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What kind of art makes you glad to be alive? I don't necessarily mean the work you think is important, the artists you're supposed to admire or the exhibitions everybody's talking about. I'm interested in the work that gets under your skin. The things you find yourself thinking about years after you've encountered them. The things that make you feel more curious about being in the world. And I wonder how often, as artists, we give ourselves permission to think about that. Last week, I was talking about the moment when research becomes art. I was asking what happens when all the information you've gathered, the things you've discovered and the ideas you've explored undergo some kind of transformation through your particular way of seeing. This week, I want to explore where that way of seeing might come from. KEY TAKEAWAYS Your enthusiasm can tell you things that your intellectual understanding hasn't quite caught up with. When a piece of art or something else prompts a strong reaction in you, take note of why it interests you, what makes you laugh, ask questions, relaxes you or even what makes you feel uncomfortable.  If you're continually editing your interests according to what you think other people will approve of, you can lose touch with the things that made you excited about making art in the first place. Seeing someone else's work and feeling a little pang of envy can be revealing, not because of their success, but because they've made something you wish you'd had the courage to make. Gather ten artworks that make you feel glad to be alive and identify the recurring qualities. Use those insights to see if there are qualities you admire in others' work that you haven't given yourself permission to explore in your own studio. BEST MOMENTS "When I ask them what they find exciting about somebody's work, sometimes they struggle."    "If you discover a contradiction between what you love and what you're making, don't immediately assume you need to change everything."  "We talk about having good taste, bad taste, sophisticated taste. But those descriptions can quickly become tied up with ideas about class, race, culture, status, education, fashion and belonging."    "You don't need to arrive at a definitive statement about your artistic identity. You're allowed to change your mind. You're allowed to have contradictory interests. You're allowed to love things you can't explain." PODCAST HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. **** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ **** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ **** Book a Discovery Call Today To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] **** Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

What can art do about climate change that science, facts, and frightening headlines can’t? That question has driven curator Alice Sharp for more than fifteen years. As Artistic Director of Invisible Dust, she brings leading artists and scientists together to create something neither could have arrived at alone. Her latest project, Climate Clock, created for Oulu’s year as European Capital of Culture in Finland, brings together seven permanent public artworks exploring climate change through our relationship with nature and time. Each artist was paired with a scientist, with Alice creating the conditions for those conversations to become something genuinely new. One of those artists is Rana Begum, whose collaboration with glaciologist Alan Hubbard transformed footage of glaciers breaking apart into a monumental work made from locally sourced stone, evoking both the weight and fragility of ice. In this conversation, Alice talks about trust, risk, fundraising, scientists, communities and the invisible infrastructure behind ambitious public art. Rana takes us inside the artist’s process: what happens when new knowledge enters your imagination, how work changes as it meets a place, and why the best collaborations leave room for surprise. And we ask: if information alone isn’t changing our behaviour, can artists help us feel our way towards a different future? KEY TAKEAWAYS Art can help us imagine climate futures in ways that facts and science alone cannot. Bringing artists and scientists together creates space for new perspectives, questions, thought provoking work and unexpected outcomes.  Art doesn’t have to turn climate science into a neat lesson. It can hold beauty and fear together, creating a pause where people can feel, notice and ask questions. Public art doesn’t need to be removed from everyday life to have impact — placing challenging work where people encounter it unexpectedly can start conversations and change how communities see themselves. Artists help shape the futures we can imagine. BEST MOMENTS “Who can imagine the future? It’s artists because you know it’s impossible to do anything about the future without imagining.” “If you can bring in a new perspective that someone hasn’t heard before, I think you’re going to have people more interested in future thinking.” “Rather than becoming paralysed by the scale of what is happening,  ask what agency we have through the choices we make, the relationships we build and the work we put into the world.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.ranabegum.com/ https://invisibledust.com/ https://www.instagram.com/invisible_dust https://www.instagram.com/ranabegumstudio HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. ** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career?  https://cerihand.com/membership/ ** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ ** Book a Discovery Call To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

