Looking for free and low-cost resources to grow as a Christian artist spiritually, creatively and in business? Here’s 7 great places available now:
✅ The Thriving Christian Artist Weekly: A weekly newsletter devoted to encouraging and equipping artists in their creative calling with devotionals, tips and best practices in their personal art practice and business. https://thrive.www.matttommeymentoring.com/tca-weekly
✅ The Thriving Christian Artist Podcast: A weekly podcast devoted to encouraging and equipping artists in their spiritual, artistic and business journey. https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/podcast.html
✅ Matt Tommey Mentoring Blog: Years of encouraging blog articles on a variety of subjects related to thriving as an artist in God’s Kingdom spiritually, artistically and in business. https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/blog
✅ YouVersion Bible App Devotionals from Matt Tommey: A variety of free devotionals based on God’s Word to help equip and encourage artists in their creative calling. https://www.bible.com/search/plans?q=matt%20tommey
✅ The Real Reason Your Not Succeeding as an Artist (and how to fix it): A free PDF that uncovers the underlying reasons many artists aren’t really thriving in their life and how to fix it. https://thrive.www.matttommeymentoring.com/therealreason
✅ The Created to Thrive Foundations Course: The groundbreaking and transformative course by Matt Tommey that has helped hundreds of artists around the world experience creative confidence and freedom in Christ. https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/foundations.html
Artists who are Christians are often looking for inspiration and encouragement not only creatively, but also in their spiritual life and businesses as well. For most Christian artists, their faith is not something that’s just ancillary to their journey, it’s at the core of who they are and how they operate in the world. Rightly so!
Over the years, I’ve been asked what podcasts are the best podcasts for Christian artists to be listening to and so I thought I’d create this quick post to share some of my favorites:
The Thriving Christian Artist Podcast with Matt Tommey Inside this twice weekly podcast, artist, author and mentor Matt Tommey shares inspiration, encouragement and interviews with artists who are thriving all over the world in just about every creative medium. Their stories incorporate practical business tips, creative strategies and how their walk with the Lord is foundational to all they do. For artists who want to thrive spiritually, artistically and in business, there’s no better podcast out there.
Makers and Mystics is the podcast for the art-driven, spiritually adventurous seekers of truth and lovers of life. Stephen is a great interviewer, curious story-teller and uber-creative who goes deep with his guests during interviews reminiscent of an NPR story or TED talk. Definitely worth the listen.
Ray Hughes has been inspiring and equipping creatives for the last 40 years all over the world. There’s no more rich storyteller, Bible-teacher and encourager for creatives than Ray. His southern humor, deep knowledge of God’s Word and romantic storytelling make this podcast a must listen. Be sure to pay attention… he’ll have you laughing one minute and rewinding the next to hear that truth nugget! Listen Now
The Kingdom-Driven Entrepreneur with Shae Bynes
The Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur Podcast seeks to inspire you to do business completely yielded and in partnership with our awesome and limitless God. Shae is funny, encouraging and offers incredible insight for living in the Kingdom of God as an entrepreneur.
How does creativity intersect with our spirituality? This podcast is all about conversations with artists that explore our humanity and spiritual identity through the integration of art and faith. Listen Now
Transformed You with Mark & Melissa DeJesus
Transformational living and how to walk in healed and free from the inside out. Renewing of the mind. Healing to the heart. Living healthy and whole in relationships. Teaching and insights from a biblical perspective. Getting to the core issues that effect our every day fruitfulness in relationships. Listen Now
Exploring the Prophetic with Shawn Bolz
On Exploring the Prophetic, Exploring the Industry, and Exploring the Marketplace co-hosted with Bob Hasson, Shawn interviews some of his close friends, entrepreneurs, and leaders from all different industries on how God’s voice has caused great change in their lives and the world around them. Along with Shawn, you will hear from church leaders, politicians, entertainers, music industry professionals, and everyday empowered people on how the prophetic is shaping their lives. We invite you to be a part of the conversation. Listen Now
Artists who are Christians need encouragement, inspiration and equipping as they pursue God’s creative calling on their lives. Here are some of the best books for Christian artists on the market today:
Created to Thrive: An Artist’s Guide to Living in Divine Abundance by Matt Tommey
Imagine just for a moment, life the way you have always dreamed it could be. Feeling connected to God and hearing His voice, creating with the Holy Spirit, following His lead as you share your art and see it transform people’s lives. Imagine a world where artists are free to thrive spiritually, artistically, and financially in everything they do. Imagine a life where your mind is clear, renewed, and focused on God’s purposes for your life and art; no longer struggling with negative patterns of thinking that have held you back for years. My friend, this is not some pie in the sky dream that will never come true. This is the way God designed life to be lived in His Kingdom. This can be your story, fully alive and thriving in everything you do.
