Welcome back to The Abundant Artist, the show that dispels the myth of “the starving artist” and shares how you can live an abundant life as an artist and make a living from your talent one interview at a time.

Joining Cory in today’s podcast is Kiffanie Stahle, the “friendly” lawyer who helps artists get the legal side of their art businesses in order. A firm believer in focusing on the “why” rather than the “what”, Kiffanie advises artists to first decide what they actually need to meet their business goals, rather than just investing big in legal matters that may not be required at all in their specific circumstances.

In this episode, Kiffanie spells out the six basic rules that every professional artist must adhere to, to avoid getting caught in the legal net. She mentions some free templates available on her website that may be a good starting point for artists just beginning their art career. Kiffanie also talks about how easy it could be to gather tax and other legal information in your state – often just a phone call away.

Tune in to today’s episode for more legal insights, a bit about Kiffanie’s minimalist life traveling the western US since 2020, and her goal to make life easier for small creative businesses. Well, legally at least.

Key Takeaways:

[1:12] Cory asks Kiffanie to tell the TAA audience a little about how she started her journey as a lawyer helping artists with legal dos and don’ts.

[3:00] Kiffanie reminisces about how she founded the artist's J.D. as a place to provide legal tools and resources for artists, and how it has now evolved into a membership community, offering books, courses and templates.

[4:38] How the year 2020 made a big life change for Kiffanie, and how her minimalist lifestyle impacted her legal thoughts.

[6:39] Is getting a trademark necessary?

[7:00] Kiffanie believes that there are only six things that are required of artists when it comes to the legal side of their small creative businesses.

[9:49] Kiffanie explains how a simple email can also be a valid contract in the eyes of the law.

[11:39] Cory asks Kiffanie how Entrepreneur Magazine has a trademark, given that a business name that merely describes what you do is not eligible for a trademark.

[16:15] When do you need to do more legal stuff, if you have covered the six necessary tasks already?

[17:54] Kiffanie has a free template on her website which artists can use to create a really simple, easy and readable privacy policy and terms of service.

[20:04] Cory asks Kiffanie to quickly define GDPR and CCPA.

[22:02] If your creative stuff is primarily targeted at children, there’s a whole lot of separate laws that you will need to be cognisant of.

[23:25] Cory asks Kiffanie to explain what one needs to do to comply with the various tax requirements.

[24:18] Kiffanie often recommends her clients to get in touch with their respective Chambers of Commerce for understanding the tax rules and regulations applicable to them.

[31:39] At what point should artists start reviewing their tax affairs on a regular basis?

[33:30] Who are enrolled agents, and how are they different from CPAs?

[35:35] To decide what legal tasks you must complete, you must know where your business is going.

[37:29] Kiffanie has been out of social media for three years now – this is one of her experiments in life minimalism.

[38:22] Cory asks Kiffanie how artists would get in touch with her if they are curious to learn more about legal matters or need legal help.

[40:06] What is Kiffanie’s takeaway from spending so much time working with creative people?

[42:08] Cory thanks Kiffanie for a super-informative episode!

Mentioned in This Episode:

the artist's J.D.

Stahle Law website

Kiffanie’s Website Policy Mad Libs

Kiffanie’s Legal Roadmap book

Kiffanie’s Join me for coffee each Friday

Find More Episodes Over on TheAbundantArtist.com

Welcome back to The Abundant Artist, the show that dispels the myth of “the starving artist” and shares how you can live an abundant life as an artist and make a living from your talent one interview at a time.

Our guest today is Marisa S White, an award-winning artist-photographer based in Colorado. A drawing and painting major, Marisa fell in love with photography in college and eventually began to incorporate it into her work, creating mixed media collages. In 2012, she was introduced to Photoshop, and her artistic world changed forever.

In this episode, Marisa shares her journey as an artist, why she went from art school to setting up her own payroll business to back in school learning photography, how her “decent personality for sales” has served her well, how she handles her gallery relations, and many more tidbits about her art life.

Join us for today’s podcast to learn more about Marisa's “trials-and-errors” in life which, she believes, have got her to the point where she is now.

Key Takeaways:

[1:20] Cory kicks off the conversation with Marisa asking how she came up with the idea for her series titled Certain These Clouds Go Somewhere.

[4:48] Cory reminisces about his growing up years in Utah, and how he resonates with Marisa’s creative feelings emanating from being surrounded by giant mountains and being in and among the clouds.

[7:19] How does Marisa describe herself – a photographer, an artist, or a collage artist?

[8:12] Marisa shares her art journey with the TAA audience, from art school to where she is today.

