Rejection hurts. I’ve helped many artists “handle rejection,” but two recent rejections of my own reminded me of what it feels like when the door you were trying to open gets slammed in your face. 

One of my rejections was personal, the other professional. In both cases I had put forth my best effort, indeed my best self. For artists it’s always personal, because your art is part of you.  In order to build your practice you’re always applying for things: juried shows, residencies, grants, awards, and each time you make yourself vulnerable. When rejection happens, you take a body blow. The places that hurt are real wounds, even if they don’t show. 

As I was figuring out how to handle my own rejections, I remembered my favorite advice from a therapist friend: there’s no way through it but through it, so feel your feelings. You might also reach out to your allies for support, and then start to put your suffering in a larger context.

Think about what’s still positive in your life and work. Since rejection can place a dark filter over everything, try to remember what’s going well, what you’re good at and grateful for. This might include friends and family, your work, your talent, everything that remains true in spite of the powerful noise of the NO.

Then step back, and see if there’s anything you can do, or anything you can learn from the experience of rejection. You might take a proactive approach, and get a second opinion, or just keep submitting what was rejected. You could join a critique group so that you get regular feedback from people you trust.

Most of all, move on. One negative opinion does not define your work, or your worth. 

​​​Mary Edwards, Ph.D
Career & Life Coach for Artists
“Left Brain Skills for Right Brained People”
Instagram: coachingforartists.maryedwards ​

​What would it mean to think of your art practice as a business? Does that idea make you cringe? Many artists believe a business mindset will turn them into an alien being, a steely-eyed accountant instead of a creative. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. When artists don’t have workable systems for handling the business side of art, they spend too much time on administrative tasks. 

You can develop business skills by using basic learning strategies. Identify what’s important to you, research to discover new information, practice, experiment, and find the solutions that work. Gradually you will free up more time and creative energy for your art practice.

Begin with small steps, so that you concentrate on putting the fundamentals in place. Becoming more business-like is not a personality change but a new set of behaviors, things you do on a regular basis.

Here are some activities where you could begin:

1. Pick three goals for your art practice. Your goals might include spending more time making art, applying for grant funding, or finding gallery representation.  Be specific about your goals.
   
   
2. Set up a schedule for working on your goals, and measure your progress at the end of each week.  Share the results with a friend or colleague. 
   
   
3. Track the time you spend making art vs. the time you spend on administration. 
   
   
4. Create a simple ledger, listing income and expenses for your art practice. 
   
   
5. Keep all your art/business receipts in one place.
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6. Find a workable system for organizing images of your art. 
   
   

Remember, the reason to develop business skills is to free up more time for making art! 

​​​​Mary Edwards, Ph.D
Career & Life Coach for Artists
“Left Brain Skills for Right Brained People”
Instagram: coachingforartists.maryedwards ​

Yesterday I ran out the door and left my cell phone charging on its stand. By the time I realized this, it was too late to turn back. Suddenly cut off from the world of connection, I was at first upset and then had a strange sense of freedom. I had no choice except to let it go.

When you hold on tight, as is sometimes necessary, you do stay focused and are able to concentrate on what needs to be done. You follow a series of steps, and  don’t get distracted by random thoughts. You meet the deadline.

But what do you miss?  When you let go, a creative empty zone may appear, allowing space for the new. The temporary hole left by my absent cellphone generated some new thoughts, and I had to find pen & paper so I could begin to write this post. 

As an artist, what might you let go of, in order to allow energy and space for the new?  Where are you investing too much effort, with little or no return? 

Maybe you’ve been a volunteer in an organization, and it’s time to let new people take over. Perhaps you keep getting rejected from a certain kind of opportunity. Instead of licking your wounds, maybe it’s time to open up new possibilities, new ways of thinking about your life and work. 

When you let go, it doesn’t have to be forever. You can put something on pause, you can take a break, step back and see what it might be like without that item on your agenda.

The art world is constantly transforming itself, and you can do the same. How could you explore new ways of being an artist in the world? 