At a recent exhibition opening, I was talking with an artist whose work I admire. We were looking at work that was beautifully made and meticulously researched, yet somehow, I wasn’t moved.  The artist described it as research that hadn't become art yet. I thought that was such an interesting observation, because it describes something I've encountered many times over the years A fascinating subject, impeccable research and extraordinary skill don’t always add up to an artwork that feels fully alive. Over the next three episodes, I’m exploring how you develop your own artistic point of view: how research becomes art; what the works that make you feel glad to be alive can teach you about what you want to make; and how that understanding can help you find people who connect with and champion your work. It’s easy to get caught up in producing, explaining, and promoting work without asking what you want it to do. So today, let’s start with research: when does it stop being information you’ve gathered and become something only you could make? KEY TAKEAWAYS Sometimes a work can feel like a presentation of research rather than artwork. Often, because the artist hasn’t yet made the personal choices that transform it into work that moves them and others. Don’t let research postpone creating. There will always be another book to read or person to interview. Sometimes the next discovery comes from trying something, getting it wrong, and seeing where the experiment takes you. The transformation doesn't have to be dramatic, but there's a difference between representing something you found and making a decision about it that opens up a new experience for somebody else. Give the viewer a chance to meet the work before they meet the backstory. Notice what they’re curious about, where they linger, and what surprises them. Their response can show you what’s already alive in the work and where to take it next. BEST MOMENTS “Sometimes, when an artist tells me about a new project, they can talk for twenty minutes about the research before we get anywhere near the artwork.” “Then I look at the artwork and find myself wondering where the artist has gone.” “Take a look at what you've actually made so far. Try to separate it just temporarily from everything you know about the subject.” “You might begin to recognize the difference between the things you know about your subject and the things you're discovering through making the work.” PODCAST HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. ** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ ** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ ** Book a Discovery Call Today To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] ** Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

How does a sixteen-year-old looking for beer money become one of the world’s leading dealers in rare maps, selling extraordinary objects for millions and occasionally outbidding the Library of Congress? Today I’m talking to Daniel Crouch, founder of Daniel Crouch Rare Books, because I’ve always been fascinated by maps. They might look like records of the world, but they’re also records of how somebody wanted us to see it: who owns what, where borders lie, what gets included and what disappears. Daniel has spent his entire working life learning how to look. We talk about a magnificent sixteenth-century world map that may have been made for political negotiations between kings; a 5,000-year-old clay map bearing its maker’s thumbprint; and the nineteenth-century map he bought for £100 at a car boot sale, only to discover his own house sitting right in the middle of it. But beneath these extraordinary objects is a much bigger conversation about curiosity, storytelling, value, collecting and what happens when you spend a lifetime paying very close attention. I loved this one. I think you will too. KEY TAKEAWAYS Work that feels topical, disposable or culturally specific today can become an important historical record tomorrow. The fact that something was made quickly or for a short-lived audience doesn't make it artistically or historically insignificant. Go and look again at something you think you already know. Stay with it a little longer. Ask who made it, why they made it and what you can see that somebody else might miss - sometimes the extraordinary thing isn’t hidden at all. We just haven’t learned how to look yet. Looking is never neutral. Somebody has made a choice about what to include, what to leave out, where to place the centre, where to draw a boundary. Every creative work is also a way of deciding what the world looks like. Expertise doesn't arrive all at once. Daniel built his eye slowly  by looking, touching, researching, talking, making mistakes and staying curious. BEST MOMENTS “Value doesn’t live in price alone. It grows when somebody can help us understand the history, labour, imagination, craft and human experience held inside an object.” “That thing that you think actually is just a throwaway thing could go on to inspire generations to come.” “As art dealers, particularly as rare map dealers, we don't sell objects and we don't sell beauty. We sell a story.” ABOUT THE GUEST https://crouchrarebooks.com/ HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. ** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ ** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ ** Book a Discovery Call Today To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] ** Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

