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Extraordinary Creatives

Ceri Hand

Extraordinary Creatives: The Premier Art Podcast

Welcome to the Extraordinary Creatives podcast, your gateway to the world of exceptional artists and creative leaders who have defied the odds to make a significant impact in the arts and beyond.

Hosted by Ceri Hand, creative coach, curator, and seasoned arts and business insider, this podcast offers a wealth of insights into art and creativity through in-depth interviews. Ceri’s extensive experience and genuine passion for the arts make every episode a treasure trove of inspiration and practical advice.

At the heart of Extraordinary Creatives is the belief that creativity is essential for success. However, it is the courage, confidence, and resilience to dare to be different that truly transforms the world. With her warm, playful, and straight-talking style, Ceri delves into the ideas, processes, mindsets, victories, and challenges of trailblazers who have paved the way in the arts.

Ceri’s mission is to support 100,000 artists and arts leaders by 2025 by providing exclusive access to information, inspiration, and expertise. Discover the transformative power of art with Extraordinary Creatives. Tune in and follow so you don’t miss an episode!

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Wednesday · 17 min
When Someone Else's Envy Lands on You
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 hello@cerihand.com **** 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/
September 13 · 1 hr
The Journey Back to Yourself: Letting Go of Who People Expect You to Be with Gabriella Cilmi
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 hello@cerihand.com ** 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/
September 9 · 15 min
The Work That Didn´t Sell
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 hello@cerihand.com This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
September 6 · 1 hr 29 min
Why Returning to “Failures” Can Be the Most Creative Act of Your Life with Wreckless Eric
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 hello@cerihand.com ** 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/
September 2 · 17 min
You're Not Avoiding the Task, You're Avoiding the Feeling
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 hello@cerihand.com **** 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/
August 30 · 1 hr 28 min
What Does It Really Take To Create Extraordinary Work With Another Person With Ain Bailey and Elaine Mitchener MBE
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 hello@cerihand.com ** This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
August 26 · 18 min
When Your Big Idea Becomes Your Big Job
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 hello@cerihand.com **** 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/
August 23 · 1 hr 41 min
What If Creativity Is Really an Act of Investigation? With PJ Raval
PJ Raval has spent his career asking a deceptively simple question: whose stories are we willing to see, and whose stories have we been taught to ignore? He's an award-winning Filipino American filmmaker whose documentaries explore identity, community, justice and belonging. Across films including Call Her Ganda, Before You Know It and Who We Become, his work follows people whose lived experiences reveal much bigger questions about power, history, colonialism, ageing, queerness and what it means to find home. What struck me most about this conversation wasn't just PJ's extraordinary filmmaking. It was discovering that before he ever picked up a camera, he trained as a molecular biologist. We ended up having one of my favourite conversations on the podcast about the surprising parallels between science and art, why experiments never really fail, and how curiosity can become the engine for an entire creative life. We also explore growing up as a queer Filipino American in a small conservative town, navigating isolation, discovering filmmaking almost by accident, and why every documentary he makes is also a way of understanding himself. If you've ever wondered how artists choose the questions that become their life's work, or how creativity can become a way of making sense of the world, I think you're going to love this conversation. KEY TAKEAWAYS The questions that keep pulling at us are often the ones worth following, even when we don't yet know where they will lead. You don't have to know the answer before you begin - the work can be the way you find it. There is a particular freedom in knowing when to let the work go. After months or years of making, we have to release our grip and allow other people to bring their own experiences, interpretations, and meanings to it. BEST MOMENTS “There's no bad experiment because you learn from it. So even if something quote unquote fails, its knowledge gained.” “Community isn't something that arrives once you've become successful. It's one of the things that makes success possible.” “PJ follows curiosity, trusts the process and allows the work to change him along the way.” “Ultimately, I'm most intrigued by and fascinated by people's lived experiences and by looking at these lived experiences, presenting them to an audience. Hoping that people understand these social issues and the context that these people are living in.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://unraval.com/ https://www.instagram.com/pjraval/ 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 hello@cerihand.com **** 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/
