You know, a lot of artists have dreams about supplementing their income with their artwork, but few know how to take those first steps towards making this dream a reality. If this is you, please keep reading. I’m going to be sharing some practical things you can start doing now to turn your art hobby into a profitable and productive side-hustle.
Make Space First of all, be sure you are intentionally making space in your life for both your day job and your art. If you’re like most folks working a full-time job, then Monday through Friday is probably dominated by work, commuting, and living life, and that’s entirely understandable. The challenge, then, is what you do with those other hours in your day, your weekend, and your free time? Well, if you want to make your art work for you, especially as an income stream, then you have to be serious about making that work for you from a time, energy, and resource perspective. So, sit down, look at your calendar, make sure you are giving intentional space every week to your art. Be Realistic Secondly, you have to be realistic about the time you have to invest in your art, but more importantly, you have to make that time count. Be consistent and faithful in the time you have to be inspired, practice techniques, and create pieces of art. Remember, you’re in this for the long haul. Also, be realistic about how you are going to get your work out there to potential buyers. You may want to consider quarterly shows, online sales, or even working with a local gallery that can market your art for you while you are still working a full-time job. Remember there isn’t a one size fits all approach, the secret is finding what works best for you, your family, and your art during this season. And this brings us to my final point... Be Clear Be clear, I mean really, really clear about what you want, what you are willing to give up in order to get that, and where you want to go in this season of your life. We call that vision, and the Bible is really clear on this topic. Proverbs 29:18 tells us that, “Where there is no vision, the people perish,” and that word perish there actually means to cast off restraint. It means going here or there with no real direction in life, but VISION allows you to be clear about who you are, what you want, and where you are going in any given season of life. All of us go through different seasons in life. Right now, my focus is on being a Husband to my wife, a Dad to my son, and a Father to artists. When new opportunities arise in my life, I take a moment to evaluate each open door in the light of the current season that I find myself in. If the option being offered doesn’t line up with the vision God has laid out for me during this season, then I don’t do it. It really is that simple to be clear when you have a vision for your life. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading.
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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:
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 Renaissance In 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:
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.
Tell me my friend, does this sound familiar?
You've created a significant body of work and have done your best to let the world know you're open for business, but no matter what you do, you just can't seem to sell your art locally. If you find yourself in an extremely rural area, an area that is economically depressed, or an area that doesn't have an established art-buying culture, then it may be time to face facts. Your local area may not be where your ideal clients, the best buyers for your art, are located. If this is you, don't worry. This isn't the end of your artistic dreams, but the beginning of a new way of thinking about and approaching your art business. And to help you get started, I want to share three ideas that I've seen work for artists around the globe. 1. Selling Art is Not the Only Way to Make Money as An Artist When I first moved to Asheville and started to establish myself as an artist, I discovered that teaching art classes was a great way to augment my art sales. These classes brought in some much-needed income while helping to elevate my status as an artistic professional in my community. Over the past few years, online courses have come into their own. Even in our currently socially distanced world, it's never been easier to use what you know artistically to create a great source of income. 2. You Need to Go Where the Fish Are I grew up in Georgia and learned quite early that if you're trying to catch fish, you've got to go to where the fish are. The same wisdom applies to selling your art. If your local art market is sluggish or non-existent, then it's time to find out where folks are buying art in your region and your state. Start with a little online research. Spend some time looking into shows outside of your local area that are a good fit for your work. Then look into the galleries that are attracting the clientele you're looking to connect with. Once you've narrowed down the list, check out these shows and galleries in person. It may mean taking a road trip and getting a hotel. The goal is to find with the Holy Spirit's guidance, the shows and galleries that are a great fit for your art. 3. Selling Your Artwork Online Is a Great Option The fundamentals are simple: attract an audience, get their email address, and build a connection over time. It may be a new concept to you, but over the years, I've learned that Connection is Key when it comes to growing your art sales. Every successful artist I know cultivates buyers by intentionally and consistently building a connection with their followers. Now once you've built that connection, everything else is quite simple. From processing payments online to worldwide shipping, it's never been easier to sell your art to a global audience. Looking for 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.
I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend.
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.
Have you ever struggled with knowing where to advertise yourself as an artist? There are so many options available today. Some are expensive, some are effective, and some are just a waste of time and money.
I love it when an artist is thinking about advertising because it immediately tells me that they are proud of their work and ready to get it out there to the art buying public. It also means they are stepping out into their journey of becoming a thriving artist. That’s exciting! I was recently asked a question by Deb, one of the members of my Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program as she was considering advertising in her local paper. She wanted to know what I did to advertise myself as an artist. My answer may surprise some of you, but before I share it, I want to give you a little backstory. Backstory: I owned a marketing company in Atlanta for several years. We did some advertising, we helped people develop ads and get them placed in magazines, newspapers, and online. We'd help communicate their message, build brand awareness, and build their online presence. Despite my background in advertising, I don't advertise, at least not in the way you might think. Now, I know you're sitting there, maybe in a bit of disbelief, but I've been able to build a six-figure art business with an international following without having to pay to promote my artwork. It all comes down to the way that the Lord led me to develop my art career. You see, I believe marketing your art is not just about finding people to buy your stuff. It’s about cultivating and sharing your artistic uniqueness and then sharing that with the world in order to build an authentic connection with the people in the marketplace who value your aesthetic and connect with who you are as an artist. Are you ready to find out how to do this? Define Your Artistic Uniqueness Let me ask you a question. What makes you different? What makes you unique? What is the "secret sauce" that makes your artwork stand out from other artists in your area who are creating pieces using the same mediums or working in similar genres as you? Defining what I call your Unique Creative Voice as an artist is vital to developing your "brand" as an artist. There are many ways to go about doing this, but I’ve found there are really three key steps you need to take to do it successfully. Focus Your Creative Expression Have you ever heard the saying, "Jack of all trades, master of none?" Unfortunately, this could be ascribed to so many artists I've met over the years. While it's great to have a wide variety of skills and interests, it's vitally important to focus your creative energies on one or two primary things so you can truly develop what I call Masterful Competence; but only if you want to sell your work consistently. :) This focusing may also mean that you begin to put limits on your creative palette while you define the parameters of both what and how you create your art. It's learning to find creative freedom within the boundaries of a limited palette. I realize that might seem stifling at first but learning to co-plan and co-create art with the Holy Spirit while limiting yourself to a handful of supplies, techniques, and mediums supercharges the development of your artistic mastery. Learn To Tell the Story of You One thing I'm always saying is that 90% of the time, people buy art because of connection. Sometimes it's a connection to your subject matter, but serious collectors also value the connection they have with you and your creative process. That's why developing and refining your story is vital to growing your art business. Your story and the story of your art can be one of the most powerful tools you can carry with you as you embark on creating authentic connections with the clients and potential clients you meet. You see, fully embracing your story is so important, because before you can truly grow as an artist, you must be able to speak passionately about yourself, your artwork, and your process. When you're passionate and excited about your work, and you learn to share that passion, people will start to connect with you and your work. The difference between telling your story and advertising is the difference between hunting with a rifle versus hunting with a shotgun. Telling your story, either in person or via editorial content (blogs, podcasts, articles, etc.) is a highly focused, precise way of zeroing in on your ideal clients. While generalized advertising (though it can be useful) is a bit like scattering your seed to the wind. Sure, you may "hit" one or two of the people you're looking to connect with, but the vast majority of your paid advertisements are going to land in the laps of people who don't want or can't afford what you do. There is a better way, and once you've established what makes you artistically unique and you're ready to tell the story of you, then it's time to… Discover Your Ideal Client Creating your business around a niche of people who connect with you and your work is the bedrock of a successful art business. As I've said many times before, "No connection, no sale." The question then becomes, "How do I connect and with whom?" That's what developing a client avatar is all about. A client avatar is a fictional representation of your ideal client, all wrapped into one character. Being able to see your ideal client as a person, rather than an obscure figment of your imagination is super helpful when developing your potential products, messaging, and marketing campaigns. With a client avatar in mind, you're able to create marketing efforts directed right at them. Finally, let me say this. It's best if you can develop your client avatar based on actual evidence you've collected over time rather than just coming up with who you 'think' is your target client. With actual client history, you can analyze how people have connected with you and your work over the years while working on ways to enhance that experience. If you're just starting fresh, give it your best shot and also look at the clients of other artists in your area or medium who are selling to provide you with a starting place. So, you've defined your artistic uniqueness, you're ready to tell the story of you, and you know what your ideal client looks like. Now it's time to… Bring it All Together Have you ever wondered what that secret recipe is for making and selling great art? Well, it's not just your artistic uniqueness, your story and your client avatar alone that make the biggest difference, but rather how you use these three ingredients, or tools, together to develop the perfect recipe for connecting you and your art with the people who want to buy it and pay top dollar for it. The goal is to find the points of intersection where you can connect with your ideal clients. What magazines do they read? Where do they hang out? What non-profits are they involved with? What clubs and organizations are they members of? These are just a few of the questions I've used over the years to find points of overlap in my life and in theirs. And this is key to creating connection. Let me tell you how my friend Julie, a photographer, does this. Julie's fine art portrait sessions are a perfect fit for individuals and families who can invest $2500 or more to capture images meant to be treasured for several lifetimes. She learned early on that her ideal clients were often involved with local non-profits, serving on boards, donating time, and making donations at fundraisers and galas. So, Julie combined her skills along with her love of serving the community to connect with her ideal clients by photographing them at local non-profit events. Again, the goal is to know where your ideal client is hanging out and learning to connect with them intentionally. Through direct connection via mutual interests or by being referred by someone your ideal client is already doing business with are two great low to no-cost ways to promote yourself. Now, if you were going to spend money on advertisements, and please know that I'm not against this, this is where having intel on your ideal client can really stretch and focus your advertising dollars. If your ideal clients are affluent seniors, look for the local publications that are already targeting that market. Some exclusive subdivisions in our area even have their own magazines, each filled with public interest articles on a variety of topics. This opens up the possibility of a public interest piece (which costs nothing) or even paid ads that will land in the lap of an ideal potential client. Final Thoughts Marketing and promotion are a lot like planting seeds. The worst thing you can ever do is to stop sowing the seeds of connection. Some of those seeds are going to come up immediately, some of them are going to come up in a few months, some of them may come up in a few years. You never know, but you have always got to be planting seeds, and then focus those seeds in the places where they are going to count the most around those intersection points. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading
Have you ever considered putting your artwork on apparel or merchandise in order to get it out to the masses? Well, one of my podcast listeners and Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program members, Jen, recently asked me about this idea of putting a great piece of artwork on a T-shirt. She wanted to know if this is a good idea or not, but more specifically, she wanted to know if this would cheapen her art.
