Gillian Park – Don't Be A Starving Artist

Can you make a living by being an artist? Yes
For this bonus episode I’m joined by Gillian Park, who teaches a wealth of painting and drawing programmes and courses, for the absolute beginner to those wanting to improve their skills, and even those wanting to make their art their livelihood. 

Guests of the Creativity Found podcast often talk about, as youngsters, not knowing that being an artist could be a job, or not expecting later in life that their new-found artistic passion could make them any money. Which is why I love the concept of Gillian Park’s programme called Don’t Be a Starving Artist. 

In this episode I chat with Gillian about her artistic background – how she nearly didn’t go to art school – and about this programme and all the other initiatives Gillian runs for budding artists of all levels.

Creativity Found is all about helping adults to tap into their creativity.
As well as inspiring listeners with my guests’ stories of how they found or re-found their creativity as grown-ups and how that has benefitted their everyday lives, here at creativity found I also want to encourage adults of any age to find their own creative passion.
I host a website that anyone can visit to search for creative classes, workshops, online courses, kits and supplies, for all sorts of arts and crafts activities.
I also run two memberships.
One to help anyone that is creatively curious get past whatever is holding them back and give them access to new creative activities and experiences to try.
The other supports and promotes businesses that teach creative activities or sell kits and supplies.

CreativityFound.co.uk
Gillian Park Art at creativityfound.co.uk

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Twitter: @creativityfoun
Clubhouse: @clairewaitebrown and Creativity Found Connect club

Researched, edited and produced by Claire Waite Brown
Music: Day Trips by Ketsa Undercover / Ketsa Creative Commons License Free Music Archive - Ketsa - Day Trips
Artworks: Emily Portnoi emilyportnoi.co.uk
Photo: Ella Pallet

Buy arts and crafts techniques books, plus books by some of my podcast guests, from the Creativity Found bookshop 

Transcript

Claire Waite Brown: 1:44

Hi, I'm Claire, host of this podcast, as well as inspiring listeners with my guests stories of how they found or refound their creativity as grownups, and how that has benefited their everyday lives. Here at creativity found I also want to encourage adults of any age to find their own creative passion. Creativity found.co.uk connects the creatively stifled with the creativity confident and can help you go from Creative suppression to freedom of expression. At creativity found.co.uk You can find a directory of arts and crafts workshops, courses into kits, and a membership to support you on your creative journey. The creativity found community also provides support for the small businesses and sole traders who make these workshops happen, and build market and distribute the kits. For instance, with bonus podcast episodes like this one, to spread the word about their wonderful offerings, and help creativity seekers find them. For this episode, I'm joined by Julian Park, who teaches a wealth of painting and drawing programmes and courses for the absolute beginner to those wanting to improve their skills. And even those wanting to make their art that livelihood. Hi, Julian, how are you?

Unknown: 3:05

I'm well clear. Thanks for having me on. Great to be here.

Claire Waite Brown: 3:09

You're very welcome. So the guests on my podcast, they often talk about as youngsters, not knowing that being an artist could be a job, or perhaps not expecting later in life that a newfound creative passion could make them any money, which is why I love the concept of your programme called Don't be a starving artist. But before we get on to talking about that, and also talking about your painting and drawing courses for all levels, can you start by telling us a little about your artistic background? Or