What if the thing that you keep calling procrastination, lack of confidence or self-sabotage isn’t quite what you think it is? What if one part of you desperately wants the exhibition, the opportunity, or success, while another part is trying just as hard to keep you safe? And what happens to our creativity when we’re also carrying grief, uncertainty, difficult relationships, and everything that’s happened to us before, as well as everything happening in the world around us right now? I recently spent four days in Oxford thinking exactly about these questions at a conference on trauma, healing the mind, the body, and the spirit. I came home thinking how much of this connects to the challenges that I see creatives wrestling with every single day.  So, in this episode, I want to talk about agency - the different parts of ourselves that can want completely contradictory things; grief and trust; how we protect our attention without turning away from the world; why spirituality is still a dirty word in the art world; and why the problem that you think you might need to solve might only be the visible part of something much bigger. KEY TAKEAWAYS If you’re procrastinating, stuck on pricing, or avoiding galleries, it may not be a simple confidence problem. The visible snag could be connected to exhaustion, grief, old hurts, or the conditions you’re working in. Your creative block may be tied to loss, not just bereavement. Maybe losing a community, security, or the person you thought you’d become. Naming what you’re grieving can help make sense of what feels stuck. You can care about what’s happening in the world without taking in every update. Managing your inputs isn't indifference - it enables you to remain present and useful for longer. Agency doesn’t mean carrying the whole art world on your shoulders. Agency is saying this isn't all within your control, so let's identify what is. You don’t have to become fearless to make work or put yourself out there. Confidence can mean taking a step without knowing how it’ll go and trusting yourself to meet what comes next. BEST MOMENTS "The bit of you that's frightened doesn't disappear because you tell it to be quiet. It just keeps tapping you on the shoulder, and sometimes it gets even louder.” “Sometimes, what we're grieving is a version of ourselves.” “Maybe confidence is I don't know what's going to happen, but I trust myself enough to find out.” HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. ** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ ** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ ** Book a Discovery Call Today To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] ** Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

What do you do when an artwork you’ve been quietly developing for years suddenly goes stratospheric? And how do you turn a hit into a career-changing opportunity without sacrificing your health, your family, or the work itself? My guest today is extraordinary artist Freddie Yauner, whose work explores how our drive for continual growth impacts people and the planet. Held in MoMA’s permanent collection, his projects range from world-record-breaking toasters to portraits of CEOs painted with pollen. Years ago, I invited Freddie to make a film using his Mirror Mask, an ingenious piece reflecting the viewer rather than the wearer. Newly edited and reposted, the film exploded - racking up millions of views, reaching fans like Dawn French, and sending thousands of masks around the world. We discuss the mechanisms of success: how great ideas are mobilised, navigating health issues and imposter syndrome when things take off, and how to reinvest a hit to protect your creative life. Freddie also shares what shifted for him when he joined my six-month Artist Mastermind Circle. KEY TAKEAWAYS Sometimes a number one hit arrives years after you first made the work. Your job is to be ready for it. Treat virality not as a fluke but as the moment when preparation meets opportunity. You don’t have to do everything yourself. Investing in help with admin, social media or production isn’t indulgent, it’s how you create the capacity to stay creative, resilient and available to new opportunities. Doing less, better, is a radical act. When health or life reduces your capacity, it can also sharpen your priorities. Limitation can become a lens that clarifies what really matters in your practice. BEST MOMENTS “Luck favours the prepared mind.” “Treat a successful artwork like a number one hit… don’t abandon it because you’re already thinking about the next thing… stay curious about how far it can travel, who else it might reach and what doors it might open.” “You put all this energy into making the work, and then actually it's not complete until you work out how to share it as well.” If you’re an experienced artist who’s already had some success through exhibitions, but you know there are areas where you’re ready to level up, applications are now open for my next Artist Mastermind Circle. It runs for six months, from November 2026 to May 2027, with twenty-five artists from around the world. A carefully curated group, so places are by application, and the deadline is Monday 28 September. Apply here: cerihand.com/artist-mastermind-circle. EPISODE RESOURCES https://freddieyauner.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/freddieyauner HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. ** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals - https://cerihand.com/membership/ ** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ ** Book a Discovery Call Today To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