I love tackling questions like this because it helps artists find focus and bring clarity of purpose to their creative pursuits. Over the years, I’ve found that there are really two ways to go about selling your art. Folks who have been in the biz for a while, usually end up in one of two camps: The Mass Merchandising Camp or the Fine Art Camp. It’s rare that artists have feet in both. The Mass Merchandising Camp In this camp, the whole idea is to sell as much art as possible by placing art on everything you can imagine while keeping the prices low enough to make it affordable to the masses. In this camp, your canvas might be cellphone covers, leggings, pants, shirts, t-shirts, hats, mugs, cups, stickers, towels, or calendars. You get the idea. Now don’t get me wrong, this can be a great camp to be in artistically speaking. Artists in this camp are eventually drawn towards licensing their art. From art and art merchandise sold online and in big box stores, to mass reproduced series of prints for business and hotel chains, art licensing is a multi-billion dollar segment of the global art market each year. To be clear, Mass Merchandising is an excellent camp to consider, but it does have one glaring downside. The more that you bring down the price of your artwork and increase its accessibility, the more you cheapen its value in the eyes of serious collectors, people I consider to be your best buyers. What do I mean by that? True collectors, the folks who spend the most money on art, are usually looking for pieces that are original, exclusive and many times, offered at a higher price point. To them, buying art is not just about the art, but about the ambiance that goes around it, the prominence of the artist, the significance of the piece, and the perceived status that would come from owning it. The Fine Art Camp Now, for me, I chose to plant my feet in a different camp when it came to marketing my art. I learned a valuable lesson early on in the fine craft world. My friends who were potters tended to lean mostly towards functional pieces or towards non-functional work. I began to notice that potters that focused primarily on functional pieces, mugs, bowls, plates, etc., were amazing artists that were stuck on a volume-producing treadmill. To make a living, these artists have to batch produce a larger volume of pieces to make ends meet. Again these are great artists creating beautiful pieces, but at the end of the day, a mug or a bowl meant for daily use isn’t going to fetch fine art prices. Then there were the ceramicists that created ornate vessels and sculpture. Their focus was on unique one of a kind items meant to serve as the focal point of a room, a centerpiece on a table, or a high-end accent to an existing collection of fine art. Sure these artists never sold the volume of pieces that functional potters sold, but they did attract the kind of buyer that I was looking to attract in my art business. Positioning Is Everything Seeing those two schools of thought in action there inside the fine art camp made it easy for me to find my path when it came to creating and selling my art. While my career in basketry began in the “functional” school of thought, I knew I couldn’t stay there forever. Over the years, as my skill grew, I came to love making things that are exclusive, unique, and really special. Consequently, I knew that if I wanted to follow my artistic passions, I had to move away from the “sure bet” functional baskets were for me and begin to position myself differently. My prices had to increase if my volume of sales were going to decrease, but more importantly I had to develop that “it” factor, that idea of exclusivity, that would attract the kind of buyer that could and would pay top dollar for my work. As I did this, I learned a few things about the high-end art market. Buyers in this market are much more concerned about the connection of my values to theirs than they were with the concept of merely filling a blank space on their shelf. I learned that my ideal buyer was drawn in by the aesthetic of my work, the uniqueness of my pieces, and eventually by my reputation as an artist. As I turned off the faucet in my art career on the lower-end stuff, I began to connect with clients that were passionate about my work. These folks never beat me up on price. In fact, price is often one of the last questions they ask when purchasing one of my woven sculptures. The best part is that they started referring me to their friends which only served to strengthen my reputation and increase my value in the marketplace as an artist. I found that I love to do business with buyers like this, serious collectors who appreciate my artistic passions. Trust is Key Choosing your path as an artist is one of the most critical decisions you’ll make in your career as an artist. One of the things that helped me the most in my journey was to set aside some time to examine my heart. I began to realize that when my focus was on “how can I make a buck,” or “how can I get you to buy my basket,” that I was living out of a place of fear and striving. Fear that I would be a starving artist that couldn’t provide for my family and striving to do everything in my power to provide for my own needs. What I wasn’t doing was trusting the Lord, the One who had given me these talents and had called me to the marketplace to provide for me as His son. In my own epic saga of artistic (and spiritual) growth, I reached a point of surrender and trust. I surrendered the idea that it was up to me and that I had to work, sweat, and strive and leaned fully into trust. I prayed something like, “You know what, Lord? I know that You love me. I know that You have called me an artist. I know that You want me to make things that I am passionate about. I know that as I am faithful to be the artist You called me to be, You are going to be faithful to bring the clients, the connections, and the provision.” When I did that and disconnected from all that striving, that’s when things changed for me. It’s been the same for so many artists in my Mentoring Program. When they let go of striving to create and sell and leaned into trusting God and yielding to the direction of the Holy Spirit in every aspect of their art life, things began to change. Doors of opportunity, provision, and artistic fulfillment began to open wide for them as well. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! Have you ever wondered what to focus on as a creative when you love to do so much? Often as creatives, we tend to be multi-focused and multi-interested most of the time. That is kind of a normal part of being wired for creativity. But while this is perfectly normal, this can hinder your ability to grow an artistic hobby into a part-time or full-time business or ministry. The key to finding artistic focus in your life lies in knowing what season of life you are in. The Bible teaches us there is a time and a season for everything under the sun. Over the years, I’ve continually returned to this truth in my own life asking, “Lord, what season am I in? How do I respond right now creatively, financially, and in business?” Discerning the Times and Seasons When I got out of college, I felt strongly that the Lord was calling me into a season of full-time ministry. And for several years, ministry was my primary focus. I served as a Worship Leader and did my baskets on the side as my hobby. I would sell my baskets at shows a few times a year, earning my Christmas money and that sort of thing. In that season of my life, my baskets really weren’t a big deal. I didn’t put a lot of expectation on making or selling, I enjoyed it as a pastime and that worked for me at that time. As I transitioned out of ministry a few years later, I moved into a season of serving the Lord in the marketplace. I loved doing marketing and graphic design, so I started a marketing company. And for a season, that was very successful. Again, I was still doing my baskets as a hobby and leading worship on the side as a volunteer at church, but those things were not my primary focus, especially in terms of generating dependable income for my family. Then in 2009, the seasons began to shift for me again. God called me to be a father to artists, to raise up an army of artists, and to do what I am doing right now. During that season, my focus began to shift again. I started writing books for the first time, and I started speaking on the whole idea of what it means to be a Kingdom Artist. But that wasn’t the only shift that happened. The Lord told me that He was going to start using my baskets. Yes, that creative escape I embraced during my college years and had evolved into a serious hobby over 15 years was now ready to become a significant focus in my life. The Lord began to open doors of favor that were incredible, using my baskets as both a source of income for my family and as well as a big part of what led us to move to Asheville, North Carolina. His plan for me in that new season was to bring me to a seat of influence in the arts (Asheville) and to a position of authority in the Kingdom (to raise up an army of artists). As I look back at my 25-year artistic journey, I’m genuinely amazed at what God did in each season of my life. Each season was uniquely focused on a passion the Lord had sown into me that grew into my main focus for a time. Again, for me, the key to knowing what to focus on in any given season of life has been a commitment to commune with God regularly. I challenge you to do the same. Get alone with God. Ask Him the questions,
Before I go, realize there are many other things I’ve shared over the years on creative focus, but two free resources I would love for you to check out are:
Thanks for reading! Christian artists around the world really struggle with this idea. We all want to honor the Lord with the creative gifts and talents He’s given us, but how do we do that if our creative pursuits seem better suited to the marketplace than the sanctuary. I’ve struggled with this myself, especially as an artist and a believer that primarily creates woven sculpture. No one has ever looked at my work and asked me, “Matt, are you creating Christian baskets?” (We’ll somebody did once, but that made for a really awkward conversation.) On the one hand, it’s kind of great not to have that pressure, but on the other hand, it has made me wonder from time to time if my pieces are having any impact in the Kingdom or the spiritual lives of my clients. And I know if I’ve struggled with this concept, then those of us whose works employ narratives, story, music, or imagery can oftentimes struggle with this even more. If that’s you, then let me encourage you with this: God cares more THAT you create than WHAT you create. Now, what does that mean? Well, for me, that means it is more vital for me as an artist to recognize and embrace the unique design God has on my life. Once I accepted this, then I was able to faithfully fulfill that design to the best of my ability using the gifts, talents, and skills He has given me. The same can be true for you as well. It’s the same principle Paul shares in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.” This advice given to Christian servants working in Roman households didn’t just apply to work that was overtly spiritual in nature. It’s hard to make washing dishes or cleaning toilets seem Holy. Yet Paul’s admonition was EVERYTHING done using one’s full measure of skill and talent without reservation, without holding back, is, in fact, honoring to God in a way that advances the Kingdom. Chew on that for a minute. Now here’s how you can bring this principle to life in your creative practice. Get Creative with God in the Studio Get in your studio, invite the Holy Spirit into that space and begin to cultivate an atmosphere of His presence. Once you are in that place with the Lord, unleash your creativity and do the thing that is on your heart to do. Write, Sculpt, Paint, Mold, or Shape with wild abandon, creating art for an audience of One without fear of how others will view or judge your work out in the world. Don’t just do this once and decide it’s not for you, instead make this a regular part of your creative life. You’ll quickly find that the pieces that honor the Lord are often the very ones that speak to the depths of your soul as a creative. The finished work may be overtly spiritual, or it might just be beautiful with no other agenda. No matter the subject matter of your finished pieces, always remember that when you begin to fulfill God’s plans and purposes in your life, your art will have a profound impact on others. Be Being Filled and Skilled: Always remember your job as an artist is to be the best artist that you can be. I’ve encouraged tens of thousands of artists from around the world to embrace the concept of being both filled and skilled. By being continually filled with the power of God’s Light, Life, and His Presence in your life, you literally cultivate an atmosphere in your studio that invites the Power of Heaven into everything you do creatively. At the same time, you must be a good steward of the skills God has given you. Learn from masters in your field, enlarge your creative capacities, hone your skills. Wholeheartedly dive into your creative process and rise to be everything God has called you to be as an artist. The Results are up to God Now before you start getting worried or fixated on the impact your creative efforts may or may not have in the lives of others, always keep this in mind: the results are up to God. It’s too easy to start thinking transactionally in terms of the impact we want our artistic creations to have in the lives of others. “I’ll paint this so that she feels...” or “I’ll write this song that he will…” You get the picture. The Kingdom doesn’t work that way and approaching your art in that way borders on manipulation. But once you embrace the fullness of who God has created you to be and begin following His plans for your life and art, that’s when your art (and your life) becomes impactful in the Kingdom. It’s when you choose to live and embrace an abundant life of joy, beauty, peace, creativity, and love that your life and your art begin to prophesy the truths of the Kingdom of God to the world. As you do this, God is free to use everything you do and create to profoundly impact the world in ways that are far beyond anything you could have imagined or engineered on your own. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading!
As an established Christian artist, I'm often asked how do you take a hobby and turn it into a viable business; either part time or full time. Or to take it a step further, how do you take something you love to do, have God bless it and turn it into a source of income, allowing you the time, the freedom and the income you need to start focusing on what God has called you to do?
Over the years, I've learned that most artists are moved and motivated simply by the opportunity to create art. And the simple fact is, if you're making enough money through creating and selling your art, then you have more time to create. That's pretty awesome! When that is coupled with seeing your art being used by God to transform the lives of others, your joy and fulfillment cup in life really starts to overflow. While this is fun to think about, the real challenge for most Christian artists is figuring out how they get there; how they take that hobby, and go pro. I've touched on the concept of "Building the Bridge" in previous posts, but today we're going to map out exactly what that journey can look like for you. Make Great (and Unique) Art The foundation of this bridge is simply making great art. You have to develop your skill, your unique voice, and an aesthetic that is desirable in the marketplace. Otherwise, you’ve got nothing to share with the world. It's also essential to continue producing great work regularly for your style and your voice to develop. Without that, most artists find themselves stuck without a unique, recognizable voice or enough work to start really selling. Now, I know it's easy to become discouraged at this stage. It takes time for your unique voice to develop. It's going to take dedication, determination, and countless hours in the studio to develop your unique artistic voice, one that will set you apart in the marketplace. That’s normal and a glorious part of our journey both spiritually and artistically. No amount of marketing and business skill can make up for the lack of the time you spend creating. Remember, the same God that blessed you with talent and desire is the same God that will sustain and inspire you as you continue building your skill throughout your journey. Put Yourself Out There Proverb 16:9 says, "Man plans his way, but the Lord orders his steps." Your next step is to make your plan and get yourself out there into the marketplace. The most effective way I've found to establish long term success in marketing my art is what I like to call my Parthenon Marketing Plan. Think about the Parthenon, that ancient multi-pillared structure in Athens, Greece. Built thousands of years ago, the structure of the building is still largely intact due to the multiple pillars that were built to support the structure. Picture that building in your mind as we switch gears and focus on marketing your art. Instead of putting all of your "marketing eggs" in one basket, or on one "marketing pillar," begin diversifying your marketing efforts across a variety of different sales and marketing channels. Don’t just rely on art shows and craft fairs to sell your work, branch out and establish an online presence, too. Instead of just paying for Facebook ads, why not reach out to your local media outlets and let them know you're available for interviews and public interest stories! The possibilities are endless. The point is to build your marketing "house" by using a multi-pillared approach that employs a variety of different marketing tactics, all working simultaneously. That way, if one strategy fails, falls short, or, as we've seen with the Covid-19 Pandemic, is shut down, you still have a way to connect with clients, sell your art and pandemic-proof your business. Find YOUR Place….Are You Going to be Evian or Tap Water? So let's recap. First, you have to create great art while developing your unique artistic voice and style. Then you must begin reaching out and connecting with people so that they know you exist in the marketplace. Finally, it's also essential to know where to position yourself IN the market. Let's use water as an example. Now, there's tap water that basically costs you nothing and then there are bottles of water out there that can cost upwards of $100 (check out https://svalbardi.com/). How do they charge that much for water? It's all with how it's positioned in the marketplace. They've marketed it in such a way that makes it unique, special, and exclusive enough to offer a client the experience they're seeking. It’s the same way with art. Take my work, for example. I don't just create functional baskets you can find at any store. I create woven sculpture. I don't sell at common community craft shows. I've positioned myself in the marketplace in a way that highlights the value of my work as fine art. When my clients meet me, see my art, and get to know me, they begin to feel that one of my sculpted pieces just might be worthy of a place of honor in their home and the high prices my work commands. Do you have to be the best artist in the world to accomplish this? Absolutely not, but you do need to create something that is perceived as special, unique, and valuable. This approach continues to build on itself. Once you cultivate and build a reputation for being exclusive, unique, and desirable, you'll begin to find and attract your special niche of clients. By positioning myself as an artist, instead of “some guy who makes baskets” or “crafty”, I've been able to create a unique brand that is both high end and exclusive. And that's how you start to command the prices and respect in the art world. Where is God in all of this? My friend, He's in your studio and the work you create. He’s in your inspiration, and He’s definitely in the relationships you develop along the way. The Holy Spirit will guide you every step of the way both in your creative process and into those special relationships He has for you. Learn to invest in those key relationships the Lord points out to you and intentionally cultivate those relationships over time. It will pay off, I promise. Remember, the Lord is ready to walk with you in every artistic, business, and life decision you face. The same God who filled you with creativity and inspiration desires to guide you moment by moment as you step out in faith and use the gifts He's given you in the marketplace. And as you are faithful on your journey, the Lord will begin to open up doors for you to do the thing that's in your heart. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! Back in March of this year, I had the honor and the privileged of hosting 500 artists at our first ever Thriving Christian Artists Conference here in North Carolina. One of the highlights of that event was having the audience pick our 2020 Created to Thrive Spokesperson of the Year from our four finalists that were present there with us that weekend. As a part of for being considered for this honor, everyone who entered this to submit a short video detailing why they should be chosen. While I can't share all the fantastic videos we did receive, I do want to share with you the following videos from our four finalists. Enjoy Lydia Crouch - FinalistRachel Painter - FinalistIrene Hassler - FinalistJan Tetsutani - Our 2020 Spokesperson of the YearHas this ever happened to you? You're on the journey of life, actively engaging with your local community of believers. And despite your best efforts, you find yourself stuck in a situation that's full of misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and broken relationships. The sad reality is that we've all been there, and despite the Father's intent, modern church life can sometimes be a magnet for these painful encounters. So the real question is, "what can you do about this?" First Things First It's easy to blame hurtful situations on others, especially if you believe they don't like you, they don't understand you, or worse, they are out to get you. While it's all too easy to jump to any one of these conclusions, the reality is that satan is a master at stirring the pot as he sprinkles in a few dashes of deception, division, and doubt. When you find yourself in a tense situation with others, take a moment to go to the Lord and ask for His perspective on the situation. It's incredible how many times that simply seeing a hurtful situation from God's point of view can kickstart a season of healing and reconciliation in your life. Align Your Expectations Often seeking the Father's wisdom when you are hurt reveals a simple confusion of expectations. Failing to communicate upfront what you and others are expecting in a given situation can often be where relationship difficulties begin. This can happen on every level and with any relationship you have. Confusion is out there, looking for its next opportunity to strike. And when it does, you find yourself expecting one thing to happen while the person you're dealing with is expecting something completely different. (Queue the difficulties and strife) Now, as depressing as this may seem, you don't have to let it get you down and out. Instead, take it to the Lord. First, ask Him, "Lord, here's the situation. What's the opportunity here for me to grow in relationship with You?" Then, take the time to listen and act upon what He tells you. Secondly, take the time to reflect on the conflict and ask yourself some essential questions:
Go Make It Right Matthew 18 is very clear on this matter. If you have something against your brother, go to him, deal with it. If you don't do that, it just festers under the skin. The more time that you allow to go by without dealing with the situation directly, the enemy will have a field day because he always deals in secrecy and fear. The Bible also tells us in Ephesians 4:3 that we need to "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." So what does that actually mean? That means if someone has offended you, or even if you have offended someone else, that it's on you to be the bigger person. Take that first step, reach out in love and say, "Hey, my friend, I'm so sorry. I know there's a situation with us. Can we talk about this because I don't want anything to come between us." The Bible is really clear where we dwell together in unity, and there the Lord has commanded the blessing. I don't know about you, but I do want blessings in my life. Get Some Help Now I'd like to tell you that this works 100% of the time, but unfortunately, it just doesn't. So when you find yourself still stuck in strife even after you've reached out in love to make things right, Matthew 18 again offers us the best guidance. Go back with a mediator, someone you both trust, and try again. Just know that even taking this step, your differences still may not be solved. Sometimes this presents us with the opportunity to set a boundary and move on. I know that's hard, but as soon as you can release people and your expectations of that situation, that's when the Lord can bring healing and reconciliation. You're not abandoning the relationship. You're allowing them space to process that thing and deal with it in a way that will honor the Lord. Finally, Forgive And one last thing, forgive. Forgiveness is not for them. Forgiveness doesn't mean they did everything right. Forgiveness doesn't mean you did everything right. Forgiveness just says, "I'm choosing to no longer punish you for the thing that I perceived that you did to me. I'm releasing you from that, and I'm going to learn from this situation. I'm going to go on in God's grace." When you learn to deal with hurt and difficulties in this way, your mindset begins to change. And when you face similar problems again in the future, you have a proven, trusted plan for dealing with them in a healthy, God-like way. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! You did it. You’ve sent your artwork out into the world. And you didn’t get the response you thought you would. The likes aren’t stacking up on Instagram and no one’s following you on Facebook. So what happens next..heartache...frustration? Trust me, it doesn’t have to be that way! Today I’m tackling the common misunderstanding many Christian artists have regarding their identity and connecting it to what people think about their art. Listen, this is a very normal thing but that doesn’t make it healthy. It is however, something we must work through if you want to really thrive as the artist God created you to be. On the other hand, if you give in to these feelings of doubt, they can absolutely paralyze you. Constantly thinking about your performance and judging your worth by what others say about you is a real recipe for disaster. He’s After Your Heart Why? Because the enemy is always after your heart. He’s going to try to leverage any part of you that is performance-based. Anything that is not firmly grounded in the Lord’s identity. Anything based on what others think. And more than likely, he will if you don’t understand who God has made you to be, agree with it, and intentionally cultivate that truth regularly. It doesn’t matter who you are. Especially as a Christian artist, you’re never going to grow and develop unless you deal with that identity issue. It doesn’t matter how good of a marketer you are or how good of an artist you are if your identity is tied up in what others think of you. You are never going to see that sustained renewed growth, joy, freedom and authority in what you do. Matthew 18:19 says “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.” Now you can choose to agree with God’s will or you can choose to agree with the enemy, agreement is a powerful thing. So what are you going to agree with? Are you going to agree with “I’m only as good as they say I am.”? Or “I’m only as good as how many Instagram likes I have.”? Or even “I’m only as good as my church thinks I am?” That’s the mindset that sends you on a performance-driven, enemy filled cycle. Or are you going to agree with what God says about you? The Power of Community Community can be a powerful tool that God can use to encourage and support you. However, community should never be the thing you lean on in place of cultivating a healthy identity. When you’re doing both, actively cultivating a healthy identity inside a healthy community, that’s when things really start to change. When you have loving and supportive people who will speak into you the identity God has designed for you, you become the son instead of the slave. Your path deviates from your Facebook feed or your Instagram likes. When something goes wrong, instead of destroying you, it becomes a trigger for an opportunity. An Opportunity to Change An opportunity for what? To take control. For you to say ‘Lord, I am not defined by what I do. I am not defined by what others think. I am defined by who You say I am.’ The Bible says "Do not conform to the pattern of this world.” That means don’t do life as everybody else does it. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” As you begin to think about your life in terms of what God says about you as opposed to what the enemy says and as opposed to what circumstances may say, that's when your life will change. Listen, when your identity gets healed, when you begin to cultivate your identity in Christ, that's when the foundation is set for all the other growth. Everything else that you are building your art business on, your life as an artist, your skill; everything outside of an identity seated in Christ is shifting sand. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! As Christian artists, it’s easy for us to say we’re not in it for the money label money as a hindrance; even evil. But in doing so, we’re simply using the fear of money as an excuse to justify our roadblocks. We get so caught up in worrying about finances, that it paralyzes us. Matthew 6:33 tells us: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” What that tells us is that provision is not something we must earn. God has designed us to walk with Him in the Kingdom as we pursue our unique design, embracing our position as sons and daughters. When we do that, then all things will come unto us. This is true, even when it comes to finances. So, do you think money evil? Of course not. Money is simply a tool that reveals the heart of it’s steward. Existing in this life requires money; making it, spending it, giving it and investing it. So today, I want to give you a simple three-step process to start thinking about your finances differently. Don’t let money paralyze you from being able to do that thing God has called you to do. Sow The first thing I want to encourage you to do is sow. As Galatians says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Too many times we are quick to give in to the excuses because of the fear and anxiety that comes along with money, . We tell ourselves we can’t afford something, have more important expenses, that we’re on a fixed income or maybe we will do it next year. Instead of sitting in that fear and never taking the chance, I invite you to sow. Sow into the Kingdom intentionally and by doing so, you are declaring in the face of the enemy that fear and anxiety don’t define you. Instead, you are planting a seed of purpose. Remember, you don’t plant a seed without expecting a harvest. When we sow in the face of fear, we are declaring God is our provider. If you are afraid to sow that seed, how will God entrust you with a harvest? Plant that seed in good soil in the Kingdom expecting to receive what God has for you. When you do this, putting your money into things won’t seem like such a waste. It won’t fill you with anxiety. Because you will know it’s been put in the right place. Look Next, you have to look for that harvest. What better place to start looking than in your own hand. Ask the Lord what is in your hand right now that could make a difference. Even if it’s small, find a win right now. Look for the fragments in your life. As told in the Gospel of John, a boy with just five loaves of bread and two fish fed thousands by bringing them to Jesus. Jesus then multiplied them to feed the masses. After the feast, the disciples picked up the fragments left behind; all that was forgotten and overlooked. So you ask the Lord what things in your own life are overlooked. This can be in your life but also in your finances. Is there a resource or asset you have forgotten about? Is there a recurring bill you forgot about and don’t utilize? Is your studio filled with artwork, even if they’re little sketches, that you could sell or make prints of? These little fragments could add up to something big. Lastly, when looking, I suggest looking for ideas. When you know something big is coming up, especially a large expense, stop thinking ‘oh I can’t afford that’. That immediately blocks the provision of God in your life through your lack of faith. It puts up a wall that says you are not ready to receive, that you aren’t in faith. Instead of thinking of all of the ways you can’t do something, ask the Lord for an idea. You can’t just ask God for money. God doesn’t pay in money. He pays in ideas. Make sure to listen for them. Be faithful with little and He will make you ruler over much. Go After all of that looking, I pray you have found something; an idea, a revelation, an opportunity. Now, what do you do with it? Well, you just have to go. Take that leap. Make a decision. When God gives you an idea, it has a lifespan. Opportunities are like waves. They come and they go. You have to take advantage of them when they are in season. Otherwise, you’ll miss them and have to wait on another. Many times, when I am talking about my passions and what God has called me to do, I hear stories of people who passed on opportunities five, ten, even twenty-five years ago. They chose to do nothing instead of choosing to go. And in not acting, they may have missed their window. So, in regards to provision and walking in the marketplace, when God shows you something, when He gives you that idea, go for it. Know that the idea is from the Lord, start walking in faith and just go. If you sow, look and then go, you will see God’s provision showing up in your life. You can start walking in faith and provision. As you do, you’ll learn to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and the flow of heaven into your life. It's God's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. It's God's good pleasure to pour out on you more than you can ask or imagine. It's God's good pleasure to put dreams in your heart and give you every ability that you need to be able to fund and walk in those things in the fullness of His design in your life. That is absolutely how the Kingdom works. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! When I think about the frustrations I’ve had in my life, I realize most of those frustrations stem from limits that I have placed upon myself or upon God. Can you relate? I have even placed limits on other people. And, believe it or not, what is even possible in the Kingdom. It placed a roadblock in my life when it came to my personal life, my professional life and especially my spiritual life. Many times, the limits we put on ourselves, and on God come from baggage and unhealed wounds from issues in our lives. As a young man, I developed certain coping methods that stemmed from dealing with unhealthy patterns of living and negativity that spanned generations of rules and religion-based households. It skewed the way I began to see authority, and even how I saw God. Even years after I left the situation, I carried that baggage into every aspect of my life. From my marriage to my ministry. Everything was affected. It wasn’t until I took a good look around me that I realized that not everyone was living with the same limitations I was. They were having breakthroughs and I wanted mine. The Lies of the Enemy But the enemy lies to us. Suddenly, we’re thinking we’re not good enough or spiritual enough. We’re too big of a sinner. Sometimes we may even think God is blessing others because they led a different life than us. All of that doubt and baggage starts to eat away at our vision for what is possible. And instead of praying with gratitude and working to align ourselves with what God has for us, we end up being full of shame. Shame leads to fear. And fear to control. Before we know it, we’re trying to control everything, making sure that shame and fear don’t show. This way we aren’t rejected and found to be less than by our peers. Or, even worse, by God. Walking in Healing If we really want to stop perpetuating the illusion of limitations in our lives, the number one thing we all must do is to begin to walk with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to heal our wounded hearts. We need to take those ungodly beliefs from our past and allow God to lift them off of us. After all, these beliefs aren’t true; at least not according to God’s Word. They are only true because you’ve come to believe them as your own personal truths. They literally form a lense through which you see every situation and opportunity in life. When we allow the Holy Spirit to heal us, moment by moment, situation by situation, we begin to recognize the lies of the enemy. Then we can begin to replace them with God’s Word. Only then do the old patterns that were used to create limits on God, limits on ourselves, limits on others, become the very vehicle that God uses to bring freedom in our lives. How to Start Would you like this to be your story? One that shows for the goodness of God in and through your life? One where you’re walking in His purpose, abundant grace and provision? You can! I encourage you to use this quick 3-part strategy:
I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! If you come from a similar childhood as me, you may find yourself asking the question, “Is every artist supposed to thrive and prosper in all that God has called them to do?” I grew up with a very rule and religion-based God. One with a lot of emotional and spiritual baggage. My relationship with God was built upon perfection. I was raised to do things the “right” way, coloring inside of the lines, so to speak. But then something amazing happened. I began healing. Jesus began to take all of those wounds and baggage off of me and I began to understand God’s plan for me. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” When I read the Bible, I see God as a Father. One who wants his sons and daughters to experience the fullness of life that He has provided for us. That is the reason that Jesus came. Not just to save you from Hell, but to restore you to the fullness of the Kingdom. A Different Perspective I find that perspective varies from the one a lot of people hold. Many people think the purpose of the Kingdom is only to get saved and to help other people get saved. And then they just have to “wait on Jesus” and then they are off to Heaven. Now, I don’t know about you, but I didn’t get saved by the blood of Jesus to not use this beautiful place of abundance and provision to reflect and reveal and release His nature. As Christian artists, we can do this uniquely through what God has called us to and how He's designed us. So, how do I know that God's called each of us to prosper as an artist? If God has made you an artist and put you in His Kingdom, how can you deny that? You have no choice but to embrace that in your life, and to prosper. He puts a unique investment into each one of us. The speed at which it grows, the size to which it develops, the breadth and depth to which it gets developed in your life is not up to God. That's up to you. Faithful With Little, Ruler Over Much I want you to think about Matthew 25, The Parable of Talents. The master put an investment into three different men. Two of them came back having doubled what was given to them, having put in the time and dedication for it to multiply. And, because they were faithful with little, they were made the ruler over much. The third man did not do this. He hid away the investment and did not work it. He returned it as it was given to him. In other words, the third man shirked his responsibility. He refused the investment that he had been entrusted with. Your ability to thrive and prosper is not all on the Lord. He’s given you the ability and the opportunity! However, really thriving requires your willingness to come into agreement with God’s plan for your life, day-by-day, moment-by-moment. What’s In Your Hand? One of the first things that I tell artists who want to thrive is this: If you want to start thriving in your life, take one basic, practical step. Ask the Lord. Ask Him, “What is it that you put in my hand?” What is it that He has invested inside of you that no one else has? And how can you begin to take a step in that direction to honor Him and to co-labor with Him in this unique design that He calls you to? As you do that with a heart filled with gratitude and expectation toward all the things that God has for you, you will begin to start feeling the momentum and the move of the Spirit in your life. You'll start experiencing the abundant life that Jesus promised you. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! Connection. It’s the one common foundation for genuinely successful artists. If you’re not building relationships with your clients, you may find yourself quickly fizzling out like so many Instagram or Facebook trends. When you really start making those connections, you’ll be laying the groundwork for people to be interested enough in your work that they’ll want to buy it and refer it to others. And that, my friends, is when the real magic happens for an artist. People connect with other people. It doesn’t happen through price or size or just because you happen to be there. They connect because what you’re doing resonates in their heart. Sometimes, it’s so deep, they might not even realize there's something visceral taking place when they see your art. Or when they interact with you. Or when they hear your story. Or see the way you create. Tell Your Story The most important thing an artist needs to do to start to build connections is to authentically tell your story. Now, I know what you’re thinking. You thought this was about finding clients and I’m making it all about you. But if you aren’t able to genuinely share your journey, you reduce yourself and your art to a commodity. Being a commodity reduces your work to the lowest common denominator. Your work becomes a color match to a sofa or a budget meeting price point. However, once that connection is made, the price becomes somewhat irrelevant. Utilizing social media, your website, interviews, podcasts, and any other type of marketing to get your story out there is the best thing you can do to make yourself shine. Be Authentically You Personally, this happened for me through commissioned works. I would go on to people’s property, choose materials from their surroundings and create them something one of a kind. That was special to people. It created a very personalized service they couldn’t find elsewhere. People are willing to pay a lot of money for that. Because it’s unique, it’s different, and it’s authentically me. Now, there is more to the equation than simply telling your story. You also have to listen. What are people saying when they come into a gallery or exhibition? What kind of comments are you getting on your social media? Listen for the parts of your story that are resonating with people, once you know where that connection point is, you can focus on pursuing more within that context, enabling people to connect with you on an even deeper level. That’s not manipulation. That’s not being inauthentic. That’s celebrating the things people love about you. The place where doing what you love meets what your clients resonate with is your sweet spot. It’s there you’ll discover the opportunity to build a great business and develop a really beautiful niche overtime. That’s how you build a brand that lasts. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! Proverbs 29:18 tells us that without a vision, people perish. This is true even in the creative world. As Christian artists, we spend our time enthralled in our artistic passions because that’s the way God designed us; spending countless hours “in the zone”. However, when we’re looking to take our art somewhere bigger, enlarge our skills and really use them to build a business, we must start with a vision. Big Vision, Bite-Sized Goals First, you need to get clear about what God has called you to do. As a Christian artist, you may already know what that is, but maybe you need help getting there. So set your target, that vision of where you see yourself headed. After all, if you don’t know where you’re going, you'll never know when you get there. Write down what that vision looks like to you. How does it feel? What level of income are you hoping for? Are you selling your work and if so, how much, where and to whom? How does your business fit into your overall life? Clarifying who you are, what you want to accomplish and the life you want to experience along the way becomes your guiding principle, the spot on the horizon you’re always moving towards as enabled by the Holy Spirit. Remember, the Bible says in Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” SMARTi Goals After you have your big goal, it’s time to start breaking it down into bite-sized pieces. I like to first break down the big goal into one-year goals. It needs to be aggressive enough to want to work towards, but also realistic. I call them SMARTi goals. These are goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, have a time frame and incentives when you accomplish your goals. I like to add a little incentive for achieving them. So, what do your big goals look like? How much money do you want your art business to bring in this year? Do you want to sell a specific number of pieces? What about learning a new skill, applying for a certain show or getting in a certain gallery? Do you want to record an album and get it out there on iTunes? Dream big, dream specifically and create your SMARTi goals. Paralyzed or Powerful As we all know, a big, lofty goal can sometimes put you in a state of confusion or paralyzation. We can get overwhelmed and that can lead to a lot of inaction. Instead, I invite you to shift your focus and allow that vision to become the fuel that encourages you to keep moving forward as enabled by the Holy Spirit! One way to take the fear out of big vision is by creating bite-sized objectives. Once you have your big yearly goals, simply break them down into 90-day goals that are much more manageable. This way, every quarter of the year is taking a little bite out of that big one-year goal and closer to your vision. And even if you don’t achieve every goal you set, you’re still a lot further down the road toward your big goal than you would have been simply floating along on autopilot like most people. Weekly Objectives Next, we’re going to break it down again. Every week, within your 90-day goals, set an objective. Now, you’ve created even smaller bites. To do this, I like to work in reverse and plot out everything that needs to be done for the big goal. Break it all down to little tasks and assign them as your weekly objectives. Accomplishing lots of small, daily and weekly goals takes you towards your 90-day goal one step at a time. And remember, every 90-day goal you accomplish is one step closer to the big, yearly goal. I know, from experience as a thriving artist, this will set you on the path to the vision that God has for you in your life. Do this and you’ll be amazed and the acceleration you experience. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! My Facebook feed this morning looks something like this: art, pandemic report, art, scripture meme, art, “don’t worry if you just lost your job you can make money now online”, art, meme... Let’s just say it’s a really “convenient” time for people to be trying to sell courses and webinars on how to make money online... be wise, act with intention, not desperation and realize there is NO EASY WAY to make “quick money” on the internet. Online businesses in any industry - now more than ever - require rapport, connection, and relationship. Anybody can teach you tools... there are tons out there. I teach them every day. The key is building connection with your audience. Now is the time to care for your audience, clients, family and friends. Yes learn, grow and invest in yourself during this time, create art, build your inventory, spend time listening with the Lord but don’t be fooled by promises of quick, easy results just because it’s “online”. There is no silver bullet. There are, however 7 things every Christian artist can do right now, even in this crazy season of pandemic, to thrive. Here they are:
There are many creatives around the world looking to take their passion for art to the next level. A big question I get a lot is how to transition from being a hobbyist into a full-time working artist, one that will pay the bills. It’s simple when you think about it. How do we get from any one place to another? We build a bridge, of course. And like with any bridge we must start with a good foundation. I find that the Lord will begin to make a bridge for us as we're faithful with what He has already given us. Let’s consider a Kingdom principle: Be fruitful and multiply. Unfortunately, many people are looking for multiplication in their life before they have demonstrated fruitfulness, and it just doesn’t work that way. They may have temporary growth but it will never be lasting. Because of that, I want to give you five things today that really help you be fruitful in this season so that you can start to lay the foundation for your “bridge”. Body of Work One of the most important and primary stepping stones on your bridge is developing your artistic skills or what I call artistic mastery. Let’s face it, to be recognized, celebrated and purchased in the marketplace, you have to have great work. It’s the foundation and there’s simply no way around it. It took me 15 years of honing my skills, developing my artistic voice and building a substantial body of work. Trust me, this is not a part of the journey that can be skipped. Each piece you create is one more step to mastering your skill. Exposure Once you have that recognizable and masterfully produced body of work, the next step is to, well, get noticed. There are many ways to get clients, as well as keep them. Some of these include social media, a well-designed website, and email marketing, not to mention powerful strategic partnerships you can develop with industry professionals that will refer you to their clients. All the artistic mastery and skill in the world will be for naught if no one knows you’re out there. Time and Space Next, you must dedicate the time and space to give to your work. You need a dedicated place you can go to and create. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate, massive art studio. It can be the corner of your office, tucked away from distractions, where you just allow yourself to do your thing. Once you’ve chosen your space, now you must schedule the time to be there and then stick to it. If you don’t do this, your art will tend to simply fade into the background where it is forgotten. Creating space and honoring your time to create enlarges your capacity to steward the gifting God has invested in you. Profitability Now that you’ve put in your time, created awesome art work and started to master your chosen medium, the next thing you need to do is to make it make money. After all, if you aren’t making money, you can’t do this full time, can you (unless you have another income stream that provides for you outside of your artwork and doesn’t require your time)? This looks different for everyone. For me it was doing shows, showing in galleries, and creating wholesale accounts. After those started to gain momentum, I was able to get a studio and for me that really kickstarted both the mastery of my craft while I greatly expanded my body of work. For you, it may look different, but a consistent revenue stream is a must. Without consistent (or at least somewhat consistent) cashflow, it’s hard to make decisions and move forward with doing your art as a business. Vision Maybe the most important part is really having a grasp on your vision. Where are you now and where do you want to go? For me, I started my art very part time, making extra spending money or money for Christmas. At the time, that was all I expected of it and for that point in my life, it was great. However, once God called me to really begin to transition into art full time, my vision changed. I realized that I really needed to do things differently. I needed to do more marketing, more shows and definitely create more art. My vision may not be the same as yours. You can’t compare your journey to another’s because no one is on the same path. You could be wanting to supplement your retirement income or making your art as gifts for a mission project or even doing it as a part-time hobby because you already love your full-time job. You get to define that. You decide with the Lord and with your loved ones what is it that you want your art business to look like. And then before you know it, you’ll start to see that bridge intentionally appearing in order to take you from where you are now to where you dreamed! Lastly, as always, remember that God is with you the whole way on this journey! He definitely has a plan for you! If you trust in Him (and the vision He’s given you) and follow the journey faithfully, you will be fruitful and multiply with great success. That’s God’s promise! What more could we ask for as sons and daughters of God? I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! You know sometimes as an artist, getting started can be the hardest thing to do. I recently got a question from one of my listeners, Ethan, who said, “Matt, I’ve got a goal, I’ve got a vision, but I never seem to get on track with either. It’s always been one step forward two steps back for me and I'm just not sure how to get started towards seeing some real progress being made in my life.” I can absolutely understand where Ethan is coming from because I've been through that same thing before in my life. I was sitting at church the other day after reading this question, and my Pastor gave a great example, right out of Genesis, of how God starts a project. Structure Is Not A Bad Thing He used the example of when God began to form Eve. He started with a bone He borrowed from Adam. And this is so significant because this bone was used to form a structure upon which the Father built Eve’s body. Think about it, all physical growth inside your body starts with structure. From the teeniest cell to the strongest bone, if you didn't have this foundational structure in your physical body, then just be a blob of ooze (I know… gross). A lot of times as artists we want to resist structure. Maybe it doesn’t feel artsy enough or maybe the idea of structure conflicts with what you feel about being Spirit-led. But the thing we have to realize is that EVERYTHING God has ever created was built within the framework of a Spirit-inspired structure. (Don’t believe me? Check out this YouTube video about the Fibonacci Sequence.) The Power of Connection After laying a foundation with the skeletal system, God used tendons to connect everything together. Whether you’re talking about your physical life, your spiritual life, or your artistic life, you can't sustain growth in your life without meaningful connections in your life. I think this is one reason I see so many creatives struggle. Somewhere along the way, they bought in the lie that they are the only one struggling to make it in life, in art, or in business. If this is you, then don’t let the loneliness, isolation, and fear of what others might think or say keep you trapped and hidden one moment longer. Be intentional. Seek out and connect with other like-minded artists and mentors right now. Your Strengths So, if you're looking to unleash transformation in your life, start with structure, pair that with authentic connection, and then combine that with your strengths. In your physical body, I’m talking