How much is genuine confidence, as opposed to overblown bravado, tied into your ability to be real, to be authentic with the people who want to know more about you and your art?

We humans have amazing internal radar that picks up bs automatically. It’s a survival instinct, where knowing what’s real and what’s not has always been crucial.

We also have some equally amazing internal barricades that can rewrite our first, instinctual responses and kick us upstairs into the more civilized Brain Override Lounge.

Sometimes this is a good idea, when our instinctual response is actually triggered by an old pattern that no longer makes any sense. Other times it’s a form of personal delusion, when facing something authentically is going to ask more of us than we feel up to.

Either way, the people around us will…

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I’m inside the smARTist Telesummit Community Forum tonight reading more of the exciting, informative posts from this year’s conference participants. Each year, this Forum brings me thought provoking resources, and 2012 has been no different.

Artists were counseling each other with idea brainstorming, reflecting on artist statements, talking about the value of art, discussing marketing ideas, print sale options for artists, vanity galleries, and so much more it would take hours to catalog.

But there was one thing in particular that caught my fancy…

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It’s been almost two weeks since our first Blue Stocking Art Salon began and the emails continue to come in from artists who were with us live, and artists who listened to the recording.

In that first conversation, I commented on how refreshing it was to talk about something besides marketing and business.

And it seems that the artists on the call thought so too. Here are a couple of quick excerpts that Lori (my Art Salon compatriot!) pulled out…

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Branding your artwork is like washing dishes: it never ends!

And exposure is the only way your branding can make an impact.

There are two levels of branding exposure you need to leverage for your art:
Free and Paid.

Both are important and both…

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Professional used to have an allure of conservative confidence instantly recognizable by the dark blue suit, skirt just below the knees, the sensible heels, perhaps pearl earrings and a thin chain of gold peeking beneath a scarf.

It was warm but reserved, attentive but distant, confident and quietly cagey. (I think it was called getting “the upper hand.”)

Then virtual reality came along and…

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Geoffrey Gorman's "Creatures of Curiosity"

I spent a grand spring day at SOFA NY (it poured!), hobnobbing around with Geoffrey Gorman, attending a lecture by Michael Petry, the director of MOCA London on his new book The Art of Not Making, and touring all the gorgeous artwork in the two dozen gallery booths. This was a high end New York show with a clientele to match.

But for the life of me, I couldn’t keep my coaching hat off (drives my family nuts too). It was the very first booth I stepped into–because there were these stunning glass sculptures of Martin Rosol’s that simply took my breath away; I loved the clean, geometric lines, just my cup of tea–and of course I wanted to…

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Christine Montague - The Model Visits the Portrait Studio

Well, I guess a more appropriate title would be: An Open Letter With a Short, Short Story Tucked Inside.

This came from an artist, who was attending the smARTist Telesummit 2011, and wrote this forum post to one of the speakers, Jason Horejs.

Notice her progression from Sell my art? You gotta be kidding…

To…., well, here…read it for yourself…

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The Internet is allowing more artists than ever to make money these days by opening up the information flow. And it seems just as many are frustrated with how to evaluate this information for their art career.

If you’re having trouble figuring out your information priorities, it might be because you’re getting stand-alone information without enough art-specific context.

The truth is, the information flow that worked a few years ago has increased to the point that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to untangle the layers that apply to your vision and your goals.

One key to avoiding this kind of frustration is to segment the information around specific, artist-generated questions.

Every year, the smARTist Telesummit starts with two MasterMind Panel Days that draw on years of art-career experience from my leading authorities who answer questions that are submitted by the artist participants who come to the 7-day live conference.

And now, everyone on this year’s “Interest List” has access to

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When I invited Molly Gordon to come speak at my very first smARTist Telesummit in 2007, and she accepted, I knew exactly what I was doing.

Molly has one a way of explaining complex or etherial ideas so I feel as if I’m looking into a clear Alpine stream.

In her most recent blog post, she lays out exactly what happens when one more bright idea of ours bites the dust.

In Molly’s own words:

Have you ever had a great idea–or two–that you were eager to act on, but you couldn’t seem to get moving? It could have been an art project, a blog, a book. Whatever it was, the initial inspiration seemed so clear, and then? Mush.

Want to read it all? She gives you crystal clear steps for dusting off your bright idea so it can shine on its own.

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And yes! Molly is returning for smARTist Telesummit 2011, where she’s going to give you an easy peasy recipe for pricing your art.