“I don’t know enough people” might be one of the most convenient lies artists tell themselves. And before you get cross with me, hear me out. If you tell yourself, you don’t know the right curators, collectors, commissioners, gallerists, or writers, you get to keep believing the problem is your network. You don’t have to risk contacting somebody. You don’t have to hear no. And you get to keep hoping that one day somebody might discover you. But hope is protecting you from the very thing your work needs you to do. I speak to artists every single day, and I hear versions of this constantly. “I live in the arse end of nowhere.” “I don’t have the money.” “I hate private views.” ““I’m awkward.” “I didn’t go to the right art school.” “My work is too strange.” “I’m an introvert.” And look, I have empathy with a lot of this. I’m an introvert myself. Given the choice, I would much rather sit in my little home office writing or talking properly to one interesting person than spend three hours shouting over somebody at a private view. But I think something else is going on. Why, when you already know how to network, are you still not doing it? I don’t think most artists need another lesson in networking. I think some of you need to stop waiting to feel comfortable enough to start. That’s what today is about. KEY TAKEAWAYS Stop waiting to be discovered. You can’t control whether somebody says yes, but you can control whether you make the invitation, send the email, follow up, or put the work in front of somebody. You don’t need the whole art world. You need your world: the people whose interests genuinely overlap with what you’re exploring.  Who curated the exhibition that you loved, who wrote that essay that you keep returning to? Who commissioned that artist whose trajectory really fascinates you? Start with your curiosity, research those people, and follow the threads. You don’t have to become fearless, extroverted, or brilliant at networking. Start ridiculously small. Find five people you’d genuinely like to talk to, choose one, and contact them. Then do it again next week. One small gesture each week is all it takes. BEST MOMENTS “Your network should grow out of your curiosity, not your desperation, because desperation makes everybody look like a gatekeeper. Curiosity makes everybody interesting.” “When your brain says, "I don't know anybody, I want you to course correct it. It's a thought error. Say I don't know them yet.” “You don’t have to become fearless. You just have to become more practised.” HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. ** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ ** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ ** Book a Discovery Call To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] ** Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

Andrea Grover has spent nearly thirty years championing artists who take risks. And right now, she’s taking a few of her own. She’s turned her dining room into an experimental performance space called the Ponderosa Lounge. She’s started doing stand-up comedy in her fifties. And after ten years leading Guild Hall in East Hampton, she’s thinking deeply about what creativity, community and leadership can mean when life changes in ways you could never have planned for. Andrea is a curator, writer and arts leader who founded the pioneering Aurora Picture Show in Houston, went on to curate ambitious projects including Radical Seafaring, and has spent her career making space for experimentation, play and what she calls the “head-scratchers”, the art you don’t immediately understand but can’t stop thinking about. Earlier this year, Andrea was diagnosed with ALS. We talk about what that diagnosis is teaching her about accepting help and love, why she’s using comedy to process what’s happening, what decades of working with artists have taught her about leadership, and why she believes creativity can bring people together when so much around us is pulling us apart. There is so much life in this conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. KEY TAKEAWAYS Creative community can feel like finding your way back to the weird kid lunch table. A place where you’re allowed to be fully yourself, to laugh, to be vulnerable, and to let other people help you when you can’t do it all alone. Depth matters more than churn. When you commit to artists and audiences over time, you create the conditions for real trust, real risk, and real change.  Leadership in the arts isn’t about control; it’s about distributing power - trusting others to hold the work with you and letting them surprise you.   BEST MOMENTS “An extraordinary creative life really asks of us. Not that we control what happens next, but that we remain curious enough to meet it. To make something with what we have. To let other people in. To keep finding joy, play and connection.” “Accepting love, accepting help has been very healing …. this sickness is healing me. It's healing me of this relentless pursuit, a forward motion towards I don't know what.” “I love people who don't think like me.” “You can't just run a cultural institution on ideas. You actually have to know how to run a business and how to pay people.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.guildhall.org https://www.instagram.com/gentleridevan/ @guild_hall // @gentleridevan HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. ** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ ** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ ** Book a Discovery Call To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] ** Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

Today, I am talking about a feeling that most of us know intimately. A feeling that most of us don’t talk about: Envy. This episode is about both kinds, which turn out to be the same machine running in two different directions.   We’ll look at what happens inside you when you hear someone else’s good news - the prize, the residency, the museum acquisition, the sold-out show - and feel that sharp jab under the ribs that bends you double. We’ll talk about how, within about 90 seconds, you can pick up their achievement and swing it at your own career like a wrecking ball, and why that reaction isn’t just you being “awful,” it’s information.   Drawing on research into “benign” and “malicious” envy, we’ll separate the kind that quietly points you upwards towards the work you actually want to be making from the kind that wants to pull other people down when you feel you have no control over your own situation.  We’ll also talk about the other half that almost nobody names: what happens when you are the one being envied. The colleague who goes a bit cool, the snide remark at the opening, the tall poppy swipes that land at two in the morning and come home with you.   This episode is an invitation to notice which kind of envy has landed, what it’s trying to tell you, and how to move from resentment and comparison towards honest data and self-trust. KEY TAKEAWAYS Envy is a two-way machine. It’s one word for two different emotions, both triggered by someone else’s good news but pulling you in very different directions.   When you envy others, ask what kind it is. The benign kind pointing you towards your own next step, or the malicious kind that needs you to reclaim your sense of agency.   Expect some envy, some odd weather as you become more visible: the cool colleague, the snide remark. Pause and sort what you’re seeing and hearing. Warm, awkward admiration gets a “thank you”; real nastiness usually gets no response and never results in a smaller you. BEST MOMENTS “When it (envy) lands, ask what kind you've got. If it's pointing you upwards towards work that you want to be making and you're not currently making, it's data, useful data.” “Being envied by someone whose eye you trust is a form of recognition that no review will ever give you. That artist had the benign kind.” “People are far more accepting of success they believe was earned and feel justified in cutting down success that looks like bragging or luck or shortcuts.” PODCAST HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. **** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ **** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ **** Book a Discovery Call Today To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] **** Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

