Art Juice: A podcast for artists, creatives and art lovers

“The pleasure we derive from journeys is perhaps dependent more on the mindset with which we travel than on the destination we travel to.”
Alain de Botton

This week we're catching up after Alice's trip to Bali with stories of hot hikes, vibrating water beds (?!) and more!

While travel can be fun, the real benefit is how experiences like this can change the way you do things, or what you think of as possible. What can we ...

Do you ever find yourself rushing around, filling every moment, and then wondering why your art is disappointing? In today's conversation, we explore the topic of making space and allowing our art to breathe. Sometimes this means letting a single painting rest before working on it again, and sometimes it means taking a complete break to recharge and find new creative energy. For some people this comes easily - for others it can...

In a week a little squeezed by life admin we take time to explore how we feel about the idea of "keeping up". This often comes up for artists in the guise of keeping up with courses, with their own set projects (100 day project anyone?) or even the criteria we create for ourselves.

But is there a different way to look at what we take on?

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This week, Louise welcomes guest artist Sally-Anne Ashley, who has thought very deeply about what it means to build and sustain a creative practice. In this conversation, Louise and Sally-Anne discuss the foundations to intuitive painting; explore the importance of awareness, and dive into the challenges of trusting our own intuition. This is a deeply inspiring conversation that we hope you'll enjoy.

Mentioned:

Sally-Anne Ashle...

This week, we’re talking titles. Yep, that stage when you think the work is complete - and there’s still the process of coming up with a title for your masterpiece. Does it even matter what we choose? Do they make you more or less likely to buy a painting? 

From locations to the disappointment of “untitled” we look back over some of our favourite ways to select relevant titles - and even try to think of the most off-putting title w...

Often a sensitive and uncomfortable topic, but the question of how to price your art is essential to consider - and to confront if you are to avoid getting stuck in the weeds of self-doubt!

In this episode we run through some common pricing strategies artists use and cover the pros and pitfalls of each of them to help you determine prices when you’ve never sold before.

We also cover when it's time to raise your prices and facto...

Today we're talking about that tipping point moment when you know things need to change which happens at various stages of the creative path. There are times when we need a little nudge, time to reflect or sometimes even to be given permission to create what we desire OR to strip back and gain some clarity as we craft the next stage of our journey.

We're introducing a very special in-person event, to be held in the UK over ...

If you want to sell art (or workshops or mentoring), what's the most effective way? You might think of galleries or art fairs or group exhibitions or social media, but in our experience, the answer is none of those. In our experience, the good old email list our most effective sales tool. And yet, many of us struggle to send emails - perhaps we feel we're bothering people or perhaps we don't know what to say. In this ep...

As artists, we rarely lack ideas. But how do you nurture those ideas so that they come to full fruition? It's possible to rush that first inkling, so that it never has a chance to reach its full potential. It's also possible to have so many flashes of inspiration that you never find a focus. Both Alice and Louise are feeling the need to make a nurturing space for their current ideas, and both are working on ways to do that....

How do you use sketchbooks? Do you make beautiful illustrative drawings or is your book more of a scrapbook? Do you work regularly in sketchbooks or only now and then? And do you prefer loose sheets or actual books? This week we're diving into all this and more. Sketchbooks are a place we return to time and again to regroup, gather ideas, or simply experiment with materials. Neither of us could make our art without periods wher...

The art of selling may not feel like it comes easily, but today Sara Dalrymple joins Alice to talk about how artists can see this differently.

We talk about preserving your no. 1 asset, a key non-negotiable you must be prepared for, and more than one reason why artists are perhaps BEST placed for making sales - once you have a few things adjusted and in order!

Having grown her own photography business, Sara founded a specialist s...

Roll on 2024! It's been a while since we've recorded together and we really enjoyed getting back together for this catch-up chat. Our primary focus this week is the the differing ways we have both begun the new year. Alice eased in to 2024 with a lot of family time, while Louise took an exciting trip to New York ... and yet perhaps we're not so different after all. Our chat reveals that we are approaching this year with...

As we bounce (?!) back into 2024 after a seasonal break I'm joined by JoMcCarthy for an informal discussion around how we find ourselves using Instagram - or planning to.

This isn't a strategy plan, or top tips for getting the best marketing results, but about how we use the platform, and finding ways to enjoy what it offers.

We dip into phone addiction, habits, what content we like to consume and to create. When social m...

As we head for our Christmas break, we look back on 2023 and ask ‘how did it go?’

For this episode, we pulled out planners and notebooks to look back on what we hoped to achieve and how it all went. This process can be so valuable; the pause is a chance to reflect on your priorities and an opportunity to realign them if need be. It can also be an opportunity to recognise your own achievements, to start thinking about new goals, and...

This week, we’re all about inspiring women. Louise reveals a surprising fascination with medieval history, and explains how it led her to reflect on the value of patience, persistence and self-belief even when it seems unwarranted. If one determined woman can beat seemingly insurmountable odds to find a long-dead King, what might we be capable of? How often do we give up on something just before the big breakthrough? Where might ch...

This week, we answer a question from a new listener who has recently begun to paint. Eric is wondering how to make the leap from copying images to making his own unique work. This question sparked a discussion about the ways in which artists find their own unique path. For us, this has included gathering visual references, noticing (and valuing) our own preferences, trusting our instincts, learning about other artists, and finding ...

Let’s talk about events - specifically, getting ready for them. As Alice prepares for Manchester Art Fair, we share our top tips for event prep. When you do you order frames? How can you promote the event in advance? What should you store in your event box? How will you take payments? What kind of shoes should you wear? (!)  These are just some of the points we raise this week. An event can be a really fun and rewarding thing to do...

This week, we've been thinking about measuring - specifically about choosing what we measure, and how that can (and should) change over time. The truth is that what gets measured tends to get done - by tracking things, we place our focus on them, and when we place our focus on something, we are more likely to do it. Over the years, we have chosen to focus on studio time, social media results, sales, expenses and much more. But ...

This week, we revisit episode 228 (an interview with author Christine Coulson) and discuss the key ideas we found inspiring. In the process, it's possible we have defined a framework for creativity - a set of ideas that can ignite new ideas and new ways of working for anyone. If you feel you want to take your work forward in new or different ways, this is the conversation for you. Make sure to have a way of taking notes, becaus...