August 19 · 17 min
How to ask for what you need without becoming 'The Difficult One'
'I don't want them to think I'm difficult.' I've heard that sentence more times than I can count, usually about four minutes after somebody has told me the best news of their year. They’ve landed a gig, an exhibition, commission. The residency they've wanted since art school. We celebrate, then the room goes quiet, and out it comes. What they're worried about is never the work. It's the hundred emails from eleven different people wanting an answer that afternoon. The day of travel with nothing after it. The meet and greet with thirty people on arrival. Whether there will be somewhere to sit down for ten minutes. Whether the biggest decisions will land on the day they have the least energy. If you have ever done that arithmetic before saying yes, this episode is for you, because I want to give you something better than hoping it will be fine. Last week, I talked about my own experience of chronic fatigue and learning the conditions that let me flourish. That was the part we have some influence over. This part is harder, because it involves asking somebody else for something so we can work at our best. By the end, you will understand why asking feels so hard and how to do it without appearing “difficult to work with”. KEY TAKEAWAYS Most artists need certain conditions to do their best work e.g. ramp access, a day of rest between public events or meal breaks at particular times. But many worry that asking for “special” arrangements will make them seem difficult and affect future opportunities. Hiding the conditions you need comes at a cost. The energy you spend worrying about what people will think could be channelled into your work. An access rider gives artists a way to put their needs in writing before you're tired or under pressure. Every artist should consider writing one, whether they would describe themselves as disabled or not. BEST MOMENTS “When an artist told me early in writing exactly what they needed in order to do their best work, my honest reaction was relief, not irritation.” “The thing that actually frightens a producer isn't somebody with access requirements. It's discovering something on the morning of the install that could have been solved six weeks earlier with one phone call.” “You don't have to disclose a medical condition to anybody. In most countries, you're not obliged to, and a rider works perfectly well without one.” 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 hello@cerihand.com **** 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/
August 16 · 1 hr 32 min
Why Making Bad Work Is the Secret to Great Art with Simone Brewster
Welcome back to Extraordinary Creatives. Today's guest is the remarkable Simone Brewster. Simone is an artist whose work moves between sculpture, painting, jewellery, furniture, architecture, and public installation. On paper those disciplines might seem worlds apart, but beneath them all is one beautifully consistent line of enquiry. Simone creates what she calls intimate architectures: objects and spaces that shape how we feel, how we connect and how we experience belonging. Drawing on Black diasporic histories, architecture, material culture and memory, her work feels both timeless and unmistakably contemporary. You may have seen her exhibition at the Design Museum in London, or her work in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. In this conversation we talk about growing up in London, finding your creative handwriting, why making bad work is essential to making great work, and how to balance self-initiated projects with commissions, jewellery with public spaces, and creativity with business. KEY TAKEAWAYS So many creatives end up defining themselves by what they make, when actually it's the enquiry underneath the work that matters most. If you stay true to that, your work can evolve across disciplines whilst still feeling unmistakably yours. Developing your creative handwriting means accepting that bad work will sit alongside the good. Not as a failure, but as a necessary part of the line of enquiry that makes the work unmistakably yours. Creativity and commerce aren't opposing forces. Learning how to build a business around your creativity gives your practice the time, space, and stability it needs to flourish - creating the conditions for your best work to exist. BEST MOMENTS “The difference isn't whether you make bad work. It's whether you're willing to keep going, learn from it and make the next piece.” “You never know who is watching you….do the work - share the work.” "Your peers are going to be one of the most valuable resources you ever have." “That cultivation, staying connected to your true fans, your champions, is one of the best things you could be doing.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.instagram.com/Simonebrewster_london/ https://www.simonebrewster.co.uk/ Sign up for Simone’s newsletter here / https://mailchi.mp/simonebrewster/welcome-and-subscribe 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 hello@cerihand.com **** 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/