My guest today is the wonderful Italian-Australian singer-songwriter Gabriella Cilmi. Many of you will remember her breakthrough hit Sweet About Me, which became a global success when she was just sixteen. Since then she's toured the world, won awards, shared stages with some of music's biggest names, and now, after thirteen years, she's released a remarkable new album called Pure Love. It's soulful, analogue, deeply human, and for me, one of those records that gets better every time you listen to it. What fascinated me wasn't the success. It was the journey back to herself. In this conversation, Gabriella shares what it took to stop running from other people's expectations, how she learned to trust her own creative instincts again, why the people around us shape the work we're capable of making, and how she finally found the confidence to make the album she'd always wanted to make. If you've ever questioned your own voice, struggled to trust your instincts, or wondered whether it's too late to create the work that's really inside you, I think you're going to love this conversation. KEY TAKEAWAYS The work often changes when we stop trying to outrun ourselves and start listening to the part of us that knew what it loved before everyone else’s expectations got involved.  Sometimes your younger self knows more than you think. Return to that place within yourself that cannot be destroyed, your spark. The right people can create the conditions for extraordinary work to exist. Being seen, supported and challenged by others can give you the confidence to take risks. Don´t eliminate all uncertainty from your creative process. Deliberately creating slight discomfort, more opportunity for spontaneity and the possibility of failure introduces energy into your work. Some imperfection is not a defect; it can be part of the character of the work. BEST MOMENTS “That first seed of idea is so important. don't lose track of it. It can change. Be open to it changing, but there's always something in that.” “Fear never disappeared but became something she learned to work alongside. And perhaps most importantly, success became less about proving herself and more about finding peace with herself.” “I just stopped trying as hard and just did what felt natural.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://open.spotify.com/artist/5v2GEv1pQaCp6oeOQROdKE https://www.instagram.com/gabriellacilmi/ - to pre-order her new album HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. ** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ ** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ ** Book a Discovery Call Today To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] ** Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

I was watching The Big Deal, the new programme with Steph McGovern on the BBC, and I came away with more thoughts than will fit into one episode. Most of them can wait. Today I want to use one thing from it, because it landed directly on top of something that comes up in my membership every single week. An artist has made a body of work. It went out once, into one exhibition, and it didn't sell. Now it's in the studio taking up space, and the question arrives in one of three forms. Should I auction it off cheap? Should I give it away? Should it even be on my website anymore? So, three questions, and every one of them is a plan for getting rid. It is interesting the speed at which the artist brain goes to disposal. The work has been out once…. and already the conclusion is that it's spent, it's evidence of something that didn't work, and that the fastest way back to feeling alright is to make it disappear. And underneath that is something bigger - artists hate the idea of selling. Yet, I know that every artist can turn their graveyard of pieces that did not sell into a living archive that attracts collectors. KEY TAKEAWAYS Unsold work is not failed work. That back catalogue you’re quietly ashamed of might be the best thing someone new to it sees this year. Your job is not to hide it, but to remember why you made it and let it back into circulation.   An aversion to the idea of sales holds you back. Selling doesn’t require you to become louder, slicker, more salesy. It’s shared enthusiasm. When you reconnect with the ideas, stories, and processes behind a piece, you can talk about it in a way that lets other people decide whether it’s for them.   You need a simple practice. One older piece a month: document it properly, write a short note about where it came from, and release it through your newsletter, socials, or a personal email. BEST MOMENTS “The work in the corner of your studio isn't waiting to be disposed of. It's waiting for you to remember why you made it and share your enthusiasm for it.” “You have to sell yourself on the work first before you try to sell the work to anybody else.” “She started looking for her people, her collectors, the ones already half interested in what she was interested in.” If you want more of this in your inbox every week, subscribe to my newsletter Beat the Block cerihand.com/subscribe and it’ll land in your inbox every Friday. EPISODE RESOURCES How to sell more art episode - https://podcasts.apple.com/tw/podcast/want-to-sell-more-art-fix-this-first/id1709105337?i=1000700986682 HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. ** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ ** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ ** Book a Discovery Call To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

