Personalized insight
How Artists Get Heard Above The Noise
Most artists live extraordinary lives. 
“Extraordinary” in the sense that they’re outside the norm, the ‘ordinary’ of what other people do. In fact, many artists feel called to live their Truth no matter what the cost.
Some artists tell me that they feel they were born to create.
It’s not unusual for artists to feel that art is their Purpose. It’s what you love doing. And, ideally, it’s how you want to ‘make a living.’
The reality of living our Truth and making money from it can seem daunting.
Overwhelming. Impossible on some days. Despite hard work, talent, and years of experience, the path to success for many artists is not always clear.
Success, especially financial success, can seem elusive.
How do you honour your passion, your creativity, and your calling, when living the life of a successful artist can sometimes feel like a lost cause?
Picture this for a moment:
An American woman flees a glamorous job as an arts dealer. She sells all of her possessions, and she moves by herself to the middle of nowhere in the south of France. And she speaks no French.
Eventually, she becomes a successful entrepreneur, artist, and writer.
She creates an online business program for artists, called the Working Artist Masterclass. She teaches artists how to sell art. And she has since supported thousands of Creatives in not just working as an artist, but creating an artful life.
My name is Crista Cloutier.
I’m here to help you honour your calling. To JUMP toward your dreams. And to make money doing it.
For me, choosing to work as an artist is “about being bold, taking risks, making work, building a career, finding inspiration, sharing your vision. It’s about owning who you are and the magic that happens when you JUMP into the unknown.”
Take that leap of faith.
Lots of artists are overwhelmed.
They’re overwhelmed by ideas. Overwhelmed by options. Overwhelmed by choices. They’re so overwhelmed that they become paralyzed, unable to move, or to even trust themselves to take a first step.
They self-sabotage.
The life of an artist is never easy. A lot of artists have confidence issues. A lot of artists have time management issues.
Procrastination is an occupational hazard. Balancing your energy and your time is another problem.
Artists suffer from too many ideas and too many ‘shoulds’. I should be doing this, I should be doing that. I should be on Instagram… I should be having this many followers… I should be making this much money…”
It’s a lot of comparison stuff. Money is certainly a challenge for a lot of artists too. Making authentic connections is an even big problem.”
I’ve seen it all, and I’ve helped many artists work through their challenges. I lead them to clarity.
Because being clear, conscious, and intentional gets you heard above the noise.
Distilling your message, being clear in yourself and in what you’re saying, is critical. Whether that’s crafting a brand, finding gallery representation, formulating a social media or sales strategy, I walk artists through the dark forest of confusion and questions.
- How do you build professional contacts?
- How do you get people to join your mailing list?
- How do you get them to your website in the first place?
- What do you do with them once you’ve got them?
Once artists get clear, they feel motivated AND they start taking the right steps toward success.
Too often artists believe they’re stopped by the world; but the truth is that they’re the ones who are stopping themselves.
Do you really need what you think you need?
I met someone whose lifelong desire was to be a photographer. But he won’t take pictures. Because he doesn’t have the ‘right’ camera. So, he’s still not taking pictures. That’s an artist who’s gotten in his own way.
I see artists do this all the time. They stop themselves because they think they don’t have the money. They think they don’t have the time. They think they don’t have the talent or the right tools, or the permission or the credentials. These are all challenges I’ve helped people with.
I give them the map and we take the steps as they follow the road to the confidence and success.”
A Path to your Calling.
My work is my Calling. I want to make the world a more beautiful place by filling it with more artists.
The art world has opened up. It’s not what it was, even a year ago. Artists can create their own creative career path, which creates their own future.
Welcome to your future.The Working Artist Masterclass.
Written by Crista Cloutier, artist mentor + founder of The Working Artist. (learn more about Crista here)
