I have been a member of the Visual Artists Association (VAA) for almost ten years, having originally joined simply because I need Public Liability Insurance (PLI) to be able to participate in an exhibition.
Thankfully my experience with VAA has gone beyond just getting the insurance because over the years they have increasingly become a resource and champion for artists.
One thing they do often and well is hold seminars and workshops for members.
On Thursday 25th September there was an online workshop titled “Thriving as an Artist” where they had three working artists talking about their practice:
The purpose of the session was to discuss methods and practices to help artists to get ahead and be successful in the art world.
It was an interesting session since the participants were all quite different in their practices. There was so much good advice from different perspectives.
I took some notes during the session and these were the key takeaways I think were useful:
- Prioritise time in the studio. (Keep making art!)
- With more success means more pressure on your time
- Find balance in your approach – be aware of when you feel most creative
- Be self-aware – learn what your strengths and weaknesses are. Celebrate the good days and don’t beat yourself up about the bad ones.
- Get up and do some work every day.
- Organised chaos is okay
- Your first priority should be the work and everything else is secondary
- Be social, have discussions with others about your art. That is often where ideas and opportunities come from. Listen to people – recognise opportunity.
- Go to exhibitions, see what other people are making. Get inspired.
- Be collaborative with other artists
- Support fellow artists.
- Share opportunities with others. Then others will share opportunities with you.
- When pricing, learn what the market will bear. Understand what price someone would pay and what you’d be prepared to accept. We don’t always make back the time and materials we have spent.
- Find the fun side of art. Celebrate it. Do a dance of glee when something sells.
- Social media is your friend for marketing. Understand how each can help you. Instagram, Facebook, X, Threads and even LinkedIn all have their place.
- When posting, people love to see what artists do in their studio, and the process to create art. Include this too as well as finished pieces.
- Online, people don’t just connect with the art, they connect with the person, the story, the process.
- Show your true authentic voice
- Follow galleries and art journalists. Interact with their posts and engage with them. There is a much higher chance that they will notice you that way.
- Work with people you like
- Be faithful to others
- Build and keep relationships
- If you say you’re going to do something – do it!
- Build resilience and keep going
- Enjoy it!
Much of the above resonated with me. Particularly about networking and social media – something I need to do a lot more of.
The session was really useful and gave me new insights into the directions I want to go. I would highly recommend VAA as a great resource.
Sophie Ashdown 
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