Sometimes we get stuck in those thoughts, wondering about the judgments and opinions

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Portrait of an 8 year old artist

The 8-Year Old Artist’s Message

It was Day 16 of my crowd-funding campaign and I had only cried in public once. Twice. Online crowd-funding is not for the faint of heart. This was a several years ago, when I was raising

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Do You Hate Social Media?

Do you hate social media? Do you hate self-promotion? Do you hate the competitiveness? The vacuous echo? The soul-sucking amount of time it takes? I hated all those things too. Yet people were always telling me

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Does Your Art Suck?

Has anyone ever told you that your creative work sucks? If not, just wait. It’ll happen. And when it does, avoid the urge to hide in a hole. Instead, consider it a rite of passage… I’ve

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neon light saying believe

Who Believes in You?

All artists have dreams, wishes and goals. It doesn’t matter whether we keep our light hidden and never share our aspirations with another soul, or we announce our plans loudly to the universe. Either way, as artists,

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Crista After the Dive

How Artists Achieve Breakthroughs

This picture of me is not the most glamorous, yet it’s my favorite. Let me explain. All my life I’ve been terrified of sharks. Truly terrified. My fears grew so big that I became unable to

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Photo of a sculpture that says fine art

Who’s Your Art Hero?

I like a hero as much as the next girl, maybe more. Probably more. But my heroes aren’t action stars, sports legends, nor Kardashians. They’re not even all artists. My heroes tend to be the special

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printmaking studio

The Artist Who Couldn’t Be Tamed

Artist Luis Jimenez died tragically in an accident in June of 2006. At the studio where I worked, Luis was the first artist I knew to pass away. Artists Fritz Scholder and Keith Haring had also worked

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Dancing With Haters

Artists often confide to me that they’re afraid to put themselves “out there.” Afraid of what other people will think. Afraid of what other people might say. Afraid of haters. I get it. Both being an

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Crista Cloutier at Scottsdale Arts Festival

How To Share Your Creative Gifts

I once dragged a film crew to the Scottsdale Arts Festival. The cameras followed me as I collected wisdom from exhibiting artists. I wanted to capture the artists’ stories, learn tricks of the trade, get their

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