The Professional Artist Podcast: Art Business Transformations
If you want to make it in the art world, talent is key - but so is mastering the business side. The Professional Artist Podcast is where fine artists and commerce meet. Co-hosts Miguel L. Mayher and Cristina Demiany guide visual artists through an audio gallery, exploring how to show and sell your art, land commissions, apply for artist grants, license your art, and much more. This is where your art career begins to grow. Miguel L. Mayher is the Director of Education at the Professional Artist Association. Previously, he worked with Google Arts & Culture, striking partnerships with national museums...
Artist Burnout: What It Really Feels Like (And How to Recover)
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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How do you build a sustainable art career without burning yourself out in the process?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, contemporary painter Maria Roza is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Based in...
How Artists Build a Career in Public Art (What Nobody Tells You)
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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What does it really take to build a career in monumental public art?
In this episode of *The Professional Artist Podcast*, sculptor Heath Satow is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Heath has spent 35 years building...
Inside My $120K Art Business
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, illustrator, painter, and educator Francis Vallejo is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Francis is an award-winning artist and Associate Professor of Illustration at the College for Creative Studies.
...
How Artists Get High-Paying Interior Design Commissions
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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What does it actually take to build a career creating high-paying commissions for interior designers?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, abstract painter Lara Scolari is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Lara is...
The Money Mistake Most Artists Keep Making
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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What's the biggest money mistake keeping artists from building a sustainable career?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, sculptor and public artist Matt McConnell is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
For more than 25 years...
The One Artist Skill AI Will Never Replace
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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What happens when the creative industry changes faster than your career plan?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, artist, illustrator, and educator Wouter Tulp is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Over several decades, Wo...
How to Get Curators Interested in Your Art with Alia El-Bermani
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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Do curators discover artists… or do artists create the opportunities to be discovered?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, figurative painter Alia El-Bermani is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Alia's work has been exhibited in...
Building an Art Career Without Art School (What Actually Works)
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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What if the biggest advantage in building an art career has nothing to do with art school?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, geometric artist Nima Nabavi is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
...
How Artists Build Long-Term Gallery Careers
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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How do artists build gallery relationships that last not just years… but decades?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, painter Betsy Eby is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Betsy began her career painting in he...
How to Build an Art Career Without Selling Out
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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Can you build a successful art career without compromising your artistic vision?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, painter Vincent Desiderio is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Vincent is one of the most...
It Takes 10 Years to Become an Artist (No One Tells You This)
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
What happens after art school when the exhibitions, opportunities, and recognition don't arrive as quickly as you expected?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, painter Melanie Vote is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Based in Ne...
Making Art With a Full-Time Job (The System That Works)
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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How do you build a serious art career when you have limited time to make art?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, realist painter Nancy Hollinghurst is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Based in...
She Built a Global Art Career by Staying True to Her Style
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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How do you build a successful art business without losing the creative spark that made the work meaningful in the first place?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, painter Belinda Nadwie is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for co...
Build Your Art Career Around Your Life (Not the Other Way Around)
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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What happens when you build your art career around the life you actually want to live?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, fine art photographer Jonah Allen is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
...
Gallery Owner Reveals the Sales System Most Artists Are Missing
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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Do galleries and art sales really come down to luck… or are they built through systems and follow-through?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, gallery owner, author, and Professional Artist Association Faculty member Jason Horejs is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fast...
How You Can Sell Art Prints Online (Without a Huge Following)
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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Do you really need a large following to make money from your art online?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, painter and sculptor Kasia Frankowicz is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Based in Me...
How You Can Build an Art Career Abroad (From Nothing)
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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What does it take to build an art career from scratch in a country where you don’t even speak the language?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, painter Gabrielle Reeves is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for comm...
What Actually Brings Opportunities to Artists (It’s Not Talent)
Free 4-Day Challenge for artists: https://professionalartist.com/free
Join us live and online to make your next art show your best, design a paid workshop that's yours alone, or land your work in the right gallery. Register free.
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Does talent get you opportunities as an artist… or does something else drive a career forward?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, paper artist Eric Standley is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
...How You Build an Art Career (Without Waiting to Be Discovered)
Why doesn’t making strong artwork automatically lead to a career… and what actually bridges that gap?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, contemporary artist Daryl Thetford is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Daryl left a career in psychology to build a full-time art business supported by galleries, corporate commissions, and top-tier art festivals.
Rather than waiting to be discovered, he developed a system that creates consistent opportunities and income over time.
In this deep d...