In Created to Thrive, you’ll learn how to start living life from a new blueprint based on God’s Word and His divine design for your life as an artist in His Kingdom. You’ll begin to see your life without limits as you learn to align with Him and cooperate with the Holy Spirit to create new patterns of living. Your mind will be renewed, your heart will be unlocked, and your imagination will be set free to resonate with the Kingdom that’s already living inside of you. You were made to be more than just a frustrated artist, struggling to make sense of your life and art. Get ready to become the artist you were created to be, get ready to thrive!
A Practical Guide to Fulfilling Your Creative Call as an Artist in the Kingdom of God by Matt Tommey Unlocking the Heart of the Artist has been called “The Purpose-Driven Life for Artists” and is a clarion call to a new generation of artists who want to fulfill their unique purpose in the Kingdom of God. At the core of Unlocking the Heart of the Artist is an invitation to begin a journey of healing and wholeness that will yield deeper Spirit-led creativity and personal fulfillment. In addition, through learning practical ways to engage the Holy Spirit in their creative process, the reader will learn how to collaborate with God not only in their chosen artistic medium but in life.
Breath for the Bones: Art, Imagination & Spirit by Luci Shaw Imagination, appreciation of beauty, creativity: all of these qualities have been given to us by God. For the Christian artist, the drive to create something wonderful is also a means to glorify and better understand our Lord. Using excerpts from her own works as well as those of writers who have gone before her―Emily Dickinson, Annie Dillard, C.S. Lewis, and others―poet and writer Luci Shaw proves that symbolism and metaphor provide ways for humans to experience God in new and powerful ways.Shaw offers a rich and thought-provoking exploration of art, creativity, and faith. Believing that art emanates from God, she shows how imagination and spirituality “work in tandem, each feeding on and nourishing the other.” Faith informs art and art enhances faith. They both, for each other, are “breath for the bones.”Provocative, enlightening, and above all, inspiring, Breath for the Bones will help readers discover the artist within, and bring them further along the path to God Himself.
Art & Faith: A Theology of Making by Makoto Fujimura
Conceived over thirty years of painting and creating in his studio, this book is Makoto Fujimura’s broad and deep exploration of creativity and the spiritual aspects of “making.” What he does in the studio is theological work as much as it is aesthetic work. In between pouring precious, pulverized minerals onto handmade paper to create the prismatic, refractive surfaces of his art, he comes into the quiet space in the studio, in a discipline of awareness, waiting, prayer, and praise.
Ranging from the Bible to T. S. Eliot, and from Mark Rothko to Japanese Kintsugi technique, he shows how unless we are making something, we cannot know the depth of God’s being and God’s grace permeating our lives. This poignant and beautiful book offers the perspective of, in Christian Wiman’s words, “an accidental theologian,” one who comes to spiritual questions always through the prism of art.
The Most Important Work of Art Is the Life That We Create In The Artisan Soul, Erwin Raphael McManus— author, thought leader, and founder of MOSAIC in Los Angeles—pens a manifesto for human creativity and the beginning of a new renaissance. McManus not only calls us to reclaim our creative essence but reveals how we can craft our lives into a work of art. There are no shortcuts to quality, and McManus celebrates the spiritual process that can help us discover our true selves.
McManus demonstrates that we all carry within us the essence of an artist. We all need to create—to be a part of a process that brings to the world something beautiful, good, and true—in order to allow our souls to come to life. It’s not only the quality of the ingredients we use to build our lives that matters, but the care we bring to the process itself. Just as with baking artisan bread, it’s a process that’s crafted over time. And God is the master artisan of our lives.
With poignant, inspirational stories and insights from art, life, history, and scripture interspersed throughout, McManus walks readers through the process of crafting a life of beauty and wonder.
