👋🏼 Hello, reader.
In today’s post, catch the video preview of my Post-Script conversation with Sandi Hester. And below, find recent conversations where I have expressed ideas about the artist as a creative entrepreneur.
Today is Day 15 of 30 Days of Vancouver!
🎙 The PostScript with Sandi Hester
A PostScript conversation occurs after the main conversation has been recorded for the SneakyArt Podcast. In several past recordings, the guest and I would continue to speak for many minutes. This part was like a long goodbye — with no agenda except to tie off loose ends and bring up last-minute thoughts.
I began to record these sessions - after taking the permission of the guest - with the specific intent of creating a reward for SneakyArt Insiders, the wonderful listeners and readers who commit to supporting my independent work.
PostScript conversations are not made for every episode, and I do not gate portions of my organic discussions with guests. Every time it happens is a beautiful surprise for me as much as it is for you, the listener!
In the case of this PostScript, after three and a half hours of a most wonderful conversation, I found I still had two requests to make of Sandi -
(1) that we draw fun portraits of each other,
(2) that she help me get over my hesitations about doing YouTube.
You will like this conversation if -
🙇♀️ you have self-doubt about sharing your work with an unknown audience
📹 you have considered entering YouTube but are intimidated by the magnitude of the task
🎙 you enjoyed episodes 38 and 39!
This Sunday, the entire 39-minute chat (plus our portraits of each other!) will be shared with SneakyArt Insiders. To receive the PostScript in your inbox, sign up to become an Insider.
Catch up with Ep 38 and Ep 39 here.
🤔 Why the Paywall?
As an independent creative, I have made it my business to be an artist, writer, and podcaster. It takes a lot of time, energy, and painstaking effort, to create the kind of work I am proud to share, and none of it would be possible in the old world of radio stations, art galleries, and magazine publishing. I could not have permission to do so many things.
The internet makes it possible because the internet tears down the institutional barriers between creator and audience.
And so I can speak here directly with you. Hi again. 👋🏼
This is my little niche. I do not seek big sponsors or brand endorsements. Spotify will never pay me $100m because I will not provoke millions of people with bluster and half-baked ideas. I am only here to engage deeply with people who like the same things as me.
Your choice to become a SneakyArt Insider allows me to keep doing my work. It compensates for the time I spend hunched over my laptop, but crucially it frees me for other more abstract responsibilities:
This includes the time I must spend dreaming up good questions to ask my guests.
This includes the 30 days I have dedicated to walking around Vancouver, drawing little portraits and telling little stories.
This includes the freedom to make the books I want to make.
This includes the morning I spend typing and retyping these words that I want to say to you just so.
Sign up to become a SneakyArt Insider to support my work and get in line for exclusive content and giveaways!
🚀 The Artist as Entrepreneur
Over recent months, I have had excellent opportunities to express my thoughts about the artist as a creative entrepreneur -
🎙 Interview on the Science Friction podcast, part of Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), about taking the leap from scientific research to art and writing.
📃 Notes exchanged with Elle Griffin (The Novelleist) about the need to think like a creative entrepreneur.
🎙 Extended conversation on The Seen and the Unseen podcast about my life, my decisions to become a creator, and ideas about how I will make things work for me.
I reorganized these thoughts in a series of posts for SneakyArt Insiders, beginning with my answer to a question posed by Amit Varma on the Seen/Unseen Podcast - If da Vinci were alive today, would he have a TikTok channel? I answer 100% yes.
But as I wade deeper into the abstractions of living an independent, creative life, I must periodically reset my devices — to reaffirm that I am nourishing the primary creative appetite at the base of everything else. And so we come to Day 15 today, halfway into the 30 Days project:
Yesterday, I spotted lots of tiny people at a busy traffic light. While I drew, I listened to the draft of my upcoming episode with a Seattle-based artist.
Day 13 gave me a moment of magic as I persevered under harsh winds and a capricious sun.
I pushed myself on Day 12 to capture something that I would not have otherwise seen at all.
I am collecting TinyStories about TinyPeople in the comments thread of Monday’s post. Hit the button to read them, and maybe add your own!
Thank you for giving me your time and attention. If you are on the free readers’ list, I will see you Monday with Week 3 of the 30-Day Project. Insiders will receive Sunday’s edition with the PostScript and the results of my second giveaway.
115 - Doubts and Misgivings