about muscles, but in your life and art, your strength(s) are those unique gifts and talents God has sown into your life. Think about it. These gifts and talents were given to you by God so that they could be exercised, built up, and finally used by you as you step out and fulfill the plans and purposes that He has for you. As an artist, it’s your talents and skills that bring a unique perspective to the works you were created to make. Skin: What the World Sees So yes, it’s a weird point, but if you were just a bunch of muscles sitting there, you'd be kind of gross, right? So you need to have skin, or more precisely, you've got to learn how to present the thing that God is doing in your life and art out to the world. It’s about putting a face on what you do so that others can be drawn to it. If you find yourself struggling to show depth of your talent and the strength of your character through the connections you’re cultivating, then it might be time for a “face lift.” Ask the Father to show you what He says about you and your work, listen to what He says, receive it, then share that with others. And Finally, Breathe It All In I love the final point my pastor made, and it goes to the core of what I've taught for years about being filled and skilled out of Exodus 31. Once Adam had been completely formed, his skeleton, tendons, muscles, and skin all in place, God had one more step left on His “Create Mankind” action plan. Adam and Eve were just mounds of impressively arranged dust right until the moment God Breathed HIS life into their bodies. My friend, that's when life, true life, comes rushing in! Without the breath and life of the Holy Spirit moving through your creative process and guiding your steps as you grow your art business, you very well may end up striving, frustrated, and paralyzed. If you’re sitting there wondering why it feels like God has left you on the side of the road (and He’s not), may it’s time you took a “deep breath.” If you can relate to this, then I challenge you to invite the Creator of all Creatives to breathe His life into all that you are doing. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you and if it has been, then please take a moment to share it with a friend, ok? Thanks for reading! All artists, especially Christian artists want to know how to sell their art! I mean come on, without selling your art most artists don't have the ability (or space) to keep making their work unless of course they have another income stream that funds their "art habit". So after making and selling a lot of art over the years I've come to the understanding that there are essentially 2 primary ways to sell your artwork as an artist:
Regardless, SOMEONE has to:
If you're the kind of artist who only wants to make work in the studio and not deal with marketing/sales, then you must find a good gallery or broker to represent you. Realize this costs - usually 50% of your retail price. However, they are doing most of the work to sell your art. Hoping your work will sell, doing social media only or simply putting your art on one of the hundreds of art websites online is NOT a strategy. If you're the kind of artist who enjoys selling direct to your clients, then realize you are equally an artist and an entrepreneur. You'll need to develop a marketing strategy with multiple outlets, testing and measuring results as you go. There's no silver bullet. Without cultivating both sides of the equation - being both artist and entrepreneur - you'll live in constant frustration. Or of course... a combination of both ie: selling direct and utilizing galleries, partners, etc. Over time, you'll discover a combination that works best for you, your personality and your profitability. A question I hear all the time goes something like this, "Matt, how do I start charging more for my work? I seem to be around a lot of people that don't want to pay anything for what I create." I always answer with, "Listen, that's really not your issue. That's their issue. You're just in front of the wrong people." This of course leads to the obvious follow up question, “Well then, who ARE the right people and how do I get them to pay me what my art is really worth?” I remember hearing years ago that the price for anything - your time, your artwork, any business that you have - is really based on two things:
And it's this second point that I want to focus on for a minute. The difficulty your clients or potential clients will have in replacing you - what you do and the way you do it - really points to the whole idea of uniqueness in the marketplace. Ask yourself a few questions, and be honest, like your art depends upon it:
Over the years as I would think about increasing my prices, I would take a look at other artists who were able to really get top dollar for their work in order to learn their secrets. And the one common denominator I saw in play every time was uniqueness. Uniqueness for Artists is a Two-Sided Coin Artistic uniqueness is comprised of many factors, but in the end you can break it down into two major categories. The first of course being the individuality that you express through your art, but the second layer of uniqueness that seems to key for so many successful, thriving artists is the depth of connection you cultivate with your potential audience. You see, the more people know, like, and trust you, the more they're willing to let price be one of the least important factors when determining a potential purchase. Unique artwork left on a shelf in a store will eventually sell, but unique artwork combined with a personal relationship with the artist turns an art buyer into an art lover and art lovers into raving fans of your work. That's where selling art and being an artist becomes really, really fun. And this way of bringing together my artistic uniqueness, combined with a personal relationship with my clients keeps me free from the never-ending cycle of price wars played daily on Etsy and other similar websites. Sure, you can play the game of trying to put your art on as many online portals as possible in order to get the price down as low as possible with the hope of making it up on volume. If you are called to be a “production center” or an “art machine” then I say go for it. But for me and most of the successful artists that I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring, we long to create beautiful and meaningful works of original art that are appreciated and purchased by people who love us, like what we do, and are willing to invest in those relationships. This only happens when artistic uniqueness is intentionally connected with developing relationships with your clientele or potential clientele. So if you're struggling with trying to get people to pay top dollar for your creations, then I would encourage you do a little self-assessment:
The more you cultivate mastery, quality, uniqueness and relationship, the more you'll be able to raise your prices over time. And the best part is your clients will be glad to pay because they'll feel like they're getting something really special. Guess what? They are, YOU! I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! For a detailed explanation of pricing artwork, check out my guide to How to Price Your Art: The Definitive Guide for Pricing Artwork for Visual Artists. As an artist and a mentor to Christian artists all over the world, I love to answer questions! Recently on social media, Karen asked me “Matt, as an artist, how do I transition from basically copying the work of artists I admire into a place where I’m actually developing my own voice as an artist?” This is such a great question and one that I hear often. Over the years I’ve come to understand that if you want to thrive as an artist, then you have to embrace and develop the uniqueness that God has planted on the inside of you. Three Stages of Development for Christian Artists All thriving artists grow and develop their talent, skill, and voice over time. It’s rarely, if ever, an instant process. Most often this artistic journey progresses through three distinct stages: Awareness, Awakening and Autonomy. Awareness is the first stage of this journey. It is in the Awareness stage that you’re starting to understand and embrace the things that inspire you artistically. It’s a journey of discovery, where you discover for yourself the new and uncharted shores of creativity, style, and technique that are just begging to be explored. Awareness is where you begin to wake up to all the possibilities that are out there for you creatively. And over time, as you begin to process through all of the artistic options, a transformation begins to take place as your artistic voice begins to awaken. It’s in this Awakening phase of your journey that you begin to gravitate towards a style, an aesthetic, and a creative medium that starts to define who you are artistically. And with that kernel of creative focus, mastery begins to develop. As you narrow your creative focus, your skill begins to mature, and you start expressing your talent in ways beyond the mere emulation of artists you admire. It's during this Awakening phase that the words of your unique creative language begin to form, and your artistic voice begins to emerge. As you move from Awareness through Awakening, you eventually arrive in an artistic place I call Autonomy. This is where all the inspiration you’ve absorbed combined with your creative faithfulness and dedication coalesce into a fully formed artistic voice that is uniquely your own. Now I know some of you are thinking, ‘this place doesn’t exist for me,’ or “I’ll run out of steam long before reaching this creative promised land.’ If this is you, I want to give you four steps that will help you today no matter where you are in your journey as an artist who loves Jesus. Step One: Cultivate Inspiration “I don't have any inspiration. I get to the studio and I don't know what to do.” Every time I hear this, it’s a telltale sign that they are not cultivating inspiration in their life. “So Matt, how do I cultivate inspiration?” Immerse yourself in all things beautiful and creative. Read books, go to the movies, go hiking in the woods, visit a museum or an art studio. Worship, immerse yourself in God’s presence and turn your heart toward His. Surround yourself with images, songs, experiences and people that move your heart. And when you’re there in that space, feeling the inspiration starting to flow, learn to be a faithful steward of those experiences. Write it down in your journal, flip open to a fresh page in your sketchbook, do something that's going to preserve the moment and allow that inspiration to start marinating on the inside of you. Step Two: Develop a Studio Practice “But Matt, if I don’t have a studio, how can I develop a studio practice?” A studio practice is primarily a state of mind and an alignment of your priorities. The location where you create art, at home, in the shed, or in an art studio, is much less important than the conscious decision to regularly invest your time in the process and practice of creating, and that leads us to our next step. Step Three: Create A Lot of Work So many artists never find their unique voice because they don’t consistently create on a daily basis. I’m not talking about jumping into striving but I am encouraging consistency. Never underestimate the power of a doodle to cultivate inspiration and foster your talent. Nothing replaces experience when it comes to cultivating your talents as an artist. Experience is born from the intentional and consistent application of your artistic skills over time. There is no quick fix or shortcut to skill mastery. Step Four: Review, Refine, and Repeat “Review, refine, and repeat, what does that mean exactly?” That means when you create a piece of work, you need to look at it critically and ask yourself a few questions like: • What did I do in this piece that I loved? • What did I do in this piece that I don't love? • What could I have done better? • What could take this piece to the next level? You get the picture. This isn’t about beating yourself up or comparing yourself to other artists, this about raising the artistic bar for yourself. Then with the “Review” done, it’s time to “Refine”. Intentionally make note of what you’ll keep, what you’ll change, and what you’ll try in your next piece. Then create that piece and “Repeat” the process. Eventually you may consider inviting others into this process, people whose artistic opinions you trust. Ask them to speak into your creative process. Now I know that sounds scary, but this process, overtime, will cultivate and strengthen your skills and talents while at the same time giving you the time to develop and express your artistic uniqueness to the world. I hope this has been a big encouragement to you. If this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! I get this question quite a bit, "what in the world does being an artist and creating art have to do with the Great Commission?” Or better yet, “What does art have to do with savin' souls and seein' people come to Jesus?” These sorts of questions always seem to highlight a lack of understanding about what it means to walk in the fullness of God’s Kingdom. Another way to approach this question would be like this, "Do we all have to look, act, and do Kingdom life in exactly the same way to be effective for God?" Well, I’m happy to say that the answer would be a resounding “no”. All of us are in this beautiful symbiotic relationship as the body of Christ. A relationship where each one of us brings a different and unique expression of God not only to each other but also to the marketplace, as well as to the whole world. It’s through our uniqueness, the way God created us, that God chooses to use us as He touches and interacts with people in beautiful and life-changing ways. This is the way the Kingdom was designed to work. We are not the ministers of a come-and-see gospel, but rather the ambassadors of a go-and-tell movement that God put inside of us by the power of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus died, He didn't just die just for your sins; He died to restore you into the fullness of the Kingdom so that you could be everything that God designed you to be. And upon embracing that, God calls us to go forth to uniquely express His glory and His mercy and His love in the Earth. Maybe the real question needs to be, "What do I have to offer? What can I do uniquely in the Earth to reveal and release God's Kingdom so that other people who may never grace the door of a church, have a myriad of ways to experience the light and life and love of God?" Think about that for a second, because when everybody does that - business people and teachers, people in government and even artists - we ALL fulfill the Great Commission. And the best part is we’ll be doing it while embracing the unique design and gifting God has placed within each of us. That is what art has to do with both the Kingdom and with the Great Commission. It’s us - you and I -using our God-given creative vision and talents to do our part in seeing billions and billions of people come into the harvest in our generation. I hope this has been a big, big encouragement to you. Take a moment right now to say, "God, thank you for making me uniquely who I am so that You can be glorified through me." Also, if this article has been a blessing to you, take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading! Hey there, my friend, and welcome to my first blog post in 2020. Can you believe it? Oh my gosh. We made it. I'm really glad that you're here and I'm so excited about all that this year has for you, for me, for everybody that's walking in God's Kingdom. It's going to be an incredible year and I just wanted to start off this year with a little series. You're going to be noticing “a thread” moving through the blog posts and podcast this January. I’m really trying to help you get started, get on the right path and get on a focused on everything that God has for you. In this post, I really want to jump into this whole concept of taking yourself seriously as a Christian artist and asking yourself, “is this a year I’m finally going to do that thing I’ve been talking about or am I going to keep going around the same old bush, doing the same old thing, expecting different results?” You know, a lot of artists do just that… talk and hope but never act. I've done that in different seasons of my life too. I would wonder why I was getting the same results I'd been getting and yet my actions didn't change. It can be frustrating. I know you this to be the year that you start taking yourself seriously and really embracing everything God has for you as a Christian artist. So in this blog post, I've got a few tips I hope are going to be helpful in that regard. Think about it. If everybody wants different results and if everybody wants to take themselves seriously, living the life that God called them to live - that abundant, incredible creative flow, Kingdom-oriented, abundance, experiencing life - then why aren't they doing it? Why are they able to live that life, execute on those dreams and really take themselves seriously? Well, there are several reasons. This isn't an exhaustive list, but let's start with this one: Some artists just don't believe they can. Some Christian Artists Don’t Believe They CanMaybe they've been told their whole life, “you can't do it, you're not good enough, you're not this enough, you're not that enough.” They simply have a belief system - a core belief - that they can't do it. Maybe they have never done something significant in the past. Maybe they've tried things and failed. And maybe that failure has paralyzed them to the point where they're just unable to move forward. Maybe you can relate to that, too. I know a lot of Christian artists do. Some Artists Don’t Think They Are WorthyMany others struggle with another common roadblock, not believing they're worthy to succeed. Think about that for a second. Maybe it's the way they grew up, the relationships that they've had, or the experiences they've walked through in their life. Maybe they struggle with their thoughts about God and what humility, or even pride is supposed to look like as a Christian. It can be any number of things. Thoughts and fears like these can lead this person to reject taking any credit for anything in their life and worse yet, not wanting to enjoy anything in their lives either. Unfortunately, they have this underlying lie that's churning inside of them all the time saying, “You’re not worthy to succeed. You're not supposed to succeed. You're supposed to let everybody else go first.” Ultimately, the person who listens to and believes this lie ends up completely paralyzed emotionally, spiritually and creatively. Many Christians Don’t Understand How Change HappensThirdly, there's a lot of artists out there that believe a lie about how change is supposed to happen in their life. I teach a lot about this concept in my books and mentoring program and call it “mailbox mentality”. You know how this works. We wait, hope and beg (because that seems spiritual) and then just sit back and tell God, "Okay, you do it. I'm waiting on you." And when it doesn’t happen in our timing, we switch to another common strategy that includes working, sweating and striving on our own. You know what, my friend, that's not how the Kingdom works. We align with God’s Kingdom when we embrace who God's called us to be and step out in faith by cooperating and co-laboring with the Holy Spirit. If you have a fundamental misunderstanding about how change happens - that somehow it's all up to God and has nothing to do with you - then you're going to be waiting a long time and probably be very frustrated. It’s Not About You… It’s About the KingdomFinally, many Christian artists struggle with is the idea of taking themselves seriously and consequently are never able to make forward progress in their life. A lot of artists in this place feel completely alone in their church, in their family, and maybe even in their local area. They don't know anybody else that understands what it means to be an artist, much less be an artist who loves Jesus and is intent upon pursuing the power of the Kingdom in their life. That “aloneness” can feel overwhelming, stifling and paralyzing. But here’s the good news! Taking yourself seriously isn’t about you at all! It’s about what God’s put inside you! It’s about His Kingdom flowing through you. As you do that, your ability to accept yourself and God’s design on your life increases. You start to step into a divine flow! For many artists - maybe even you - that's why you're reading this post today. You want to take God’s call on your life seriously and you want that flow. Not only that, but you want to be a part of a community of other artists who really “get” you and understand what it means to be an artist, to love Jesus, and to pursue everything God has for you. The great news is that you’re in the right place and 2020 can be YOUR year! 2020 (and this new decade) can absolutely be the time that you start to take yourself seriously and pursue everything that God has for you. Regardless of what you’ve believed in the past, this is a new year! The very fact that you're reading this post right now proves that you want everything that God has for you as an artist and that is so exciting. I also believe it proves God set you up. How you might ask? You see, God's got something incredible for you. He ordered your steps to be reading this at this time, and you're here by divine appointment. The only thing you have to do is say “yes” and start walking. You Are Not Alone!Here's my promise to you.
If you'll walk with me this year, pursue God and pursue your calling as an artist this year I promise, you're going to start to see some incredible breakthrough in your life. Your story is going to change, big time! How do I know? Because I hear it all the time from artists who are in my Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program or listen to the podcast or read my books. Artists that start taking life seriously. Artists who are no longer living on autopilot, but have really started pursuing the Kingdom and their calling as an artist. Make 2020 your breakthrough year! I’ll be here every step of the way and I can't wait to hear your story! Connect on our free Facebook Page, The Thriving Christian Artist. Listen to The Thriving Christian Artist Podcast |
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AuthorMatt Tommey is an artist, author and mentor who is passionate about empowering artists to thrive spiritually, artistically and in business. |