“The lordship of Christ should include an interest in the arts,” writes Francis Schaeffer. “A Christian should use these arts to the glory of God, not just as tracts, mind you, but as things of beauty to the praise of God.” Many Christians, wary of creating graven images, have steered clear of artistic creativity. But the Bible offers a robust affirmation of the arts. The human impulse to create reflects our being created in the image of a creator God.
Art and the Bible has been a foundational work for generations of Christians in the arts. In this book’s classic essays, Francis Schaeffer first examines the scriptural record of the use of various art forms, and then establishes a Christian perspective on art. With clarity and vigor, Schaeffer explains why “the Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.”
Imagine That: Discovering Your Unique Role as a Christian Artist by Manuel Luz
Why are we artists? How does God experience art? What is the artist’s calling in relation to God, the church, and the world?
Drawing from his experiences performing Mozart, playing “dive bars”, and leading worship and the arts in the church, author Manuel Luz seeks to answer the questions that artists often ask. Laced with humorous and sometimes poignant anecdotes, Imagine That is a thought-provoking journey through the convergence of art and faith. Luz has been a working musician, writer, pastor, and even amateur cartoonist for more than 40 years, and in Imagine That he lays out his case for a uniquely Christian approach to the vocation of artist, using theologically rich and artist-friendly language.
In the end, Imagine That affirms and equips Christian artists for the special kind of ministry that only they can do.
Finding Divine Inspiration: Working with the Holy Spirit in Your Creativity by J. Scott McElroy
God will speak to humanity in as many ways as His people are willing to hear. If you are willing, there are ways to convey God’s word that you may have never imagined. Listen beyond the ordinary, and you will express the extraordinary! God wants to infuse a transforming wave of divinely inspired creativity into the culture and the church through His willing partners. Finding Divine Inspiration is full of practical steps and exciting biblical, historical, and current examples to help you collaborate with the Great Creator in your life and work.
Born to Create: Stepping Into Your Supernatural Destiny by Theresa Dedmon
Offering a launching pad for you to burst into the realm of creative expression—that fun, fantasy world where the Creator is waiting to welcome you. There is a connection between creativity, your identity, the Church, and the world—and it is an important connection. Creativity is tied to all believers’ identity, all who are made in the image of the Creator, all who are born to create!
Overflowing with many thrilling, modern-day testimonies, Born to Create emphasizes the magnitude of both craft—practice and excellence—as well as anointing. Many who have been freed to embrace their creative ideas and passions, whether in the art fields, business, or education, share their amazing stories with you. Their freedom allowed them to powerfully release healing, the prophetic, and the knowledge of God’s love into the marketplace.
Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law… (Galatians 6:1 The Message).
You will learn how the supernatural can be activated through what you create, and you will explore hindrances from understanding your creative destiny—your true identity.
Creativity According to the Kingdom: Connecting with Heaven to Create with God & Release Transformation by Matt Tommey
What if you could walk in the transforming power of God every day by connecting to the creative nature of God’s Kingdom which already lives inside of you? Well guess what? You can! There’s a call going out in this generation. It’s a call to an army of creative Kingdom warriors who, just like the army in the valley of dry bones lay wasted and dormant, full of potential, yet with vision that has died. By the Spirit, they are coming to life again and being equipped for their work of ministry both in the church and in the marketplace. This is what you were made for!
In this hour, God is raising up an army of Kingdom creatives to declare His Glory and see it cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Whether your calling is in business or the arts, education or government, family or finance, you’ve been specifically designed for this time and this cause to operate in the fullness of God’s creative nature within your circle of influence to release Kingdom transformation. It’s time to release the Glory. It’s time to live the life you’ve always dreamed possible. It’s time. It’s your time!
Heaven’s Invasion Changes Everything! What if the testimony of God’s goodness on your life brought nations to Christ? What if your faithfulness in stewarding money qualified you to shape the culture over cities? What if prosperity wasn’t selfish? Many are frustrated because they’ve tried the principles of sowing and reaping without first establishing “The Foundation for Supernatural Finances.” That’s like building a financial house with no foundation or frame structure.
This book will: Give you a Kingdom lens to view your finances, prosperity and the purpose of money through. Equip your head, heart and hands with revelation, activations and testimonies. Enable you to build the financial foundation to partner with heaven and see it released here on earth! Heaven is looking to invade your finances. Will you give them a “Foundation” to land on?