Unknown: 3:44

hey, can indeed so mine started my earliest memories of painting and drawing would be fun. I must have been about six or seven. And I can remember going home at lunchtime, and I'm going to show my age now. But I went home at lunchtime and I can remember sitting eating tomato soup in the kitchen and I could see the TV. I heard this accent and I thought what is that? And it was Nancy Kaminski. I don't know if anybody has ever heard of Nancy Kaminski. She was a New York artist. And she used to have a 26 minute shore painting and she was loud and she was brash and she had back here. There are similarities going along the line here. i She would paint a whole oil paint in our palette knife and 26 minutes. And I remember being absolutely mesmerised. I've never seen anything like come from deepest, darkest the OSHA, a very small village. Robert Burns was influenced there was a mining community. So it was it was a working class community. And I had never seen anything like it. I can remember sitting in my legs swinging to this D watch and Nancy Kaminsky mesmerised. So I think that was probably my first influence. And then obviously, along Chem 20 heart, the man who, who made you believe you could do anything that can of spray paint, and a bit of masking tape. So these were my influences growing up, nobody in my family, nobody's creative, very much a working class background. And as I went through school, my first probably the first experience I had that I realised that there was some quite good as a primary five and I had a painted a spider plan and the teacher posted up and everything is all in your nine and our became the person to go to for painting drawing blah, blah blah in that class. So I got a wee bit of fame, the other quite liked it. And it just kind of went on for the year and it grew. And it just as as we get older, I just painted and drew the whole time. That's all I really remember doing. I remember getting an easel in oil paints the year that status quo was 12 gold bars. But I don't know what year that would be, I would imagine it's early 80s I can got a proper grown up piece on oil paint set. And I remember thinking, this is real, this is so grown up, but I loved it. So I joined a local art club full of grown ups, a exhibited full of grown ups. And it was great. I really, really loved it. So as an empty secondary school, I just took for granted that I would go to art school, that's all I ever wanted to do. And then the staplers and the naysayers appeared. People are just trying to protect you because going to art school and a working class background and a place that nobody made money for art was really nervy for everybody concerned family, teachers. No, you cannot do that. Let's concentrate on your studies. Let's have a look at things to fall back on. So I studied a lovely varied programme of typing, office skills, accounts, English, maths, you know, just so I can fall back on because it's no real job. I'm still going along codon on thinking I'm going to art school until it came to the crunch when I wanted to go to art school, and it was met with real fear, I would see I see that and know that it was fear that everybody's trying to protect you, they want the best for you. But at the time, you just feel as if you know, you'll just say no to me again. So I ended up lemon to drive, getting a wee bit of freedom, getting a weed job having money. And I thought you know what I can always paint. So I left school and sexier. And I went and I got a job in an office and the social work department, I would be skirts, and they sensible shoes. And one day I had heard that two chaps was friendly at school had gotten to art school. And I sat with my head in my hands. And I'm not going to see you for a thought in my mind. But it was Oh God, what have I done was equate those words. But it was Oh God, what have I done, I'm gonna end up with these two women sitting here who have been here all their lives. And that was their life and this office. So I went back to school, done my portfolio in three months. And I applied to Glasgow School of Art because I thought it was the best if it was meant to be it was meant to be and I go and and to be honest, it was the hardest four years in the life. And I studied graphic design, because I was very aware that the external influences that are hard to get a job for now left here to prove, you know, you can make money. And I love design. I absolutely love design. And I had 15 jobs in six years. I'm highly unemployable. And looking back, I've worked in publishing, advertising, design houses, print houses, and worked anywhere that would employ a graphic designer, I was very good at my job. But I did not have the staying power. And if somebody tried to restrict me at all, I would just bolt, I would just go and never get another job. And that would be fabulous. So my last job, I was the studio manager and our publishing company for four years. That was the longest job I've ever had. And then I had child number two doubled my mortgage, chucked that job and thought, You know what, I'll just do it for myself because somebody told me I couldn't. And I started my own design business. But even then, I've always always felt I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm here for some nails, and they don't know what it is. And I was about to hit 1420 10. And I thought you know what old wanted to be a painter. I hadn't picked up a brush from school, because it didn't pay into art school because I was a graphic designer. And I thought what am I going to paint I have absolutely no idea what to paint. It's terrifying because you think this has been my lifelong dream to be an artist? What if I am crap? What of my lifelong dream is a total waste? And we have to go for this. It's terrifying. And I understand that it's a lot of people who are in a similar situation to me. And it is terrifying because this dream that you've held all your life. It's a dream so it can exist. But what if you try to realise that dream and it doesn't quite work that's gone. You've spent 40 years dreaming being this person and you don't make it so it's terrifying. And I understand that people will procrastinate and use time use money use forever st to avoid make or break do you know what I mean? So I started painting shoes I have a wee bit yeah, shoe fetish, and ice Started pink shoes, and they painted shoes, only shoes for two years, as a result of a design business, and my friend took a couple of paintings, and some prints to the country live in fear in Glasgow, and they sold for the Sunday. And I couldn't believe it. So then people started getting in touch with me, or will love your shoe pains, or get into it, or we Cafe up in Edinburgh, the time I got home, the first people that sold. So it really, really grew for the year. And so I got a studio, so I'm keeping my my design businesses my safety net. And then six years in 2016, I was I was teaching odd classes and found that really enjoyed it. And I can be avoided doing it. But I really enjoyed it. And I thought you know what this could be the bread and butter, instead of using the design as the safety net, the teaching could work here. And so in 2016, I closed the design business and became a full time artist. And then I moved to the country, I live in an old farm setting to be glorious, yes, you'll see that. My studio is the old stables, it's fabulous. And we can use it the gallery and of what used to be our by a bomb, a bomb. For those who have no idea for a buyer, it's a bomb. So as we converted to a gallery, which is by appointment or a few times a year. So it's a real nice mix. But I'm very much of the idea, you have multiple income students, so you're not relying on one thing. So it's less scary, if you know that does money come in all different areas. And I think people don't see that in an art, they just associate that you make a paint and then you seal it, make a paint and seal it just trade money for time, time for money money for time. And it's about bringing in passive incomes and semi passive income streams. And, you know, there's so much more that you can make money from people don't realise. And that's why dogs are starving artists was born. Because I learned through the years and working in different businesses to take the bits that I liked and apply it to my art business, as opposed to looking at artists and seeing what they were doing and trying to replicate it. So I've just sort of cherry picked things from those 13 jobs in six years and brought it up but this which is not conventional, but but it works. But it works.

