What Can Artists Learn From Each Other, Even If They Are Different?

What Can Artists Learn From Each Other

(Transcription)
Artists, Anne Noland and Abby Anderbard

Ann Rea: All right, well, hello, everyone, this is Ann Rea coming to you live from San Francisco, California. I’m here with a couple of my students for the Making Art, Making Money program (and this is my puppy, Rebel, who wants to get away), who are also study partners in the Making Art, Making Money program. We have a system of study partners so that whole global community of very supportive artists can meet with one another and do specific assignments together using technology just like this, or Skype. These ladies had a breakthrough that they’re gonna share. I just thought other people would benefit from knowing what you came to learn. But I’d first like to introduce these two ladies. I’m gonna actually let them introduce themselves. We have Anne, and it’s not Ann Rea, it’s Ann…

Anne Noland- Ann Nolen.

Ann Rea: Ann Nolen, who lives in–

Anne Noland: I live in Santa Rosa, California–

Ann Rea: Right.

Anne Noland: In the wine region, yeah.

Ann Rea: In the wine region, which I’m very familiar with. And Abby, I’m not gonna say her last name ’cause she has a new last name that I don’t think I’ll pronounce well. So Abby?

Abby Anderbard: I’m Abby Anderbard. I live in River Falls, Wisconsin, close to the Twin Cities.

Ann Rea: Okay, great, and congratulations on getting married.

Abby Anderbard: Thank you.

Ann Rea: I’ll start with you, Abby. I just wanna ask you just real quickly, what was your biggest challenge before you enrolled in the Making Art Making Money program?

QUESTION: What were you wrestling with the most, if you could just explain it in a sentence?

Abby Anderbard: I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have any focus. I didn’t know who to ask or where to go to start making money, at all.

Ann Rea: Okay, that’s a pretty common one, by the way. I know you probably learned a lot so far. But what do you think the biggest takeaway, by the way, these two are still at it.

QUESTION: What was your biggest takeaway so far? What comes into your mind?

Abby Anderbard: From the course so far?

Ann Rea: Yeah, from the Making Art Making Money program. Which there are eight courses, by the way.

Abby Anderbard: Yes. The biggest thing is that you need to have a mission to be able to help somebody with what you do. I had been painting, I think, rather selfishly for the past year, and I didn’t know that I was making decorative art with no meaning. And it makes so much sense to make something that is going to help someone else. ‘Cause why else would they want it?

Ann Rea: Right, why else would they pay you for it?

Abby Anderbard: Why else would you do it? That’s it.

Ann Rea: That’s a huge shift, so congratulations there.

QUESTION: Anne Nolen, what was your biggest challenge before you started the Making Art, Making Money program? What’s one sentence that would describe that?

Anne Noland: I think mine is a little unique. I have been an accountant, an entrepreneur, and I’m a CFO of a nonprofit. I was very frustrated because I couldn’t figure out how to connect that to having my own art business. It made no sense to me.

Ann Rea: I’m really glad you mentioned that because we have a couple of, we have a few MBAs along with you who’s entrepreneur in the Making Art Making Money program. One of our MBAs is from Harvard, pretty smart cookie, but still the same challenge. That’s because we don’t sell goods or services. Our product is emotions, so it’s very hard to use traditional tools to connect the dots.

QUESTION: Do you think you got it now?

Anne Noland: Oh yeah, it’s been really amazing. And the course has been much more extensive and I’ve learned much more than I ever anticipated.

Ann Rea: Oh, great, okay, good. I like hearing that. Now, you two had a study partner session. And I just post it in our private Facebook group and asked my students if they would be willing to share and to thank their study partner for the breakthrough that they had.

QUESTION: I don’t know who had the breakthrough or who is the helper. Who was it?

Abby Anderbard: I think it was me–

Anne Noland: We both did actually.

Ann Rea: Oh, it’s both of you!

Abby Anderbard: It was both of us.

Ann Rea: Cool, a two for one. All right, Abby, let’s start with you.

QUESTION: What was the breakthrough that you had during your study partner session, just real quickly?

Abby Anderbard: Well, it meant a lot to me, I know Ann says it means a lot to her, too, but it meant a lot to me because it felt like someone was validating what I was working through, saying that it was worth something, that it could help someone, and she knew people that it would help. So it just gave me a piece of evidence, I suppose.

Ann Rea: Do you mind, you don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to, but

QUESTION: Can you be more specific about what you were–

Abby Anderbard: Sure. I’m working on my 4-Part Code, developing my purpose, my mission, how I want to help people, and then now, on my who. So I was working with my how and I was talking to Anne and thinking about how I want to help people focus on the support that they’ve received in their lives instead of all the negative stuff that they get from the outside world, so that they can focus on living the lives that they wanna live.

