John Bishop Fine Art : Podcast

There is an inherent flaw as an artist to try to be all things to all people.  While it is vital that we experiment, find our style and our voice, and explore where are artistic inspiration leads, how we are perceived by potential collectors can make a huge difference in how seriously we are treated as fine artists.  The problem comes then in making choices that either present us as exclusive, high-end, art professionals who comman...

After a lot of thought and discussion, we've decided to change how we're branding some of our online content.  Up until now, all of Bogdan's and my content lived on my YouTube channel, and while that has been working, it doesn't really present Bogdan in the best light.  If there are people who are interested in Bogdan's work more than mine, it may be confusing for them to have to go to my channel to find hi...

Well after a year of waiting, the Aripa Arte nonprofit has finally been granted 501(c)3 status by the IRS.  That means that we are now a legitimate, tax exempt, public charity and can take donations, apply for grants, get huge discounts, and actually do some good in the world.  So exciting.

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Season 4, Episode 5
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“Art Life with John & Bogdan” is a ...

This week's podcast is all about Bogdan's current trip to Romania.  He has gone to Bucharest to meet with local artists, interview them, and purchase some of their work to offer context to the inaugural gala of our new nonprofit organization, Aripa Arte.  Join John Bishop as he describes what the nonprofit is doing, what it hopes to achieve, and how you might can help make it a success.  

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The new year is already proving difficult, and it's only week three.  Between the polar vortex, issues with travel arrangements, and botched deliveries, our beautifully scheduled content calendar is already mixed up.  That's ok though, because the beauty in having a detailed plan means that I can mix and match elements until the whole schedule makes sense again.  That is exactly what I have been doing all week.  We finish...

The new year has come, and the parties are over.  As we turn our gaze to those end-of-the-year duties: catching up with paperwork; closing out annual processes; and looking forward to taxes, reporting, and the goals and objectives that should guide us through the months to come. 

Every year we make some sort of trip, away from home and the studio, to give ourselves uninterrupted time to spend on the task.  The hope was always to hig...

John discusses the new year, and plans he and Bogdan have for the art business this year.  Rosa Ana Orlando will be speaking to a group of collectors this week, on what it takes to build, maintain, and ultimately divest yourself of an art collection.

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Season 4, Episode 1
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“Art Life Blog with John & Bogdan” is a weekly blog/vlog/podcast that creates a comm...

Join John as he talks about their new direction in marketing and public relations for John Bishop Fine Art and Bogdan Foto Art.  He discusses his current solo show, Earthen, on display at Silver Street Studios, part of the Sawyer Yards art complex in Houston, Texas.  John also muses on the changes he and Bogdan are making in approaching their collectors, and trying to change the focus of their outreach toward art collectors, and le...

My solo show starts next week, and I am losing my mind.  Actually it's all very exciting.  Join John as he discusses what he's doing to prepare for his solo exhibition in Houston, and all the other things that seem to be happening at the same time.  How does one deal with all the stress and pressure?  It's all about doing your best, giving yourself a lot of permission to be human, and realizing that this will all be ...

Trying a new format here for the podcast, where I only really talk about my art, and not about other aspects of what we're doing with the art business, and the new nonprofit.  I have to apologize, but I did notice that I show a couple of pieces of art on the video feed that you obviously can't see on the podcast, and I promise that I won't make that mistake again.  But join me for a casual discussion of what I'm...

We're back from Romania, where we met with artists and gallery owners to try to get a clearer understanding of how our new nonprofit, Aripa Arte, can best serve the needs of Romanian visual artists.  It was a wonderful trip, and together with the great opportunities we have for exhibitions here at home, and the continued work to build our own art business, things have been crazy busy around here.
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Podcast episode where I discuss all that Bogdan and I are doing to try to expand our revenue streams, while still getting more views and subscribers from our social media channels and YouTube content.  Even when I look at all the other content creators out there in our niche, they seem to be far more concerned with inspirational messages and bragging about their giant houses, fancy watches, and crazy-big homes.  That's not wha...

John and Bogdan have recently started a new nonprofit organization called Aripa Arte, with the goal of helping contemporary artists in Romania and elsewhere.  If you have any ideas, input, or suggestions as to what kinds of information should be included in a curriculum for artists looking to learn how to run an effective art business, please contact John either in the comments, or directly.  Help us make this new NGO as successful...

Have you heard the saying that, if you want something done, assign it to a really busy person? I hope that’s true. In addition to all of our work with creating fine art, marketing, selling, keeping open studio hours, social media, vlogging, blog writing, podcasting, paperwork and keeping the government happy, we’ve decided that we should do more. What could go wrong?

So, we’ve opened a new nonprofit company called Aripa Arte.  The i...

We are literally just back from our annual goals and objectives retreat, and this year it went far more smoothly than I would have suspected.  Every year we take some sort of trip, or isolate ourselves in some way to spend uninterrupted time crafting our goals and objectives for the coming year. 

We deviated slightly from the way we have done goals in prior years, in that we stepped up the organization of the planning to comport wit...

Anyone running a small business knows that we are required to do all of the same things that larger businesses do... ourselves. Just because I'm not a large corporation does not mean that I can neglect all of the things that those larger organizations must do to be successful.  I have to create products, market, sell, keep records, pay taxes, budget time and resources... and ultimately make a profit.  I have to be an accountan...

The holiday season is here.  I can't believe I'm saying that.  Q4 has come, I've purchased my first bag of Halloween candy for the neighborhood kids, and it's getting darker earlier and earlier.  Of course, living in south Texas, there's no chill in the air or foliage splendor, but the signs of change are there nonetheless.  The year is wrapping up, and all the associated benefits and problems that brings a...

Woo Hoo, we're back in the USA.  I don't know why I sound so excited, we actually were a little bit sad to leave Romania, but it's always good to be home.  We missed the cat, and she seems to have forgiven us for leaving her.  Special thanks to artist Deborah Ellington, who cat-sat while we were away.  I think the kitty was happier there, so I'm glad we came home when we did... they were falling in love.

We're Still in Romana, and this seemed like a great time to update you guys on what's going on, since yesterday we completed everything we came here to do.  We wanted to come to Romania, open a business here, get set up with phones and an official address, a bank account, and an accountant.  We finished all of that just yesterday, so I can proudly say that we've accomplished everything we wanted to do, and have learn...