Claire Waite Brown: 13:34

Brilliant. So therefore I've already explained the really useful experience and knowledge that you have and leading on to don't be a starving artist. So tell us what it is and why you feel it's needed.

Unknown: 13:51

So growing up, you've just had the story that you were stifled, it was you were put back at your box. It was no, you know, art as a hobby, do that forever, get a nice stable job, blah, blah, blah. And I really feel you know, I managed to break it up really quickly with a panic setting in the social work department thinking what am I doing here, but I teach an awful lot of people who have they broken into that that the they are in their 40s Often it's the mid 40s And that kids have maybe grown up a wee bit and they've got a bit of free time and they look back and think where did that dream go. And I can see it so often in their confidence is really low 40 years of pre programme that you can make money for out we didn't have positive role models, there was no positive role models of artists who could make money at school or even to know growing up but even though it's difficult to find, and I feel as if I'm here we are mission to see, you can t know I want to I want to educate people that I it's hard work, but anything worth doing is hard work. And you can make money for us. It's just known how we are to do that. And steady just tunnel vision, paint, sail, paint, sail, create sail, create sail up is a viable business. You can make money from art and go and live your dreams. You'll work hard but it'll be worth it. I was a bit soapboxes sorry, I

Claire Waite Brown: 15:30

know quite right to tell me then a little bit about how the programme works.

Unknown: 15:37

It's actually a six month programme, but the teaching of it is broken into 12 modules. So 12 weekly sessions, and we cover things like first of all, we start with the artists main set, the main monkeys are seen Who do you think yeah, you're not good enough. You've got to criticise yourself. So it's about the first two modules that are really about strengthening your mind and looking at the external forces that have got you here in the first place that have pre programmed your way of thinking in the first place, and starting to rewrite your story. That's the creative foundation for don't get starving artists. And then we start going then to finding your niche finding your ideal customer. Because when you can find these two things, the rest is easy. You're talking to about one person, you're focusing on one group, instead of just painting or creating and hope somebody, somewhere will like it. It's about really, really focusing, looking at your work, finding who loves it, where did they live? Where do they hang out? How do they want you to communicate with them? How did they want you to sell to them? What did they want to buy. So the whole programme is 12 weeks drip fed. So that'll bring me up to Christmas. And then in January, February, March, it's group support. So it's a Facebook group, you've got group support, if you want to implement as you go along. Fantastic. There's live q&a sessions every week. If you want to wait until next year, you want to cover the course and Lindsey right 2023, as I'm going to start and you want to implement it, then then three months of support with guest experts coming into the Facebook group live q&a is and just general, online support, the content is available for a lifetime. So even if you don't think it's right for you right now, that you will always have access to that programme. So you can dip into it whenever you like, if you need to, you know, update yourself. And suddenly, if you think I need to go back and really look at my ideal customer. Here's the exercises here. So it's very what books that are based, will be, you know, a four to five minute presentation, and then homework each week for you to work in yourself. And then a live q&a. So it's quite comprehensive. There we go. Comprehensive.

