This is just one study, and only of the United States, but it presents a fairly clear picture of those with an art degree. It shows that there is no direct correlation between an art degree and working as a practicing artist. I will look for similar studies in the UK and other countries to […]
Is your ‘to-do’ list threatening to do you in?
I grew up in the Canadian Prairies, in the 1970’s, so this might be ‘of an era’ but I distinctly remember a regular event at Beavers, Cub Scouts, Church picnics and School sports days was a race where we had to push peanuts across the gym floor with our nose. Does anyone else have […]
How to Be Happy With Your Level of Success – Wherever You’re At
To be in the game, you first have to show up for the game (why the odds against artists aren’t as bad as you think)
We often like to bemoan how the odds are stacked against artists. How we face overwhelming competition for every job. This is true. But maybe it isn’t as bad as we think. Why? Because many people who SAY they’re in the game actually fail to SHOW UP. Or COMMIT FULLY to the game. Which […]
What the heck IS a creative entrepreneur, after all?
I was writing a funding application the other day for my PHD and in my opening sentence I referred to creative entrepreneurs. Andrew challenged me: What exactly do you mean by that? How would you define that? I struggled. Which is funny because I have an MA in Creative Entrepreneurship, I write a blog about […]
Why the Kaiser Chiefs got Fat and Lazy – and What You Can Learn from Them
So last night I was out for a company meal with the cast of Scrooge. I was chatting with one my colleagues, who has been a reader of this blog (and who has also done his own PhD) and I was saying how my biggest fear is having nothing to say – nothing to say […]
Does Money Matter?
This may seem like a silly question – of course money matters! And yet, how often do our choices, as creative people, put money last? No one became a creative to get rich. For a very few, this is a side benefit, but for the vast majority of creatives our motivation to pursue this […]
What We Can All Learn From Dancers
It’s safe to say that that I started my career as a dancer. I started taking ballet lessons at age 7, which lead to lessons later in tap, jazz and modern/contemporary. It was through dance that I got involved in community theatre doing musicals, which lead to doing plays, and opera and eventually moving to […]
Social Media for Performing Artists: A Guide
Social media is ridiculously important to performing artists. I spent the last year studying for an MA in Creative Entrepreneurship through the University of East Anglia. This was a fantastic year filled will learning of how to thrive as a creative business person. My dissertation was entitled: Keep the Conversation Going: 65 Social Media Strategies […]