In the world of entrepreneurship, hustling and grinding will earn you a badge of honor. In the Kingdom of God, it is an inferior substitute for working by the supernatural power of God’s grace.The purpose of Grace Over Grind is to challenge you, shift your thinking, and transform the way that you work so that you can glorify God and experience immeasurably more than you could ask or imagine in your business.With the same relatable teaching style and storytelling used in The Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur: Doing Business God’s Way and Encountering God: A Devotional of the Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur, Shae Bynes provides scripture, testimonies, and application exercises to help you on your journey to receive God’s best and have a greater Kingdom impact in your sphere of influence. *Paperback version includes bonus Companion Journal*
In Healing the Orphan Spirit, Leif Hetland explores a central aspect at the root of much of the chaos and division in the world today–the orphan spirit. Father God is waiting for His beloved sons and daughters to understand who they are and whose they are so that all might live in the fullness of our true identity as co-heirs of God’s kingdom. From the depths of personal experience and a deep knowledge of Scripture, Leif brings clarity to God’s spirit of adoption with answers to questions such as:
What does it mean to be “adopted” by Father God?
How is Jesus a perfect example of a son who knows his true identity?
How does one experience the true nature and heart of God so as to live as a beloved son or daughter?
Leif’s profound teaching and powerful personal testimonies bring to light what it means to live from the place of your God-given identity and enjoy the life of freedom that every heart longs for.
Break free by exposing the lies of a rejection mindset. Everyone experiences rejection in their life, but few are equipped to overthrow a rejection mindset. Meanwhile, masses of hearts are held back from experiencing the fullness of love in their relationships while being held under the limitation of spiritual slavery. Rejection is a deeply rooted mindset that seeks to steal your ability to experience love, see the power of your identity and experience fruitful relationships. It keeps your heart from experiencing a healthy and fruitful life as a loved child of God. Many people never experience the fullness that is possible because a rejection mindset held them back.
Through his work as a transformational consultant, Mark has witnessed the effects of a rejection mindset first-hand. Through his own personal freedom journey and helping many to break from personal limitations, Mark will expose this sinister mindset and give you practical tools to live free. Throughout this book, you will learn to see how this root system of rejection seeks to get itself into every facet of relationships. You will be able to: – Get to the bottom of what causes most of our relationship struggles. – See why so many believers feel far from God and struggle to connect to His love. – Uncover why many of the same cycles of limitation keep occurring. – Face personal insecurities and get an identity upgrade. – Develop a healthier lens in how you approach relationships. – Break out of places where you feel stuck and get a fresh start. It’s time to take back who you are and what you were made for. Expose the rejection mindset in your life and walk into your freedom.
The Insidious Dance: The Paralysis of Perfectionism
When performing isn’t enough, perfectionism is the answer … or so says the system of the world. Need to get out of the MATRIX and start living life without the treadmill? Ready to be able to give your heart to someone or something, without reservation sans the fear of the consequences of failure? Then this book is definitely for you. It explains the reasons we adopt it, the maladies of it and provides a prescription to end its tyranny in your life. Packed with insight into the spiritual consequences of perfectionism if will finally draw a detailed picture for you of what’s been wrong all these years and how to fix it.
So you want to know how to actually make a living as an artist? You’re in the right place! For the last 25 years, I’ve made my living using my creative expression and I’m going to share with you the top things I’ve learned so you can begin actually making a living from your art.
You Can’t Have Business Dreams with Hobby Habits A lot of artists “dream” of making a living from their art but few are actually willing to do what it takes. What does it take, you might ask? Things like:
Making time to create great work every day
Purposefully developing and enhancing your artistic skill
Cultivating ongoing inspiration
Stewarding the ideas you get so you can come back to them at the right time
Creating your business entity and bank account to treat your art as a business
Developing connection with your ideal client through marketing
Being found online where clients are looking (website, social, blogs, podcasts, editorials, online storefronts, etc.)
Connecting with other artists on the same journey for support and encouragement
Having a mentor who can lead you in areas you’re not proficient in yet including art, marketing, sales, business and your spiritual life.