Claire Waite Brown: 17:57

sounds absolutely fabulous. It sounds much needed. And of course, the supportive group as well. We love a bit of community recruiting committee found. So that all sounds really exciting. Now, you can also help people who are not at that stage yet, but who want to explore drawing and painting as a means to tap into their creativity. Tell me about your courses and art club. Because because there's more to the Julian Park art world isn't there? Well, there

Unknown: 18:25

are many multiple income streams. So I initially started teaching classes and workshops in person. So people who have never painted in the life and I would sit them down with oils, and they would go away. And they would think they were the absolute bug because it's all but tips and tricks. Everybody is creative. And people will say to me, Oh, I can't even draw a stickman there is no drawing that has no planning, there is no tiny brushes. This is all about really enjoying the materials, and land and the tips and tricks that are going to get you to adult like people going away that don't have something that they absolutely love. I love people to be an author of their own talents. So I teach in person workshops. I have an online art academy, online programmes and classes and courses that you can download and work through in your own time. That all filmed in real time. So it's no, it's not a very to see it's not a polished presentation of an artist. Doing step by step painted is possibly the biggest understatement you're gonna have. You're on the air with me and I am telling you everything that I'm using, I'm talking about the materials I'm using. I'm talking about what's good about them. I'm talking about the materials, I absolutely hate. The art academy classes and courses are all about just sitting in the studio with me, whether you have an absolute beginner, or you're a more professional artist, and you're wanting to uplevel your skills. I do have an art club online, which started in the pandemic. So at the end of February 2020, I had a hysterectomy, and had lobbed off march to recover. Two weeks later, the world went into lockdown. And all these these students that are taught in person or the different classes and workshops, but all locked in house and demented. So you know, we felt we were going to be there for six weeks. Six weeks. Do you remember that? Or however we can laugh? No. Sorry, I thought you know what, I'm here. I can't go anywhere. Let's pivot. Let's take it all online. So started Facebook groups, and it was called the scribblers because I love to scuttle I like to call it scribbling in the sketchbook just taking the pressure off just playing and suddenly it grew within two weeks, like nearly 300 people, people who had never Got a painted before and the life, they need a creative release. And through the life that might be thinking, I'd love to do that. But I've no got the confidence. So a lot of people have tried traditional art classes, and felt quite restrained and felt a lot of them feel as if there were updates that the teacher couldn't put it across in a way that was just basic, that was just one to one just, I'm talking to you. I'm not using highfalutin terms, I'm just putting it right into the basic, because that's what it is. It's just creativity. And we need to take this thing at this art as being the elitist tivity that some people think so it's very much about, get a felt pen, and a squatty bottle, and we're gonna paint cheese and butter topics. Do you know I love pink cocktail sticks and ink. So I was trying to make it as friendly as possible. And these people have come with me and I know and the membership, monthly membership and up levelling the skills. So the monthly membership has got loads of things. There's a guest artist every month, who will do a pre recorded demo, I will do a pre recorded demo. And we'll have loads of sort of group sessions and we'll have a live QA if people want their opinions that are discussed, or some live feedback. So it's a really fabulous, fabulous group really, really, really encouraging. And that's all inclusive. I mean, that's such a great group, probably the bass group and Facebook, I would like to see, I would like to see my not the best my students are the best.

Claire Waite Brown: 22:36

Of course they are. Oh, that is so exciting. Julian, there's so much that you have on offer for all the levels and what you're saying about not feeling comfortable in other classes and how and how it's about that comfortable community and the freedom and then not worrying about you know, maybe not being great or thinking you're not great and just doing it for doing it all sound absolutely. spot on with the creativity found ethos. People can find out more about everything that you've talked about today at The creativity found website, simply visit creativity found.co.uk/julian Park art, and also Julian, how can people connect directly with you,

Unknown: 23:29

you can find my website at Julian park.co.uk. At the art academy, you can link from the website but it's also art academy.uk. And you can find me on Facebook and Instagram. Just sells Jillian Park, you'll find me there's a free group which is called the Art Academy common room in Facebook, which is just it's a free group come in and join. There's loads of action going on and the loads of people who just want to start, but I feel Emily young shoots that a great clip. And if you aren't an artist who wants to start making money from the work, you find the free group called Don't be a starving artist and Facebook as well.

Claire Waite Brown: 24:13

Brilliant. Thanks so much for talking with me today. Julian it's been fabulous.

Unknown: 24:19

Growing clear. Thanks first. Thanks for having me on.

Claire Waite Brown: 24:22

You're very welcome. Thanks so much for listening to creativity found. If your podcast app has the facility, please leave a rating and review to help other people find us on Instagram and Facebook follow at creativity fan podcast and on Pinterest look for creativity found. And finally, don't forget to check out creativity. found.co. UK, the website connecting adults who wants to find a creative outlet with the artists and crafters who can help them tap into their creativity.