August 12 · 31 min
What Chronic Illness Taught Me About Creativity
There's something I've been thinking about for quite a while now. It's something I've talked about with close friends, but hardly ever publicly. Not because it's a secret. And certainly not because I'm embarrassed by it. I think, if I'm honest, I just never wanted it to define me. But over the last few years, I've realised that by not talking about it, I've probably left out one of the biggest reasons I think the way I do. Because so many of you write to me about Long Covid, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, burnout, depression, caring responsibilities and all the unexpected things that change what we're capable of physically or mentally, it feels like the right time to have this conversation. I'm not a doctor or a neuroscientist and this isn't an episode about fixing chronic illness or pretending mindset alone can overcome real physical limitations. It's about what happens when life changes, and you quietly keep comparing yourself with the person you used to be. Today, I explore what chronic illness has taught me about creativity, why so many artists find themselves grieving a version of themselves they've lost, and share some practical ways to work with your energy instead of constantly fighting against it. KEY TAKEAWAYS One of the hardest parts of illness, burnout or unexpected change isn't simply what it takes away physically. It's the quiet loss of identity that comes from comparing yourself with who you used to be. Instead of managing time, start managing energy. Becoming curious about the conditions that help you think, create, and recover allows you to build a creative practice that works with the life you have now. Acceptance isn't giving up on treatment or ensuring that things improve. It's simply saying this is where I am today, because once we stop arguing with today's reality, things drastically improve. Protect your energy from the things that deplete you but be sure not to let fear disguise itself as self-care. Learn to tell the difference between a genuine need for rest from avoidance. It is key to building a brave, sustainable creative life. BEST MOMENTS "I hadn't realised you could grieve your own life." “What people couldn't see was the constant calculation happening in the background. Could I afford (the energy) to go out tonight?” "Become a student of your well-being.'" "Ask, what are the conditions that allow this version of me to flourish?" 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 hello@cerihand.com **** 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/
August 9 · 1 hr 37 min
Drawing with Light, Playing with Time with Reuben Wu
I first met Reuben Wu when I was Director of Exhibitions at FACT in Liverpool, and he was one of the coolest musicians in the city, co-founding the band Ladytron and shaping a distinctive sound that travelled around the world. Years on, he's one of the most singular photographers working anywhere - his images are held in the permanent collections of the Guggenheim, MoMA and the Met, and commissioned by Apple and National Geographic, for whom he reimagined Stonehenge as if you were seeing it for the first time. In this episode, we explore his extraordinary journey from a Liverpool kid who dreamed of becoming an artist, to an industrial designer, successful musician, and then to one of the most distinctive visual artists working today. Reuben rigs lights to drones and walks into deserts and snowstorms at night to make work no machine could ever fake - because, as he says, AI can simulate the result but never the process. And he is fierce about something most artists are frightened of: that the artist, not the gallery or the auction house, is the best person to sell and speak for their own work. If you've ever wished someone else would do the talking for you, this one's for you. Follow the show so you never miss an episode. I hope you find this as inspiring as I did. KEY TAKEAWAYS Reuben's story gleefully dismantles the myth of the straight-line creative career. Proving no experience is wasted, everything you do can and does feed into the artist you are, today. Artists are often uniquely qualified to sell their own work because nobody understands the story, the labour, the intention and the meaning behind it better than the person who made it. Breakthroughs happen when you are prepared for them - when you're ready. Luck is preparation when it meets opportunity. Being able to respond to that instinctively to those moments, creates the magic. Tap into the power of portfolio reviews. BEST MOMENTS “No experience is wasted. The industrial designer, the musician, the photographer and the artist all exist inside the work Reuben makes today.” “I call it ecstasy - it's like an ecstatic moment where you are suddenly not within yourself anymore. You are suddenly outside yourself.” “It's like a paintbrush, but with light.” “Creativity is not a destination but a practice of paying attention.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://reubenwu.com https://www.instagram.com/reuben - sign up for Reuben´s newsletter via his bio here. 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 hello@cerihand.com ** 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/