Over the years as I’ve grown my own very successful art business (I’m a woven sculpture artist) and mentored literally thousands of Christian artists, I’ve found for an artist to really thrive, they have to cultivate 5 specific areas of their life: heart & mind, art, brand, business and life. Unless you are working on all these areas simultaneously, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to make a living as an artist.
See, making work that is masterfully created and unique is simply the starting point. That’s a given. It’s ground zero. Once you’re making work that’s uniquely beautiful you’ve got to go about cultivating an authentic connection with your potential audience.
For more on this subject, check out The Thriving Christian Artist Podcast. It’s free and filled with hundreds of free episodes that will empower you on your creative journey toward actually making a living as an artist.
Need some more help starting to cultivate those 5 hey areas? Take my “Start Thriving Now” ecourse. It’s free and will be a big encouragement to you.
Have you ever wondered how to find your unique style as an artist? A lot of people wonder that, and we are going to jump in and give you some really quick tips on how to see that happen today on this episode of 5-Minute Mentoring.
Connect with Matt online at www.MattTommeyMentoring.com or on Instagram and Facebook @thethrivingchristianartist
Fuel Your Creative Calling with Weekly Encouragement Join thousands of Christian artists who are growing in faith, creativity, and purpose.
Subscribe to The Thriving Christian Artist Weekly and receive powerful, faith-filled content every week—designed to encourage your heart, spark your creativity, and equip you to walk boldly in your God-given calling as an artist.
One of the questions that I get all the time is, “Matt, how do I find my artistic uniqueness and express that in the marketplace?” It’s a great question and a real sign that the artist asking it is ready to take their art to the next level. Why, you ask? Because differentiation and uniqueness are what set you apart from other artists in the marketplace.
Art, after all, is a language. It is visual, auditory, and it speaks to the soul of all people. Like the spoken language you use every day, your artistic vocabulary doesn’t just appear overnight. Here are three essential things you need to know about developing and refining your creative voice.
You’ll Know It When You See It One of the things that I really believe about finding your unique, artistic voice is that you don’t find it; you recognize it. You uncover it. You allow it to emerge over time. However, one of the things artists often neglect is being in the studio enough to ever see that emergence happen.
As you pursue this process, just start by doing the things that come naturally to you. Then, get in the studio and create tons and tons of work. Develop that masterful competency that only time and practice brings forth. And as you do, you’ll start to see themes and styles come out as your unique creative voice emerges.
Consistently Cultivate Inspiration Creating lots of work over time forces you to cultivate continued inspiration in your life. As a creative, you must keep your artistic eyes and ears open all the time. As you receive that inspiration, you respond through your work. And then the inspiration/creation cycle starts all over again.
As you cultivate inspiration, you start to recognize what you are interested in and drawn to as an artist. You begin to gravitate towards a preferred medium and limited palette of materials and supplies you’re using. You begin to recognize the things in life that inspire you the most, and you start to purposefully pursue that source of inspiration.
One final thought on cultivating inspiration; be consistent, be intentional and be faithful. Get serious about cultivating inspiration in your life regularly. Then, faithfully steward those ideas by journaling them. (Need more tips on this, check out this podcast episode that is all about cultivating creative inspiration.)
Don’t Rush the Process Creating tons of work and developing masterful competency while consistently cultivating inspiration takes time. One of the biggest roadblocks to artists developing their style happens when they pressure themselves to sell their work too quickly.
Investing time in your art is the key. There is no shortcut to gaining experience and building skills, both of which contribute to developing your creative voice. Allow your voice to emerge, over time, then refine it. As you do this authentically, people will recognize your uniqueness and respond to it, giving you an excellent opportunity to connect with those people when you make your move to the marketplace.
I hope this helps as you continue to pursue the development of your own unique artistic voice. If this article has helped, take a moment to share it with a friend, share it on social media, and comment below! Thanks for reading.
You know a lot of people are talking about a new art renaissance that seems to be emerging around the world. That’s pretty awesome! But do you ever wonder if that’s really what God’s up to, or is there perhaps something more significant going on?
I do and in tthis episode of 5-Minute Mentoring, we’re going to dive deep into this topic and explore why I believe there’s much more on God’s heart for artists today than simply a renaissance of the arts.
