Art Crush

In this special episode of Art Crush, hosts Fi Marks and Paula Telizyn are joined by fellow The 51% Collective artists Jela Prancic and Susan Gardner for an episode recorded just weeks before their major, first-ever international in-person exhibition, The Wild Within, opening at the Artcore Gallery in Derby.

Tune in as the collective breaks down how they curated their bodies of work—from mixed-media collage and wildlife portra...

Are you sending unsolicited pictures of your artwork to other artists or gallery owners without any context? In Season 3, Episode 35 of Art Crush, Fi Marks and Paula Telizyn dive into one of the most widespread—yet ineffective—marketing habits visual artists fall into: the "spray and pray" social media DM.

Fi and Paula unpack why sending context-free artwork asking for validation or attention fails to build an art busine...

What happens when you pour your time and talent into a custom commission, only for the client to say, "I don't like it"?

In Season 3, Episode 34 of Art Crush, hosts Paula Telizyn and Fi Marks dive into the tricky, sometimes emotionally fraught world of art commissions. From navigating endless revision requests to dealing with flat-out rejections, Paula and Fi share their personal experiences and hard-earned business boundaries.

Wheth...

In this episode of Art Crush, hosts Fi Marks and Paula Telizyn break down the crucial lessons learned from organizing an independent artist-run exhibition.

As they prepare for their upcoming "Wild Within" show in Derby, Fi shares her recent experiences taking full control of a space alongside three other artists, treating it as a successful dry run.

They discuss why artists must stop waiting for traditional gallery approval and ins...

Welcome to a special episode of Art Crush! Hosts Paula Telizyn and Fi Marks are joined by guest artists Jela Prancic (Toronto) and Susan Gardner (Leicestershire) to discuss the final preparations for their highly anticipated 51% Collective exhibition.

If you are an art lover in Derby, a regular at the Artcore Gallery, or a woman navigating your own creative business, this episode offers a beautifully candid behind-the-scenes look a...

What does a professional visual artist actually look like?

In Season 3, Episode 31 of Art Crush, hosts Fi Marks and Paula Telizyn tackle the pervasive and damaging myths that surround the creative life. From the societal expectation of wacky outfits to the romanticized—and toxic—tropes of the "starving" or "tortured" artist, the public is full of preconceived notions about what it means to create art for a living.

Fi and...

In this special 1-year anniversary episode of Art Crush, Fi and Paula dive deep into a provocative question: Do you actually like the art you think you like?

From the omnipresence of Van Gogh's Starry Night on aprons to the endless, echoing scroll of the Pinterest algorithm, it is incredibly easy to lose your unique creative voice to what is popular, comfortable, or trending.

Today, we are unpacking how marketing, societal comfort z...

Are you tired of saying "yes" to every opportunity, only to realize your art is sitting next to scary blue plastic chairs in a space where it just doesn't belong?

In Season 3, Episode 29 of Art Crush, hosts F Marks and Paula Telizyn dive deep into the importance of hitting pause on the hustle to find your true "why" as an artist.

For many women, societal conditioning and people-pleasing tendencies can lead to a scattered art career ...

Do you shrink back when someone compliments your art? Have you ever worried that being proud of your work makes you "arrogant" or "egotistical"?

In Season 3, Episode 28 of Art Crush, hosts and visual artists Fi Marks and Paula Telizyn dive deep into the messy intersection of confidence and ego.

For women navigating the art world—especially women over 40—societal conditioning often teaches us to stay small, be invisible, ...

If the rise of AI art has you worried about the future of your creative business, take a deep breath. In this episode of Art Crush, Fi and Paula are peering into the future of the art world, and spoiler alert: the future is handmade, human, and entirely in our control.

We’re cutting through the noise of tech-bro billionaires to talk about why the AI bubble is destined to burst, and why art buyers are craving authentic, lumpy, ...

Do you think a social media account is enough to run your art business? Think again!

In this episode of Art Crush, hosts Fi Marks and Paula Telizyn dive deep into why every professional artist needs a dedicated website—and why relying solely on Instagram or TikTok could be putting your art business at risk.

In this episode, we cover:

• How a professional website builds trust and justifies higher price points for your artwork.

• ...

"You’re so talented!" Sounds like a compliment, right? For many professional artists, it can feel like it erases years of hard work, skill-building, and practice.

In this episode of Art Crush, hosts Fi Marks and Paula Telizyn dive deep into how the language we use—and the language used about us—shapes our artistic careers, pricing, and confidence.

In this episode, we unpack:

• The Problem with "Talent": Why praisin...

Is the fear of selling out keeping you from achieving your true potential as an artist?

In this episode of Art Crush, hosts Fi Marks and Paula Telizyn dive deep into why treating your art like a business is the most empowering move you can make for your career.

Many creatives fall into the trap of waiting for the holy grail—believing a top-tier gallery will swoop in, handle all the sales, and make them famous. Fi and Paula dis...

Have you ever completely fallen out of love with your art?

In this special episode of Art Crush, the spotlight turns to co-host Paula Telizyn as she shares her candid, unfiltered journey of returning to professional painting after a long hiatus.

Following a life-altering accident in 2019, immense personal shifts, and a transition into artist mentorship, Paula packed away her brushes and publicly declared she was never painting again....

Do you ever feel paralyzed by the need to make your art look perfect?

In Season 3, Episode 22 of Art Crush, Fi Marks and Paula Telizyn tackle one of the biggest roadblocks for creatives: perfectionism.

We discuss how the obsession with photorealism and perfect technique is actually costing us culturally, stifling human expression, and keeping brilliant ideas trapped inside the minds of artists who are too afraid to share them.

From u...

Have you ever thought about bypassing traditional galleries and putting on your own group show?

In Season 3, Episode 21 of Art Crush, host Paula Telizyn sits down with her fellow members of The Fifty-One Percent—an international women’s artist collective featuring Fi Marks (UK), Susan Gardner (UK), Jela Prancic (Toronto), and Paula Telizyn (London, Canada).

Together, they are pulling back the curtain on exactly what it t...

First of all, THANK YOU! We’ve hit a massive milestone in our listener stats, and we are so incredibly grateful to every single one of you who tunes in, shares the show, and joins the conversation.

We aren't here to be the great oracles; we’re here to learn, debate, and navigate the wild world of being professional working artists alongside you.

In this episode of Art Crush, Fi and Paula are doing something a little diff...

Are you truly proud to call yourself an artist, or do you hesitate when people ask what you do?

In this episode of Art Crush, artists Fi Marks and Paula Telizyn dive deep into the complicated relationship artists have with their own titles.

From the romanticized 1950s trope of the "suffering creative" to the modern-day stigma of the flaky, unreliable "paste-eater," society has always projected heavy stereotypes onto the art world.

B...

Getting accepted into a prestigious gallery, art fair, or exhibition feels like a massive win—but it is not the finish line for your creative business.

If you think landing one big show guarantees smooth sailing for the rest of your career, it’s time for a reality check.

In this episode of Art Crush, professional artists Paula Telizyn and Fi Marks dismantle the myth of the big break. Too many artists put the entire respo...