[11:20] How going to the Rocky Mountain School of Photography and being exposed to Photoshop there changed the course of Marisa’s art career.

[14:35] Cory asks Marisa why she decided to sell her payroll business and go back to school to learn photography.

[17:22] What does Marisa mean when she says she has “a decent personality for sales?”

[19:40] Cory compares the sales cycle in the mid-upper tier of the art market with that of enterprise software solutions.

[22:23] How Marisa loves to share the stories behind her artworks with visitors in art fairs.

[24:20] Marisa talks about her creative process.

[28:48] Why Marisa thinks that making behind-the-scenes videos of their creative process can be a bit frustrating for artists since they do a lot of things “in the moment,” but why she still recommends doing so.

[30:43] How do buyers find Marisa?

[31:40] Apart from galleries and art fairs, sales through social media have started picking up lately for Marisa.

[32:10] How does Marisa choose the art fairs she goes to?

[34:14] Why it is important as an artist to keep track of where your sales are coming from.

[36:13] Cory asks Marisa whether she has formal contracts with the galleries she is working with.

[39:46] Marisa explains how she handles her relationships with multiple galleries.

[43:10] Why is Marisa using both Photobiz and ArtStoreFronts for her website?

[45:22] Marisa is going to get her own retail space soon.

[47:31] Cory thanks Marisa for joining the podcast!

Mentioned in This Episode:

Marisa White’s website

Marisa’s series Certain These Clouds Go Somewhere

Marisa’s Instagram

Marisa’s Facebook

Kelli Erdmann's Instagram (kelladactyl)

Find More Episodes Over on TheAbundantArtist.com

Welcome back to The Abundant Artist, the show that dispels the myth of “the starving artist” and shares how you can live an abundant life as an artist and make a living from your talent one interview at a time. 

Today’s guest is Kathy Lajvardi, a contemporary mixed media artist based in Laguna Beach, California. Kathy was born in Iran and later migrated to the US when she was nine-years-old – a cultural shift that has shaped her as an artist, designer, author and curator. Her diverse artistic background ranges from reflective resin to large-scale paintings that tell a story, are conceptual, and raise awareness.

In this episode, Kathy shares her journey as an artist, from earning her BFA to working with high-profile clients such as Madonna, Beyonce, Lexus, Disney, and Apple. She further talks about how the late night brainstorming sessions with her husband have turned into actual successful projects over the years, and offers her perspective on the Iranian art and culture scene pre and post the 1979 revolution, and how that has influenced her art.

Join us in this podcast to learn more about Kathy’s art journey, and why she thinks artists should go all out to promote their art themselves rather than waiting to get “discovered”.

Key Takeaways:

[0:35] Cory welcomes Kathy to the TAA podcast and asks her to introduce herself to the TAA audience.

[1:20] Kathy talks about how she went on from earning her art degree to working on motion graphics projects for celebrity musicians, movies and companies like Apple.

[4:35] She transitioned into digital experience post her marriage and the birth of her children, and started managing the Graphics department in her husband’s advertising agency.

[6:25] How Kathy and her husband started organizing wine events with winemakers.

[6:38] What was the Somxx event and how did it happen?

[9:22] Cory asks Kathy about her connection with Iran.

[10:57] Kathy explains the connection between her art and the music she likes to listen to, and why she always works with her headphones on.

[13:52] Kathy further talks about her background, and how her choice of music was received by her family.

[17:50] Cory asks Kathy to describe her series titled “Unbreakable Queens”.

[18:52] Kathy further talks about the Iranian singer Googoosh and her struggles, and how that has inspired the artist’s “Unbreakable Queens” series.

[22:05] Kathy offers her thoughts on what Iran used to be like before the 1979 revolution.

[23:17] Kathy explains in detail how she and her husband organize the events, from visualizing to planning the details to getting sponsors.

[30:35] Kathy deep dives into how once she knows what she wants, she plans the steps needed to achieve that.

[32:17] Why the “hustle mentality” is important, and how social media can be used as a platform to reach a wider audience.

[32:44] Kathy takes her marketing flyers everywhere she goes.

[33:29] Art dealers can surely accelerate an artist’s career, but Kathy insists that an artist can be their own art dealer too.

[34:21] Cory asks Kathy how her events/parties convert into sales.

[37:15] Cory thanks Kathy for joining the podcast!

Mentioned in This Episode:

Kathy Lajvardi’s website

Sommx event

Drive Through Napa

Drive Through Paso Robles

Unbreakable Queens series

Find More Episodes Over on TheAbundantArtist.com