How Artists Make Money at Art Festivals (What Actually Works)
Are art festivals a gamble… or a reliable way to build income as an artist?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, fine art photographer Marisa White is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Marisa has built a thriving career through a strategic approach to the art festival circuit, turning what many artists see as unpredictable into a consistent and scalable income stream. By refining her booth, presentation, and show selection, she’s learned how to maximize both visibility and sales...
How Artists Actually Sell Art on Instagram (What Works Now)
Is selling art on Instagram really about followers… or is it a skill you can learn?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, painter Maggi McDonald is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Maggi is a Sydney-based artist who has built a full-time career through vibrant paintings and a highly intentional approach to social media.
Instead of relying on luck or viral moments, she treats Instagram as a system: one that consistently attracts collectors from around the world.
How Artists Build a Career Without Galleries
What if you didn’t need galleries or perfect timing to build a successful art career?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, mixed media artist Dayo Johnson is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
For over 30 years, Dayo has built a sustainable career outside the traditional gallery system… through festivals, commissions, and direct relationships with collectors.
Starting with $50 booths and small local shows, she steadily grew her audience, income, and opportunities through consistency.
Rather than waitin...
Redefining Success as an Artist with Alyssa Monks
What does success actually mean for an artist?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, contemporary figurative painter Alyssa Monks is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Alyssa is internationally known for her emotionally charged paintings that push the boundaries of traditional realism while exploring the psychological complexity of being human.
Alyssa shares why she resists the pressure to manufacture a perfectly cohesive body of work, how intuition guides her studio decisions, and how her definition of success ev...
How Artists Work with Corporate Clients (Google, Amazon & More)
What does it take to turn deeply personal artwork into major professional opportunities?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, artist Charles Clary is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Charles is known for his intricate paper installations built from layered paper, drywall, and found materials.
His work transforms themes of grief and healing into immersive sculptural environments.Â
Over time, that distinctive visual language led to commissions from organizations including Google, Amazon, and the Cosmopolitan Hotel in...
How She Became a Full-Time Artist (The Second Time)
For many artists, the question isn’t whether they’re talented enough. It’s whether they can actually make this work full-time.
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, painter and ceramicist Christina Villa is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Christina has built a recognizable signature style through her Wave Portrait Series…sculptural paintings inspired by Lake Michigan and coastal travels.
But her career didn’t become sustainable on the first try. Her first attempt at going full-time failed… not...
5 Income Streams That Built a 40-Year Art Career (Thomas Fluharty)
How do you stay creatively sharp - and financially stable - after 40 years in the arts?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, illustrator, painter, caricaturist, and teacher Thomas Fluharty is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Thomas has built a four-decade art career by keeping multiple income streams at once: editorial illustration, commissions, teaching, books, and animation. Rather than chasing a single breakthrough, he focused on daily discipline, skill development, and long-term diversification.
From early mornings spent dr...
I Opened My Own Art Gallery — Here’s What I Learned the Hard Way
What does it actually take to open a gallery as an artist … financially, logistically, and emotionally?Â
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast , oil painter and gallery owner Krista Schumacher is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join ), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Krista is a La Jolla–based palette knife painter known for her bold, textured coastal landscapes. After committing to painting full-time in 2017, she quickly built a national and international collector base. She went on to found Krista Schumacher Art Gallery, voted Best Art Gallery...
You Don’t Have to Be a Salesperson to Sell Your Art
What does it really take to build a sustainable art career online… without being salesy, aggressive, or losing the joy in your work?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, contemporary painter Marnie McKnight is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Marnie is an internationally collected Australian artist best known for her abstract paintings and Light Reading series. Emerging in 2016, she has become one of Bluethumb’s top-selling artists, with work held in private and corporate collections across more than 25 countr...
How Robert Williams Built an Art Career Without the Art World’s Permission
What does it actually take to build a serious art career without permission, validation, or institutional approval?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, contemporary painter Robert Williams is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Robert is a foundational figure in the lowbrow and pop surrealism movements, emerging from 1960s counterculture when his work was rejected by the fine art establishment. Drawing from comic books, underground publishing, and narrative painting, he built a practice that challenged academic definitions of art while ma...
I Quit My Tech Career to Become a Full-Time Artist (Transition Blueprint)
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, contemporary painter Bethany Stephan is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Bethany is a realist painter based in Arizona whose work is inspired by the landscapes of the American Southwest. Working primarily on panel, she is known for bold color choices, dynamic compositions, and a willingness to break traditional rules.
After more than two decades in a demanding IT career, Bethany built her practice nights and weekends before transitioning to full-time painting. Her pe...
