What Every Artist Should Know About Success

What Every Artist Should Know About Success

(Transcription)

Artist, Angela Roak Farmer, Hamilton, Ohio

Artist: Angela Roak Farmer; Hamilton, Ohio

QUESTION: What were your challenges as an artist?

Angela Roak Farmer: Sabotaged myself at every turn. When I changed my major, even though I was I’d far exceeded anything else I did when I took the art classes. But of course, then I decided that I needed to do the responsible thing, I needed to change my major.

QUESTION: How did you sabotage your success?

Angela Roak Farmer: Anytime I would make progress with developing my skills, or if somebody would actually compliment me on something that I had done, maybe in some classes that I took at local art centers, I would just stop going. Or I would then focus on something different, or oh my studio workspace is in the wrong place, I’ve got to move that.

QUESTION: What were your limiting beliefs?

Angela Roak Farmer: It felt to be a real artist, I needed to have that degree.
But for some reason I just felt like that piece of paper was going to justify my ability to draw or paint or whatever.

QUESTION: What do you believe now?

Angela Roak Farmer: What I think about the limiting belief of having to have an art degree now to be an artist, that’s just crazy. If I want to create things and people like them and want to buy them, that means I’m an artist.

QUESTION: What other limiting belief did you have?

Angela Roak Farmer: I was an introvert, and you know, gosh for years I said I’m not a people person, but you know, I am. Couldn’t carry on conversations, there were always awkward silences it was just terrible.

QUESTION: What did you learn?

Angela Roak Farmer: Things that I realized through your course, that I was perceiving other people’s perception of me.

QUESTION: Are you a free of being a complete introvert?

Angela Roak Farmer: Doing the Code To Joy exercises, and the Facebook group, being you know involved in that; just the support that’s offered there and the success stories that come out in the group are amazing.

QUESTION: Do you think you need an art degree?

Angela Roak Farmer: Actually I was considering going back to school just before I enrolled in your program, but I’m so glad I didn’t put any energy into that. Anymore energy than I already had in the past.

Ann Rea: Yeah, a lot of my students were weighing getting an MFA versus enrolling in the program, or even getting an MBA versus enrolling in the program. But I can tell you, and you could probably attest to this, there are plenty of MFA’s who say their MFA did not get them any closer to selling their art. And we have several MBAs including a Harvard MBA who said that did not get them any closer to selling their art.

QUESTION: What other challenges did you have?

Angela Roak Farmer: I would get discouraged. So I would get discouraged and I would put everything away for awhile, but then it just drove me nuts because I just feel like I have to be doing something creative, so I would go off and I would buy just all sorts of different things. I have tried carving wood. All sorts of different adventures I’ll call them to try to fill what I felt was missing. Because to me to fail at what I really wanted to do that was just too hard. Because doing the portraits that I’m wanting to do the art that I want to do is just so close and it’s so important that I think I was putting off pursuing that because I was afraid I would fail at that. And that’s the most important thing to me.

QUESTION: What has changed for you?

Angela Roak Farmer: I’ve been workin on course two. Working through that has been great, and has really increased my confidence because now I feel like I have focus and I know the direction I’m headed and even though I’m not positive how I’m gonna get there.

Ann Rea: We’ll you’re only in course two, of course not.

Angela Roak Farmer: Right, but I feel so much better.

QUESTION: What is your advice to artists?

Angela Roak Farmer: Continue to do what you enjoy and what you love. And to find a community.

QUESTION: What do you think of jealous artists?

Angela Roak Farmer: I think that’s just terrible that even an instructor can be when they’re supposed to be helping you and guiding you can kind of be jealous or competitive.

QUESTION: What has been your biggest lesson?

Angela Roak Farmer: Identifying our fears and then deciding are these real fears? Because they’re not. I did the dream board. And I had felt like I was just discontent for a long time. But doing the dream board and trying to decide what do I want? I didn’t have anything on this dream board. I realized that I was so happy already that there were just a few areas that I wanted to tweak.

Ann Rea: Good!

Angela Roak Farmer: Yeah, and it was just, it was such a nice just a great realization, you know to figure out I’ve got everything that I really want except in a couple areas I would just like to improve some things and you know I’ve been very fortunate in my life and that was just a great thing. So identifying and getting rid of those fears and realizing that you know I was a lot happier than I thought I was.

QUESTION: Should artists wait to apply?

Angela Roak Farmer: I was that person for well over a year, takin’ in all the free stuff I could get from Ann Rea’s.

Ann Rea: A year?

Angela Roak Farmer: Yes!

Ann Rea: A year of eating my free time.

Angela Roak Farmer: And that just do it, because you’re just going to get way more value out of it than you can even anticipate. In just the first few courses. Its very valuable if you’re serious about your art. If you want to focus, you want to find your I’m not sure how to put it, but if you want to find your area

Ann Rea: Your niche

Angela Roak Farmer: Yes, your niche to do it. It’s so worth it, and I wish I would’ve done it earlier.

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