Ann Rea is a San Francisco-based artist and the founder of Artists Who THRIVE. Her artistic talent is praised by her mentor, Wayne Thiebaud, an American art icon.
She has been featured in Fortune, The Wine Enthusiast, and Art Business News magazines, in The San Francisco Chronicle, in the book Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields, and on HGTV, ABC, and The Good Life Project.
She is also a favorite instructor on Creative Live’s “Money and Life” channel, broadcasting to over one million students worldwide.
Ann is the creator of “The MAKING Art Making MONEY Semester ®,” eight foundational online business and marketing courses. Her students study with fellow artists from around the globe via live video calls within a welcoming and supportive community. Students officially graduate once they have passed a final exam, completed an exit interview, and earned back their tuition investment.
In this episode, Ann discusses:
-How she became the “artist mentor” accidentally.
-How the press she received brought artists to her, seeking help, and that is what set her on the path to helping them sell their art without feeling like a sell-out.
-Stereotypes like “starving artist” and how they negatively affect the opinion and motivation of artists.
-All of the positive changes that occurred in her art and in herself once she started getting paid for it.
-Knowing exactly how much money you want to make, and by when.
-The importance of writing down your goals and your plan.
–What do you want, precisely? How are you going to get it? And who can help you?
-What an artist’s plan to make money should be comprised of.
-Dr. E’s sagely words that every entrepreneur is an artist and every artist is an entrepreneur.
-How she would rather be pulled toward something than to push herself toward it.
-Knowing the difference between your goal and your overall mission.
-A synchronistic event that she considers to be a “magical intervention” that got her to paint again.
-Her words of encouragement for people who might be suffering from things such as depression, anxiety, or insomnia as a result of not pursuing their creative passions.
-The power of exercise and a healthier diet.
-How if you don’t schedule your creative passion, then there is a significant chance that you won’t get to it.
Ann’s Final Push will inspire you to find the thing that PULLS you – what do you stand for and what do you stand against?
Quotes:
“The press is what really brought other artists to me. They were looking for help on how to sell their art without feeling like a sell-out.”
“There are cultural messages about making art and making money. Those messages were distorting the thinking and the confidence of artists unnecessarily. I really wanted to set the record straight.”
“We could probably sit here for a good hour and list all of the negative stereotypes that are thrust upon artists. Unfortunately a lot of artists swallow these stereotypes and then they spread them amongst themselves.”
“A plan to sell art without a plan is a plan to sell no art.”
“Your plan is kind of like a compass more than it is a roadmap. You just want to make sure that you’re pointed in the right direction.”
“Instead of focusing on what’s holding me back or what’s bogging me down, I spend a considerate amount of effort remembering my mission.”
“This is not a dress rehearsal. If you’re not happy, you need to start to bust a move, and move in the right direction.”
Links mentioned:
Connect with Ann:
On the next episode:
Melissa Sue Stanley [Website] & Max Bare [Website]