How Artists Build Seven-Figure Collector Relationships (Without a Gallery)
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, painter Tyler Loftis is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Tyler is a Professional Artist Association member and an American painter trained at the New York Studio School and the New York Academy of Art. His work moves fluidly between abstraction and figuration, driven by process rather than predetermined outcomes. At the core of his practice is a commitment to democratizing access to the art world.
His direct, disciplined, and deeply authentic approach to...
How Artists Fund Public Art Projects (Without a Gallery or Big Budget)
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, Professional Artist Association member and contemporary sculptor Lisa Roet is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Lisa is an Australian artist whose work examines the shared DNA and emotional terrain between humans and primates. Working across monumental public sculpture, film, installation, and research-based practice, her art asks urgent questions about biodiversity, evolution, and what it means to be human—making complex ideas visible at a public scale.
For more than three decades, Lisa has bu...
How You Can Become a Full-Time Artist (Without Quitting Your Day Job Yet)
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, contemporary sculptor Daniel Lai is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Daniel is a Malaysian-born, self-taught artist based in St. Petersburg, Florida, best known for his narrative sculptures that combine books, clay, and metaphor. Through playful yet intellectually charged forms, his work examines the human experience and addresses social issues with clarity, curiosity, and depth.
Transforming discarded and everyday materials into story-rich sculptures, Daniel has built an internationally recognized practice, earning major awards and...
How You Can Make a Living as an Artist (Without a Gallery)
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, contemporary artist David Palmer is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
David is a U.S.-based painter whose work blends the bold visual language of pop art with a refined classical sensibility. Drawing from dreams, childhood memories, nature, and contemporary culture, his paintings are known for their distressed surfaces - layers of color revealed through wear, evoking aged frescoes and weathered billboards.
His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the...
Building a Global Art Career Through Relentless Experimentation with Zhuang Hong-yi
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, PAA Associate Member and contemporary artist Zhuang Hong-yi is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Zhuang is an internationally acclaimed artist known for his vibrant, color-shifting Flowerbeds and sculptural canvases that merge Eastern sensibility with Western contemporary aesthetics. Splitting his time between China and Europe, he draws from cultural memory, nature, and ritual to create works that symbolize joy, peace, and prosperity.
A frequent presence in major institutions - including the Venice Biennale and...
Why You Don’t Need a Big City to Succeed as an Artist
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, contemporary painter and PAA Associate Member Adam David Taylor is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Adam is a British artist whose abstract dreamscapes are inspired by the dramatic coastal landscape of Western Wales. Blurring the boundary between the tangible and the imagined, his work balances structure and spontaneity.
A graduate of the Cardiff School of Art, Adam achieved a career milestone when he was personally selected by renowned painter Sean Scully to exhibit...
Stop Creating Under Stress (And Make Your Most Honest Art)
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, contemporary figurative painter Michelle Doll is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Michelle is an acclaimed artist whose emotionally charged paintings explore intimacy, empathy, and the quiet beauty of human connection. Based in Hoboken, New Jersey, she transforms everyday moments into poetic reflections on tenderness. Her work has been exhibited internationally and recognized with major honors, including the Lillian Orlovsky and William Freed Grant.
In this deep dive, Michelle shares how reconnecting with your...
Building a Sustainable Art Career (without chasing the algorithm) with Jason Freeny
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, sculptor and designer Jason Freeny is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Jason is an American artist celebrated for his imaginative anatomical dissections of toys and pop-culture icons. Blending childlike wonder with scientific precision, his work invites viewers to rediscover the familiar through a lens of curiosity and play. A graduate of Pratt Institute, Jason began his career in illustration before transitioning to sculpture, where he built a global following through collectible toy designs, brand collaborations...
How Artists Can Stay Motivated Longterm - The Power of Accountability
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, self-taught oil painter Debbie Daniels is featured by the Professional Artist Association (ProfessionalArtist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Debbie is a painter celebrated for her immersive depictions of the sea and the natural beauty of the San Juan Islands. Her work captures the movement of water, inviting viewers to feel as though they are part of the scene. A member of the Professional Artist Association, the Oil Painters of America, and the American Society of Marine Artists, Debbie has also built a vibrant...
The Secret to Balancing Art, Family, and Creative Flow
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, contemporary figurative painter Noah Buchanan is featured by the Professional Artist Association (ProfessionalArtist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Noah is a renowned painter celebrated for his mythological and biblical narratives, inspired by Caravaggio’s dramatic use of chiaroscuro. With an MFA from the New York Academy of Art, his emotionally charged works explore the interplay of light, shadow, and the human experience. Noah’s paintings have been exhibited internationally, held in major collections, and featured in prominent art publications, making him a leading figu...