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Fuel Your Creative Calling with Weekly Encouragement Join thousands of Christian artists who are growing in faith, creativity, and purpose.
Subscribe to The Thriving Christian Artist Weekly and receive powerful, faith-filled content every week—designed to encourage your heart, spark your creativity, and equip you to walk boldly in your God-given calling as an artist.
There’s a fresh wind blowing through the arts right now, all over the world. Many have called it a New Renaissance of sorts and as an artist, that’s exciting!
For many artists, it’s brought a new vitality, a resurgence of buyers and the opportunity to significantly grow their businesses through new tools and technology platforms, but is that it? Is that the end game? I believe there’s much more on God’s heart for artists.More than Marketers During this current resurgence of the arts,God is highlighting artists, our work and our creative process. It’s an exciting time but God’s not simply interested in raising up more talented artists and better marketers for our own sake. This move is not just about creating great art and making money as an end in itself (although both of those things can be the fruit of following Gods lead)! He’s actually waking up our hearts, drawing us into wholeness, transforming our minds and raising up an army of creative sons and daughters who know who they are and what they are called to in the Kingdom. This is definitely a God-inspired movement – a tidal wave of creativity in our generation – but to simply see it only as a renaissance is to miss the essence of what’s going on. This move is very different and if we don’t recognize the differences, we will miss the central focus of what’s Gods really doing in this hour. Here’s why:3 Philosophies of the Renaissance During (and as a result of) the Renaissance, three main philosophies emerged that have guided artists for generations since:
Humanism (man is the center of his universe)
Patronage (the protection and support of artists by religious / regional institutions and the wealthy)
Art for arts sake (art as complete in itself, divorced from purpose outside itself).
These three systems formed the basis of how most artists approach their work and business – Christian artists included – even today. It goes like this: pursue my artistic expression (because that’s who I am), make it all about my desires, my talent, my expression and then find others to support me through grants, donations and sales. For some that works, although not long term. For many, it doesn’t work, resulting in a starving artist mentality on one side or a success-focused art marketer on the other.
The ugly side of patronage during the Renaissance of the past was that the artist became dependent on and was at the mercy of the patron (rather than a healthy identity in the Lord), adding a complicated (to say the least) dynamic to their life and art. Today, being a slave to the market or latest marketing trend can yield the same frustration.More than an Arts RenaissanceIn this season, God is using this renaissance to lead us to revival and ultimately, thriving in His Kingdom. He’s also raising up an army of artists who operate in three wholly different ways:
Christ-Centric: Instead of being humanistic, there’s a call to be Christ-centric; realizing that we’ve been given everything we need through the restorative work of Christ. We’ve been healed, restored and as we center our life, desires and creative expression in Him, He is glorified and releases His transformative light and life through us.
Kingdom Provision: Instead of patronage, there’s a call to embrace Kingdom provision; realizing that God alone is our provider and that through the marketplace (and other means) He reveals where we can harvest our provision in line with our assignment as artists. He brings the clients, the ideas and the divine connections. As we are faithful with little – in our skill, our business and marketing, in our finances – God makes us ruler over much.
Transformative Art: Instead of “art for arts sake”, artists realize that art and creativity are a vehicle through which God uses both the artist and the work to release His transformative power, drawing people closer to Him.
God is after much more than just a renewal of interest in the arts, growing art businesses and increased influence. If we miss this (and it’s so easy to) we will tend to seek only the results of what God promises (success, transformation, influence) without the relational and transformative process required to get there.
Lasting Success, Grace to Grow As an artist myself and one who’s had the great privilege of walking with thousands of artists over the years as a mentor, I know this:
artists who seek the transformative power of God in the context of their life, art and business will always experience more lasting success than those who simply seek after the latest artistic fads and business trends.
Further, artists who center their art and business in their relationship with God also have the grace to grow and mature over the long term, building what Proverbs calls “wealth without sorrow.”I want revival, not just renaissance. Revival starts in the heart – my heart – and flows out to others by the Spirit of God through my art, my business and my life.Revival awakens and empowers me from within.
Revival centers my life, work and business in hearing Gods voice and following His lead.Revival calls me to community and lasting impact, for His glory.Sure, becoming a better artist and a better marketer is a part of this process for artists but it’s when God shows up that everything changes. That kind of lasting transformation will never happen as the result of my own effort.When God shows up, transformation is released.When God shows up, my life and art has meaning.When God shows up, then the world is changed.
