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Bianca Valencia Criscuolo is a contemporary fine artist who works predominantly in oils, carving out a realm where creativity and conviction intertwine. When the artist isn’t taking her brush to canvas, she creates detailed pen-and-ink illustrations and also works in mixed media. For Bianca, pursuing art as a business
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Artist Kay Collier, also known as Kathryn Hastings, revives the lost art of letter writing with her elegant collections of wax seals, stationery and letter-writing tools. Kay’s designs are ideal for personal and special-occasion correspondence, such as wedding invitations. With a keen eye for detail and a dedication to
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Ellen Jenny Watkins is a heart-healing abstract artist, author and certified coach who uses art and creativity for transformation and personal growth. Although being an artist entrepreneur was always in Ellen’s heart, she pursued a corporate career and stayed on the path for over two decades. Despite achieving success
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Springboard for the Arts is a nonprofit organization in St. Paul, Minnesota that supports artists. An Instagram post about the organization’s Guaranteed Minimum Income for Artists program caught our attention, and we spoke with Wone Vang, Springboard’s Economic Opportunity Director, to learn more about the program. “Springboard’s
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Alexis Avery creates original paintings that empower, uplift and inspire with oils and acrylics. Additionally, she loves to explore different mediums and dabbles in mixed media art, candle making and designing jewelry. Read our interview with Alexis, and you’ll find amazing tips for your own journey as a creative
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A Conversation with Kent Stetson This year, Kent Stetson, an artisan handbag designer, is celebrating two decades of creative entrepreneurship. His niche is handcrafted handbags that double as art. Initially, the artist explored selling his paintings, but the endeavor wasn’t for him. Here, Kent shares why he cut up
Running a Creative Business
Marketing can be challenging for artists. A reader asked us to present creative ways to promote artwork. While galleries have been the traditional route, artists reach potential buyers in many other ways. So we asked artists and experts in the industry to share their best advice for promoting artwork. Read
Running a Creative Business
Business advice for artists, artisans, designers and makers By Hilary Young The concept of branding has officially made it into the mainstream. Branding is everywhere and, quite frankly, hard to avoid. It’s not even relegated to the business world anymore, given that I’ve witnessed many friends describe the
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As teens twins Eva and Yvette Estime loved watching anime and flipping through Japanese street fashion magazines—interests that would influence their future careers. Fast-forward to 2020, when the sisters founded Dirty Celebrity, an indie fashion brand. “Our accessories line takes inspiration from Japanese streetwear, American punk and pop culture—
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Addie Rawr is the very definition of a creative entrepreneur as a watercolor illustrator, sticker maker, greeting card designer and all-around creative powerhouse. She got her start by seeing a huge gap in the greeting card marketplace—she couldn’t find designs that represented her friends and family. So Addie
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Poet Alex Wilkinson is the founder and chief executive poet at Poems by Post, an art and poetry subscription. Every month, he and his team create uplifting mail for people worldwide. “We send typewritten poetry and captivating artwork to people all around the world every single month, inspiring our audience
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When artist and illustrator Louma El-Khoury couldn’t bear to give away her daughter’s precious baby clothes, she created a way to display them as DIY keepsakes. Her friends and family spotted the artwork and asked Louma to create pieces for them. That’s when the artist knew it
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Interview with Jewelry Artist Kaelen Van Cura Kaelen Van Cura is the artist behind Darling Marcelle, a line of unique jewelry designs. She believes art and artists make the world a better, more beautiful and happier place, and art inspires her eclectic designs. Darling Marcelle “makes bold, weird jewelry for
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Lynn Woods is a content creator at Back to the South, a blog about DIY home decor and party planning. She is also a home decor stylist and founder of Back to the South Bling, where she sells sparkly goods. We chatted with Lynn to learn more about her maker
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In her interview, Melissa Panszi-Riebe, jewelry designer and founder of A D’Zine, shares how she evolved as a creative entrepreneur, from finding the courage to sell at craft fairs to launching a full-fledge business. Melissa creates one-of-a-kind, limited-edition jewelry using vintage, new and global pieces. Each design evokes a
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Interview with Crystal Walen One of the ways you can earn money from your art is to sell your designs on Spoonflower. We talked with Crystal Walen, the fabric pattern designer and artist behind the surface design brand Crystal W Design. In her interview, Crystal shared how she began selling