Some artists spend their whole lives trying to outrun the work that made them famous. Others spend their lives trying to find their way back to themselves. Today's guest has somehow done both. Wreckless Eric exploded onto the music scene with Whole Wide World, a song that became part of popular culture. But behind the myth sits Eric Goulden: musician, songwriter, producer, writer and relentless observer of ordinary life, who's spent four decades building a body of work far richer and more personal than most people realise. In this conversation, we go far beyond punk and nostalgia. We talk about growing up, art school, perfectionism, collaboration, his distrust of the music industry, and what it means to keep evolving when everyone thinks they already know who you are. We explore his partnership with songwriter Amy Rigby, why imperfection makes music human, and how returning to songs he'd once considered failures became one of the most liberating creative acts of his life. This isn't really a conversation about success. It's about staying curious enough to keep becoming. I loved every minute of it, and I think you will too. KEY TAKEAWAYS You don't need perfect conditions to make honest work. You can start exactly where you are, with the tools and spaces you already have, and let the scruffy, makeshift reality around you quietly seep into what you make. Celebrate your idiosyncrasies and make the work anyway. No one is queueing up for it - and that's freeing. The wrong notes, rough edges and sudden left turns are often where the real human connection lives. BEST MOMENTS “You should celebrate your idiosyncrasies rather than try and fix them.” “Stay curious. Keep experimenting. Trust your odd rhythms. The work that lasts isn't usually the work that tries hardest to fit in. It's the work that sounds unmistakably like you.” “I got it in my head that rhymes were really banal… but she said they take you to places that you probably wouldn't go without them.” “It's like Morris dancing in a in a recording studio.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.wrecklesseric.com England Screaming - https://www.promojukebox.com/PEMDL87209220-2AV5YA5R7TBB4BCS-sean%40bureau-b.com%2Csean.newsham.tapet Leisureland - https://www.promojukebox.com/PEMDL42485375-R24DCBHF4GCTBTR7-sean%40bureau-b.com%2Csean.newsham.tapet Amy's Rigby’s Hang In There With Me - https://www.promojukebox.com/PEMDL50672250-FNXA4A4HAZTVPWDE-sean%40bureau-b.com%2Csean.newsham.tapet HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. ** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career https://cerihand.com/membership/ ** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ ** Book a Discovery Call To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] ** Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

There is a page in Emma's notebook that has been written out, in more or less the same words, most weeks for months. Five things on it. Email the curator she met last spring. Book the studio visit. Get the new work up on the website. Finish the residency application. And every week, in that big looping handwriting of hers, the same five things go down on a clean page, and by the following week not one of them has a line through it. If you have a page like that, and I think most of you do, I think some of you could recite yours to me right now, then this one is for you. It will help you to work out why you are repeatedly delaying doing those specific tasks, so you can finally break that cycle, get them done and make some real progress.Before we go any further, if you haven't followed the show yet, do that now, because these solo episodes land every week and they are built to be used rather than just listened to. KEY TAKEAWAYS The task that´s been on your list for weeks isn’t a procrastination problem; it’s an emotional one. Emailing the curator, updating your website, raising your prices look like simple tasks, but by not doing them you are actually dodging the risk of rejection, judgement, or getting it wrong in public. Instead of asking, “Why can’t I just do this?”, say, “I’m not avoiding the task, I’m avoiding the feeling that…”.  Reframe the task, make it tiny and less threatening: “email the curator” becomes “practice reaching out,” “update my website” becomes “practice being seen.”  Make taking action embarrassingly small. Send a three‑line email to that curator, spend 30 minutes on updating your website – so fear doesn’t get a vote, and you can actually do it on an ordinary, messy day. BEST MOMENTS “Not one of those five tasks was a task. All five were feelings that she'd already decided the task would produce.” “You tell yourself to put the new work online, and it (your brain) files that under judgement. And you tell yourself to raise your prices, and it files that under losing everything you've built.” “Confidence arrives afterwards. It arrives as evidence. Every difficult email that you've sent, every application you've submitted, every room that you've walked into before you felt ready, your brain quietly loved that you came out the other side.” “Practising saying it out loud to yourself over and again is how it becomes embodied.” PODCAST HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. **** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ **** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ **** Book a Discovery Call Today To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] **** Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