Pray this with me: Oh God, raise up an army of artists – sons and daughters – who know your voice, follow your lead and release the beauty of your Kingdom in the earth! Here I am, use me.
Enjoy this live video from a recent Facebook Live. We has some connectivity issues for a few moments early on… just scrub through them and keep going 🙂
Many artists have dreams of creating a business from their art. Even more have dreams of growing their current art business beyond a trickling side hustle into a real part-time or full-time business that can provide then the financial and time freedom they desire.
Well, if you’re one of those artists and you’re tired of spinning your wheels then I hope this article will be an encouragement to you!
Harmonious Opposites For most artists, one of the first big hurdles to overcome is the concept of being both an entrepreneur and a creative. I know, I can hear you now “But Matt, I’m not good at all the business stuff… I just want to create!” If that’s you, then wonderful! I’m happy for you. You, my friend, have a wonderful hobby you can enjoy for many years to come. But here’s the truth: you can’t have business results with hobby habits. Either you learn to embrace both parts of the journey, or you come to terms with the limitations of not doing so. There’s no right or wrong answer, but you can’t have it both ways.
Entrepreneurship and creativity are what some have called “harmonious opposites”. On the surface, they seem like they are the antithesis of each other but in realty, they actually fuel each other when held in a healthy tension. Living in and cultivating that tension is your job. Let me explain.
Creative expression in and of itself is a wonderful pursuit for every person, regardless if they feel they are called to be an artist or not. However, for those who want to grow in their capacity, skill and function as an artist, a few things must happen, right? Mastery of skills, techniques, material usage, design, composition, the list goes on. Without these fundamentals, creating can become limited and boring. However, with this foundation artistic expression becomes and ever-expanding world of possibility. In essence, skill development is the runway for artistic freedom and I bet if you’ve been an artist for any length of time, you’ve probably experienced this reality in your life.
The same is true with entrepreneurship and the fundamentals of business. Unless an artist embraces the fundamentals of marketing, sales and running a business they simply limit their capacity to thrive in this modern world as an artist. Gone are the days where an artist can rely on one gallery to sell their work. Buyers want interaction with the artist more than ever which requires artists not only to be makers, but to be great marketers as well. It’s simply a required part of the package. Otherwise, you’ve got to be ok with creating art as a hobby with no predictable way of seeing sales.
The Juggling Act Now that you’re (hopefully) starting to embrace the harmonious tension between being both an entrepreneur and a creative, realize that functioning in that world is not a singular path. Rather, it is much like a juggler, who starting with a single item, then adds other items to their act and keeps them all in the air. Skill and experience make that easier as you grow.
The big question for most artists is “what things should I be juggling and what things should I be leaving out?” That is, what are the really important things that I need to know – especially starting out – and what are the things I can grow into? Without knowing this, most artists will spend hours, days and months spinning their wheels doing things they think are important yet not having any data to confirm their suspicions.
A Blueprint for Success Over the years as I’ve developed my own thriving art business and helped thousands of other Christian artists do the same, I’ve discovered there are some key elements you need to be focused on in order to start or grow your art business.
They include things like: ✅ Having a simple, clear pathway for your purpose ✅ Knowing where to focus your time, attention and resources to accelerate growth ✅ Understanding what habits make success easier ✅ Clarifying God’s plan for your life and art ✅ Discovering why people aren’t buying your art ✅ Transforming lookers into raving clients ✅ How to build a personal brand that attracts buyers both online and offline ✅ Knowing the key elements every artist website should have to start making sales ✅ Feeling confident in creating a simple artist marketing plan ✅ Knowing how to handle the business side of being an artist without being overwhelmed
These key elements are the beginning of starting or growing your art business to the next level.
Starting Mid-May, 2018, you can connect with me via my new podcast, “The Thriving Christian Artist”. It’s for artists who want to bust through roadblocks that have held them back for years, create the art they love and live the life the they know God created them to live as an artist in His Kingdom.
During each season of the podcast, I’ll be sharing encouraging teaching and inspiration from my own journey as an artist plus interviews with both emerging and established artists in every creative medium who are thriving artistically, spiritually and in their business.