If you haven’t put yourself on the 2011 smARTist Interest List, I strongly suggest doing it now before you forget. Because, that will be the only group who hears about the Early Bird Discount that will be here and gone in the blink of an eye. Don’t miss it!

I have a lot of material in my smARTist library, but until this  year, Art Fairs were not high on my list.

All that changed when I met Richard Rothbard - artist, gallery owner, and art fair producer – at a CODA conference in Savannah, GA, where I was speaking this last spring.

Besides hosting CODA Conference attendees at his Savannah Gallery, Richard treated me to a very non-Southern meal of fantastic sushi and brought me on board for his Contemporary Art Fair NYC, a sister show to his American Craft Fair NYC.

I was fascinated by Richard’s enthusiasm for bringing artists to NYC at a price they could afford - since most high-end venue Art Fairs are truly exorbitant. But more than that, it occurred to me that Richard was carrying around a wealth of information on Art Fairs.

I realized, in short order, that no one had thought to…

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About a month ago, I held a very special “Artists Only Spa Day” with the maven of Creative-Clarity-Wins-Over-Chaos, Jennifer Hofmann of Inspired Home Office.

I think we were both a bit stunned when over 50 artists signed up. Yikes! Chaos on the loose in studio after studio…

And now that Fall has fallen into all of our laps, I thought this a perfect time to use the crisp autumn energy to open up a path of clarity through all the overwhelm – real or mythical – with a guest post from Jennifer herself.

The #1 Sneaky Lie That Attracts Overwhelm (and what to do about it…)

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Being responsible stewards of our lovely blue-green planet isn’t a luxury anymore.

It is quite simply a question of the survival of our human race. Sea levels are rising, entire forests are being destroyed by small insects thriving in the rising temperatures, creatures who ensure the integrity of our entire eco systems are dying out (think: bees).

Thankfully, we don’t have to simply wring our hands. We can…

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I was amazed to find the lawyer who practically invented the concept of Art Law, Attorney Leonard DuBoff. Besides his 15 books on Law in Plain English, his Oregon firm specializes in artists.

You can imagine how happy I was to have him come to the smARTist Telesummit to explain the ins and outs of copyrights in his presentation Art Law: What Artists Must Know About Copyright.

Here are 5 surprises about copyrights that came out of his presentation:

1. If you are living outside the USA, there are 3 multinational treaties that govern 135 countries. To find out if your county is one of them…  …go to> http://www.copyright.gov/

• The Berne Convention provides reciprocal rights, and “moral” rights, for copyright owners in all member nations.
• The Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) protects copyrights using this international symbol © for member nations.
• The Buenos Aires Convention (North & South Americas) protects copyrights using this symbol ©, plus adding the legend, “All Rights Reserved.”

2. Yes, we have the standard, automatic copyright protection. But did you know that you also have to also affixed the symbol ©, your name, and date first made public to all work you plan to sell if you want to be covered under all possible circumstances?

I know, there’s controversy over dating work, but it’s important to weigh this against copyright considerations. One idea is to put this information on the back of paintings, or under the base of sculpture – where it isn’t easily seen and so not likely to affect a sale.

3. Besides the copyright symbol, registering your work means you can get back either your attorney’s fees or “statutory damages (up to $150,000) if you ever have to go to court because someone is stealing your work.

4. Copyright infringement has a 3-year statute of limitations. So pay attention! Goggle your name, titles of your work, anything that might come up as “you” on a regular basis.

5. Garment design, wearable art (think clothes and jewelry), and functional art cannot be copyrighted directly. You can, however, work around the limitations to some degree, like registering the fabric design even when you can’t register the pattern of the garment.

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P.S. Attorney DuBoff goes into more details about how to copyright, how to register, why a trademark is a good idea… and so much more. I’ve put together a cool new smARTist Exclusive bundle where you can get this and 2 more bona fide experts to help you Protect Your Art. Protect Your Income. And Protect Your Health.

A subject dear to all our hearts: keeping the money we work so hard to earn.

Thank goodness I discovered Peter Jason Riley, a certified public accountant who has spent his career fine-tuning the best tax strategies ever for artists.

Here are 7 pointers from his presentation – Watch Your Wallet! Strategic Tax Planning for the Visual Artist that I want to make sure you know about:

1. You have 3 choices for how your business is structured…

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One reason I know so darn much about running a business as a solopreneur is I’ve been doing it for over 20 years.

And what amazes me, what never changes, is that the learning curve is always ahead of me. I used to think there was a catch-up point, and I’d race for it. Took a while for me to notice that each time I got close, the curve simply…

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