​​​​Mary Edwards, Ph.D
Career & Life Coach for Artists
“Left Brain Skills for Right Brained People”
Instagram: coachingforartists.maryedwards ​

Artists, writers, composers and other creatives often tell me about their doubts. They wonder if their art is good enough, if they are on the right path, if they will eventually succeed. My best advice is to keep doing the work. 

When you are outside the creative process, your doubts and fears can overwhelm you. It is only from the inside, when you are actually writing or composing or making art, that you find the necessary confidence to keep going.

If you’re discouraged about your progress in the art world, let your art-making remind you of what really matters. If you’re overwhelmed with challenges in your personal life, let your art-making center you. If you’re in doubt about your own work, remind yourself of its value by making more of it.

So many artists grew up in a family of doubters. Studying art or music isn’t practical, they told you; you can do it as a hobby after you get a real job. Artists who manage to pursue an art career in spite of such advice still hear those voices. Continuing to make art is the best way to silence them. 

It has never been easy to sustain a life as an artist. But if you have chosen to do so, nurture yourself by honoring the art-making process. When your life is complicated, getting back into the studio will simplify it.

Building your confidence is an incremental process, so find time every day to work on your art. If it has been a long dry spell, take baby steps. Ten or twenty minutes at first, then an hour, then an afternoon. Don’t judge those early results too harshly. 

​Just let yourself get back to it. 

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​​​​Mary Edwards, Ph.D
Career & Life Coach for Artists
“Left Brain Skills for Right Brained People”
Instagram: coachingforartists.maryedwards ​

If there’s an art fair in your area, take the time to visit. You’ll get a great overview of what’s happening in fine art galleries.

Remember, an art fair is different from an art festival, where artists sell their work directly to the public. At an art fair galleries showcase and sell the works of artists they represent. Usually an art fair lasts several days, and includes 50-100 galleries from across a wide geographical range.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed! You might just wander around in a daze, especially if it’s your first time. A good way to benefit from your visit is to think about your goals, and make a plan. 

Go to the fair’s website, where the participating galleries are listed, and pick 10-20 you want to see. They might be galleries you’ve heard about, or ones where you might seek representation, or galleries from far away that you’d never get to see in person. These are the anchors for your visit.

​As you follow your plan, feel free to explore other galleries that catch your eye. The anchors just give you a structure to follow so that you don’t miss your favorites in the chaos around you. Notice trends, and pay attention to prices.

Take your business cards, but don’t assume that anyone wants to hear about your own art. Remember, galleries pay high fees to exhibit and sell the work of their artists. The best ones welcome all visitors and are open to having a conversation with you. Ask questions about the artists they show. Open-ended questions like “tell me about the artist” will get you started. Be sure to ask how they discover artists.

Their answers will help you plan the next steps in your own career. 

​​​Mary Edwards, Ph.D
Career & Life Coach for Artists
“Left Brain Skills for Right Brained People”
Instagram: coachingforartists.maryedwards ​

In her well-known book on writing, Anne Lamott recalls how her 10-year-old brother was struggling with a huge school project on birds. Overwhelmed and discouraged, he went to their father for help. His advice? Take it “bird by bird.” Do one thing at a time.

This is useful wisdom for visual artists. Creative people tend to see everything as a whole. You get the big picture quickly, but have difficulty when it’s time to tackle individual tasks. They all seem to blend together.

An artist recently told me how this feels: “everything ricochets off everything else, so it’s impossible to know where to start!” She needed a job, and a new place to live, and a new website, and a better studio, and on it went. With the whole aviary flying around in her head, she couldn’t see any one bird’s distinct color and plumage.  

When you’re facing many challenges that are related and seem equally important, you need to get them out of your mental aviary and onto a piece of paper, either described in a list or drawn as a mind map. The key is to isolate related items from each other so you can think about them one at a time. The process of creating your list or map can have a remarkably calming effect. 

Then, concentrating on one issue at a time, identify the first three action steps that would help you begin to move forward. As you do this, the jumble starts to arrange itself. You knew these items were related, but now you discover a natural sequence of actions that will sort them out in a useful way.  
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Try this method when you’re stuck, and let me know how it works!
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