You can listen, subscribe and review my podcast via iTunes, Stitcher, GooglePlay or my website by heading here.
I recently had the great pleasure to sit down for a wonderful conversation with my friend, Libby John who hosts the “Art & Faith Conversations” podcast. We talked about my new book, Created to Thrive along with alot of the back story that has brought me to where I am today as an artist.
Listen to the podcast here or by searching “Art & Faith Conversations” under Podcasts on iTunes or Stitcher.
I’ve been an artist for over 24 years now and thankfully, have moved from a struggling artist to one who’s thriving artistically, spiritually and financially. Because I have an artist mentorship program and written several books for artists, I’m always getting questions from artists who want to start thriving. The two most common things artists want to know is how to sell art and where to sell your art. The questions are connected, so let me explain.
How to Sell Art…
First of all, this is a huge question but surprisingly simple. It’s simple because it has to be based on you, the artist. How do you like to sell your art? I’ve found over the years, there are basically two ways to sell your art: direct to the customer or through a strategic partner (or, I admit it… a combination of both). It’s really important to understand which strategy is most effective for you when you’re asking how to sell art.
When I first started asking how to sell art, I did what most artists do and looked to others who I saw being successful and modeled them. Unfortunately for me, their model didn’t work for me. Many of the artists I knew were introverts who enjoyed mostly making in their studio rather than interacting with the public. Consequently, they had adopted a wholesale methodology which required them to make production items, sell at a 50% discount, sell through stores and galleries, and never have any interaction with their end user. For me, as an extroverted people person, that was very unfulfilling. When I made beautiful work and faced the reality of packing it up and shipping it off to a gallery far far away, that gave me no emotional payoff, which for me is an important part of being an artist. I love hearing people say “Oh my gosh, that is so beautiful! I love it!” Without that, I was missing something huge!
The other methodology I saw most artists doing included doing as many retail craft and art shows as possible. They seemed to live on the road. In the summers, they were in the mountains and in the winter, they all headed to Florida. Always on the road, always staying in hotels or travel trailers. Again, not my idea of a beautiful artistic life.
For me, I chose to pursue selling my art through a public studio in Asheville’s River Arts District, a collection of over 200 artists in 23 old warehouse buildings in Asheville, North Carolina. It’s a mecca for artists and art lovers, as well as wealthy retirees who like to incorporate local art into their homes. I get to make, sell and interact all out of my studio. I deliver most of my commissioned works and I get a high level of interaction with my clients. We build relationships. They visit the studio with friends and for me, that’s huge!
So what’s the bottom line? You have to determine how to sell art for yourself based on how your wired, what you’re creating and the life you want. Without being clear about those questions, you’ll end up really frustrated. If you’re going to be an artist, you want to do so while living a beautiful, creative and fulfilled life.
Where You Sell Your Art…
Now you understand why these two questions go together. How you sell art ends up determining where you sell your art. There’s no cookie cutter plan that works for everyone. As you consider where to sell your art, make sure you craft a strategy that fits how you like to create, sell and live life. The artist life is not just about cranking out product, but about authentically creating your work, connecting with others who love what you do and making a profit.
That being said, here are some of my best recommendations:
Where to Sell Your Art For Artists Who Want to Sell Direct To Clients:
Retail art & fine craft shows in your region (and nationally) that have a track record of attracting your ideal client
Open Studio where people can see where, how and what you create
Through Your Website & Social Media
Through friends and family recommendations
Personal recommendations from clients
Home Parties & Trunk Shows
Private clubs & organizations who connect with what and how you create
Strategic Partnerships with people who are in front of your ideal client but don’t directly compete with you ie: interior designers, builders, architects, hotels, etc.
Where to Sell Your Art For Artists Who Want to Sell Wholesale:
National art & fine craft wholesale shows
Museum Shows & Exhibitions
Local, Regional & National Galleries & Stores
Strategic partners who want to represent your work
Guilds & Marketing Co-ops in your area
We talk about these issues every day in my Created to Thrive Artist Mentorship Program and over the last year, I’ve created several in-depth teaching videos on this subject based on my own experience and the experience of hundreds of artists I’ve helped over the years. Find out more about becoming a part of my artist mentorship program here.
Also, let me know what’s working for you! Comment below and let’s keep the conversation going.
