The Professional Artist Podcast: Art Business Transformations

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Can you build a successful art career without letting success change the art you make?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, painter Loribelle Spirovski is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world’s fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Loribelle is a Filipino-Australian figurative painter whose psychologically charged portraits have been exhibited internationally.
She has earned multiple selections for Australia’s prestigious Archibald Prize, including the 2025 People’s Choice Award.
Along the way, she learned that the job side of an art career can compromise the integrity of the work itself.
In this episode, Loribelle shares why trying to make the “right” art can hold you back, how to start earning from your art before a gallery represents you, and why working harder can eventually work against you.
“I was trying to please these imagined judges instead of being true to what I actually wanted to paint..”
—Loribelle Spirovski
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:38 Lux Aeterna: Memory, Trauma, and the Body
05:21 Growing Up Between Cultures
08:14 The MFA Decision
11:32 Getting Into Residencies Without a Strong CV Yet
14:48 How Curators Actually Find Artists
17:03 Pricing Work When You’re Still Building Confidence
19:44 Memento Mori: When the Work Shifts Direction
22:17 Final Advice
Connect with Loribelle
Website: https://loribellespirovski.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loribellespirovski
Learn more about The Professional Artist Association:
Mentoring:
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Membership:
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Free Letter:
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/professionalartistaccelerator
Ready to take the next step in your art career?
We are hosting a free 4-Day Challenge online to help artists like you get back on track.
Whether that’s making your next art show your best ever, designing a paid art workshop that is uniquely yours, or getting your artwork into the next right-fit gallery…
…this live, virtual, and interactive challenge will help get you get unstuck.
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We read every single one.

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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 does an artist actually get their work into a museum?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, painter Elizabeth Barlow is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Based in California, Elizabeth has built a career that has taken her work into museums, hospitals, churches, corporate collections, and the San Francisco Opera.
Along the way, she has learned that museum opportunities often begin long before an artist ever asks a curator to consider their work.
In this episode, Elizabeth shares how artists can build genuine relationships with museums and curators, what to do when you don't already have a connection inside an institution, and why supporting museums can be an investment in your own career.
She also explores a less obvious route into museum collections and why some opportunities need to be created rather than waited for.
“I view it as an investment in my art to get to know people, to support them and to support the museum.”
—Elizabeth Barlow
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:38 Empress - From Portraits in Absentia to Flower Portraits
05:13 Getting Into Museum Collections - The Long Game of Showing Up
08:28 The San Francisco Opera Donation - A Gift That Led to a Commission
09:47 The Phoenix Rose - What Survived the Fire
12:20 When Donating Work Makes Strategic Sense
13:52 Approaching Institutions Cold
15:18 Transfiguration - The Church Commission
18:17 Final Advice
Connect with Elizabeth
Website: https://www.elizabethbarlowart.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethbarlowartist/
Learn more about The Professional Artist Association:
Mentoring:
Apply to join 99 artists for unlimited 1:1 Coaching & Mentoring to grow your art income:
https://professionalartist.com/apply
Membership:
Join 1,000+ committed artists around the world for less than $1, £ or € a day: https://professionalartist.com/join
Free Letter:
Join 50,000+ artists getting Free advice & inspiration every week:
https://professionalartist.com/podcast/#join-free-artist-letter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/professionalartistaccelerator
Ready to take the next step in your art career?
We are hosting a free 4-Day Challenge online to help artists like you get back on track.
Whether that’s making your next art show your best ever, designing a paid art workshop that is uniquely yours, or getting your artwork into the next right-fit gallery…
…this live, virtual, and interactive challenge will help get you get unstuck.
Register to get a free pass here: https://professionalartist.com/free
If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe, share it with another artist and leave us a review/comment. We read every single one.

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 getting your art discovered has less to do with chasing galleries and more to do with putting your work where people can find it?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, landscape painter Thomas Sarrantonio is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Based in New York, Thomas has been exhibiting since the 1980s and has spent decades building his career around painting, teaching, and his local artistic community. 
His work has earned a Pollock-Krasner grant and gallery representation, but many of those opportunities came to him rather than through actively pursuing galleries.
In this episode, Thomas shares how showing his work in libraries, bakeries, and other community spaces helped create unexpected opportunities, how relationships with other artists contributed to his career, and what he has learned from working with multiple commercial galleries. 
“Galleries have found me. I never really was good at selling myself, and I didn't feel comfortable doing that, so I usually just gave up on that.”
— Thomas Sarrantonio

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:38 Field Painting : Plein Air at First Light
04:43 Showing Up Without Selling Yourself  - Libraries, Bakeries, and Community
08:26 Practical Tips for Showing Outside Commercial Galleries
10:55 Sunset With Storm Offshore: A Labor of Love
15:49 Never Give Up Creative Freedom to a Gallery
18:21 Visibility 
20:33 Final Advice
Connect with Thomas
Website: https://www.thomassarrantonio.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thomassarrantonio/
Learn more about The Professional Artist Association:
Mentoring:
Apply to join 99 artists for unlimited 1:1 Coaching & Mentoring to grow your art income:
https://professionalartist.com/apply
Membership:
Join 1,000+ committed artists around the world for less than $1, £ or € a day: https://professionalartist.com/join
Free Letter:
Join 50,000+ artists getting Free advice & inspiration every week:
https://professionalartist.com/podcast/#join-free-artist-letter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/professionalartistaccelerator
Ready to take the next step in your art career?
We are hosting a free 4-Day Challenge online to help artists like you get back on track.
Whether that’s making your next art show your best ever, designing a paid art workshop that is uniquely yours, or getting your artwork into the next right-fit gallery…
…this live, virtual, and interactive challenge will help get you get unstuck.
Register to get a free pass here: https://professionalartist.com/free
If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe, share it with another artist and leave us a review/comment. We read every single one.