What does it really take to create extraordinary work with another person? Not just the exciting bits of making, but everything that happens behind the scenes. Building trust. Navigating creative differences. Talking honestly about money. Knowing when to compromise and when to hold your ground. And finding a way to keep making work together over many years without losing your own artistic voice. That's what today's conversation is really about. My guests are composer and sound artist Ain Bailey and vocalist, composer and movement artist Elaine Mitchener MBE, two artists whose work has quietly shaped the landscape of contemporary art and experimental music in Britain and internationally. Ain's work has been commissioned and exhibited by organisations including Camden Art Centre, the Serpentine, FACT Liverpool and CCS Bard in New York, and she's a recipient of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation's Awards for Artists. Elaine is a Wigmore Hall Associate Artist, an MBE for Services to Music, a former DAAD Artist-in-Berlin Fellow, and an exhibiting artist in British Art Show 9, with a practice spanning contemporary music, performance and visual art. Together they've created Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner for Art on the Underground. But what they share today reaches far beyond a single commission. This is a conversation about creative partnership, artistic integrity, sustaining a practice over decades, and what it really takes to make ambitious work that lasts. KEY TAKEAWAYS Creative careers aren't built by endlessly saying yes. They're built by knowing what deserves your time, having the courage to walk away from what doesn't, and trusting that the quieter seasons aren't empty. The best creative partnerships are sustained by relationships that exist beyond a single project. Building trust over time, staying connected to your community and continuing to initiate relationships creates the network of people and opportunities that keep an ambitious practice moving forward. BEST MOMENTS “They don't confuse trust with vagueness. They ask difficult questions, they're clear about expectations, they value each other's time, and they aren't afraid to have honest conversations.” “There are friends who have seen the work of somebody online and think that they would want to collaborate with them. Then they do - and it's a horror show.” “You're not behind. Rest is part of the work. Learning is part of the work.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://ainbailey.com/  https://www.elainemitchener.com/ https://www.instagram.com/elainemitchener1/ HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. ** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ ** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ ** Book a Discovery Call Today To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] ** This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

I was looking at an artist’s proposal recently for a really significant exhibition, and it was one of those proposals where you can immediately see that the artist has really thought about the opportunity. They haven’t just taken some existing work and thought, right, where can I put this? They’ve responded to the place, they’re thinking about how people might move through it, there are new works, things happening outside, possible collaborations and performances, ideas around public engagement. You can feel their excitement about what the project might become. And I was excited by it too. But because I’ve spent so many years on the other side of these proposals, working in galleries and institutions and actually having to get exhibitions and programmes made, I found myself reading it in two slightly different ways. One part of me was thinking, this could be fantastic. And the other part of me was thinking, bloody hell, this is a lot of work. This episode addresses how ambitious creative ideas can quickly spiral into overwhelming production work. It offers practical guidance on how to navigate institutional proposals in a way that makes sure you don´t inadvertently agree to do all of the tasks needed to deliver the project. KEY TAKEAWAYS Many ambitious artists let the excitement of a big idea quietly lead them to taking on responsibility for too many aspects of the project. Do not use your own labour to quietly fill the gap between a project's ambition and the available resources. The language in your proposal matters. Innocently writing "I will organize" or "I will connect" can quickly turn speculative ideas into lines on someone else's production schedule that you are expected to deliver. Find the beating heart of your project. Identify the essential core elements you care about most so you can navigate changes and compromises. An institution's commitment to your work goes beyond money. Look for their investment in time, expertise, relationships, advocacy, access to audiences, and quality documentation. BEST MOMENTS “One idea leads to another because that’s what you’re good at. Before long, you’ve offered the moon on a stick.” “Stop assuming that you have to arrive with every answer.” “I don’t think ambitious artists need to demonstrate their ambition by showing everybody how much they’re prepared to carry.” PODCAST HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. **** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ **** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ **** Book a Discovery Call Today To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at [email protected] **** Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/