Ann Rea: Now, that’s a great mission. So Anne gave you encouragement and said that she knew people who would benefit from what you’re starting to form?

Abby Anderbard: Yeah. I wanna do portrait painting for people.

Ann Rea: Awesome.

Abby Anderbard: Of supportive figures in their lives and restoring that memory with them. Anne was just, like, “I know people who would want that! I have something in my home that…”

Ann Rea: Okay.

Abby Anderbard: Thanks!

Ann Rea: That’s fantastic.

QUESTION: So Anne, what was the breakthrough that Abby helped you realize during a study partner session? Just briefly tell us what that was.

Anne Noland: Well, it was really defining something that I was struggling with coming up with the words to express. Abby is unusual in that she really eagerly wants to understand everything. So she was really putting me on the spot to explain it to her in terms she could understand. She was asking me, with my mission, I’m gonna talk about money issues and how they can interfere with a loving relationship. Like, those are the words she gave me. I couldn’t put that together. I knew that those two were connected, but she’s the first one who said to me, “Well, explain that. “How is that connected? “That doesn’t make sense to me?” And then the conversation with her helped cement all that. It was really helpful for me.

Ann Rea: Wow, so that really helped you realize the value of your how and your mission.

Anne Noland: Exactly.

Ann Rea: That’s very significant. Both of you, like, okay, wow. Just for people listening, the study partner system, we have a very specific protocol and some secret sauce that we won’t reveal during this call. But it sets up a format and a construct for really productive meetings. You get to connect with people there’s not way you would ever cross their path. Like, I don’t know, you gonna be in Santa Rosa any time soon, Abby? Probably not, right? So you get this huge opportunity to connect. I guess my last question for you is,

QUESTION: Ann, if someone was considering joining the Making Art Making Money program, but they’re somewhat sitting on the fence, what would you say to them?

Ann Rea: Did I lose you? Oh man.

Anne Noland: Think I’ve lost you.

Ann Rea: Oh, there you are. Ann, what I said was, if you were speaking to someone, let’s say, who was kind of sitting on The fence about whether or not to join the Making Art Making Money program, what would you suggest to them? What would you tell them?

Anne Noland: Oh, absolutely join the class. I’ve gotten much more. I took your Creative Live class first, just to test the waters. At the end of it, I had to sign up. There was no question.

Ann Rea: Oh.

Anne Noland: It’s been awesome.

Ann Rea: Oh, that’s great, yeah. I’ve done two best selling Creative Live classes. I’m very proud of them. They are really good. But they’re not the same level of depth and value that we offer.

Anne Noland: Yeah. It was, change, in the Creative Live, I was part of the audience. In the course, I’m the one there doing it, and it’s a huge difference.

Ann Rea: Yeah, yeah. You can’t be anything other than the audience in Creative Live. Yeah. Looks like we may have lost Abby. I just see a blue head.

Anne Noland: Oh dear.

Ann Rea: I was gonna ask her the same question, but we may have lost her. But that’s okay. I think that, oh there! Abby, okay, we got you back.

Abby Anderbard: I think so, hi.

Ann Rea: Hi. One last question for you. If you’d be willing to share really quickly,

QUESTION: If someone was sitting on the fence and not sure about enrolling in the Making Art Making Money program, what would you say to them?

Abby Anderbard: I would say, I was one of those people. I sat on the fence for a year or two, and I wish I had done it earlier. That we’re here for you. There is a community of people that are here for you so that we can help you.

Ann Rea: Oh, that’s wonderful. Yay! I love hearing that, because so many artist communities have so much jealousy and competition among each other, and we have the opposite. And I’ll tell both of you, I tell all my students and everyone that I’m really proud of the courses that I put together. But let me just tell you something. I’m 10 times prouder of the community of my students who show up from all corners of the globe and they don’t compete with one another. They do the opposite. They help one another, just like Abby and Anne did. And they’re from very different places in the country, places in their life, but yet you guys came together and helped one another. That’s the thing I’m most proud of. So I really appreciate you sharing that and being willing to share that, and I appreciate your time, taking time out of your day. I’m looking forward to hearing more breakthroughs and more insights from both of you.

Ann Noland: Thank you.

Ann Rea: All right, thank you so much, you guys. See you soon.

Ann Rea

About Ann Rea

Ann Rea is a San Francisco-based artist and the creator of The Making Art Making Money program. Her art and business savvy have been featured on ABC, HGTV, Creative Live, The Good Life Project, in the book Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields, by the San Francisco Chronicle, Art Business News, Fortune, and Inc. Magazines. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by her mentor, art icon, Wayne Thiebaud.

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