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 keeping your day job could actually help you build a stronger art career?
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, ceramic artist Oami Powers is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Based in North Carolina, Oami spent nearly two decades working in clothing and product design before finding her way to ceramics.
She has since built a nationally exhibited studio practice while continuing to work a day job four days a week.
In this episode, Oami shares why financial stability can give artists the freedom to develop their work without rushing the process, what moved her career forward without a single defining "big break," and why taking longer to find your voice can ultimately be an advantage.
“It takes you a while to figure out who you are as an artist, even if you're starting in your 40s like me… and having a day job allows you to do that.”
— Oami Powers
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:38 Tender Tangle - A Pile of Ceramic Objects
04:04 From Clothing Design to Clay - Finding the Right Medium
06:51 The First Residency While Keeping the Day Job
09:15 Working at the Museum - Learning the Art Ecosystem
11:05 Adrift - Building a Visual Vocabulary from Memory
13:06 Why Quitting the Day Job Too Soon Can Cost You
16:05 What a Serious Art Career Looks Like Alongside a Day Job
18:06 Ghost - A Piece Made from Grief
20:38 Final Advice
Connect with Oami
Website: https://www.oamipowers.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oamipowersart/
Learn more about The Professional Artist Association:
Mentoring:
Apply to join 99 artists for unlimited 1:1 Coaching & Mentoring to grow your art income:
https://professionalartist.com/apply
Membership:
Join 1,000+ committed artists around the world for less than $1, £ or € a day: https://professionalartist.com/join
Free Letter:
Join 50,000+ artists getting Free advice & inspiration every week:
https://professionalartist.com/podcast/#join-free-artist-letter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/professionalartistaccelerator
Ready to take the next step in your art career?
We are hosting a free 4-Day Challenge online to help artists like you get back on track.
Whether that’s making your next art show your best ever, designing a paid art workshop that is uniquely yours, or getting your artwork into the next right-fit gallery…
…this live, virtual, and interactive challenge will help get you get unstuck.
Register to get a free pass here: https://professionalartist.com/free
If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe, share it with another artist and leave us a review/comment. We read every single one.

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.
---
In this episode of The Professional Artist Podcast, artist and muralist Pepa Ivanoff is featured by the Professional Artist Association (https://professionalartist.com/join), the world's fastest-growing global community for committed fine artists.
Originally from Australia and now based in Costa Rica, Pepa has built an international career completing 343 murals around the world in just nine years. 
Along the way, she learned that treating art like a profession also means understanding exactly what your work costs to create and being willing to charge accordingly.
In this episode, Pepa shares how undercharging led her to resent projects she should have enjoyed, what changed when she calculated the true costs behind her work, and why knowing your value helps you identify which clients and opportunities are actually worth pursuing.
“If you're serious about being an artist, being compensated financially for that is something that you need to get really comfortable with.”
— Pepa Ivanoff

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:38 Entre Palmeras - A Studio Canvas
03:17 From Surfboards to Murals -  How It All Started
04:48 Questioning the Myth That Art Isn't a Real Career
07:25 Financial Freedom on Your Own Terms
09:15 Saying No More Than Yes -  Evolving the Commission Practice
11:15 The Bird of Paradise Mural - A Repeat Client
12:09 Having the Money Conversation Early
15:25 Getting Comfortable with the Money Conversation
16:47 How She Discovered She Was Undercharging
18:39 The Pilates Studio Mural -  A Client Who Became a Friend
19:29 The Starving Artist Myth
20:36 Final Advice

Connect with Pepa
Website: https://pepallama.com/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/pepallama/

Learn more about The Professional Artist Association:
Mentoring:
Apply to join 99 artists for unlimited 1:1 Coaching & Mentoring to grow your art income:
https://professionalartist.com/apply
Membership:
Join 1,000+ committed artists around the world for less than $1, £ or € a day: https://professionalartist.com/join
Free Letter:
Join 50,000+ artists getting Free advice & inspiration every week:
https://professionalartist.com/podcast/#join-free-artist-letter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/professionalartistaccelerator
Ready to take the next step in your art career?
We are hosting a free 4-Day Challenge online to help artists like you get back on track.
Whether that’s making your next art show your best ever, designing a paid art workshop that is uniquely yours, or getting your artwork into the next right-fit gallery…
…this live, virtual, and interactive challenge will help get you get unstuck.
Register to get a free pass here: https://professionalartist.com/free
If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe, share it with another artist and leave us a review/comment. We read every single one.