August 5 · 8 min
Why Avoidance Feels So Productive
Welcome to the Extraordinary Creatives Podcast. I'm Ceri Hand. A former gallerist, curator, now coach to creatives all over the world. I help them to make a bigger impact with their work and earn more money doing what they love. Recently, I have been noticing something, and I wonder whether you'll recognise it too. We often think avoidance is obvious. We imagine it looks like procrastinating or scrolling social media or watching television instead of getting into the studio. But I honestly don't think that's how avoidance shows up for most creative people. I think it looks responsible. It looks like being busy. It looks like finally getting on top of your admin saying yes to another teaching opportunity. Maybe helping someone else out with their project or sorting your accounts out. All good things and things that genuinely need doing, and that's why it's so difficult to spot, because from the outside it looks as though you're completely committed to your creative life, and from the inside it feels as though you're working incredibly hard. Then you get to the end of the week and realise that you've hardly touched the work that matters most to you. KEY TAKEAWAYS Being busy is not the same as moving your creative practice forward. The work that keeps you occupied is often the very thing that keeps you from actually creating. Avoidance rarely looks like procrastination - it looks like responsibility. Admin, teaching, and helping other people all feel productive, which is exactly why they are so effective at pulling you away from the uncertainty of making your own work. Your brain is not trying to sabotage your practice – it is trying to reduce discomfort. Every time you choose certainty over uncertainty, you reinforce the habit of stepping away just as the work starts asking something of you. Creative confidence is not built by making uncertainty disappear. It is built by learning how to stay with it long enough for the work to emerge. BEST MOMENTS “She wasn't wasting time. Quite the opposite. Then I asked her how much time she'd actually spent making her own work, and there was a long pause, and she said, hardly any.” “Teaching gave her certainty. The studio gave her uncertainty, and without realising it, she'd slowly started choosing certainty over uncertainty, again and again.” “What I don't think helps is piling more pressure on.” 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 hello@cerihand.com ** 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/
August 2 · 1 hr 9 min
Your Creative Work Matters and You Have The Talent To Bring It To Life with Ela Thier
We're told that creative talent is something you either have or you don't. Ela Thier has spent nearly 40 years disproving this crippling myth. A New York–based writer, director, actor, and founding director of The Independent Film School, she’s helped more than 65,000 artists find and develop their voices. Her films include Tomorrow Ever After, Foreign Letters, and her latest, 109 Billion Followers, stars Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons. In this conversation, we trace Ella’s journey from being her mother’s “wild weed” - a third child raised with very little supervision and a lot of imagination, through quitting filmmaking for almost a decade, to returning with a completely different relationship to her work. We talk about the difference between writing as therapy and writing as a gift, why craft is learnable, and why Ella believes talent is simply the courage to be fully yourself. She shares how she keeps “the rent and the real work” in two separate hands, and the cast of inner voices who appear in her book How to Fail as an Artist: My Best Tips - from Mr. Stop, whose only job is to talk her out of it, to the 120-year-old version of herself she writes to when she loses her nerve. If you’ve ever stood at the edge of giving up on your work - or you’re standing there right now - this one’s for you. KEY TAKEAWAYS The story many of us carry is that our work is a private indulgence, a side‑note nobody’s waiting for. You may never see the life it touches, but you are not creating into a void. Make the film, the painting, the book as if it already matters to someone, somewhere - because it does. Your audience is not a panel of judges to impress, but the people you are taking care of. The shift is from asking whether they will approve of you, to asking what they need and making the work from there. Keep the rent and the real work in separate hands - asking your art to also pay the bills is a reliable way to do neither well. BEST MOMENTS “Ela … has made peace with failure without ever making peace with quitting.” “Craft is learnable, the writer or the filmmaker is already in there, and that talent is simply the courage to be fully yourself on the page·” “The book gave me, and gives people, permission to just mess around, which is where our best work comes from.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://theindependentfilmschool.com https://www.instagram.com/elathier 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 hello@cerihand.com **** 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/
July 29 · 42 min
Inside the Art Surgery - Thirty Minutes, Real Questions, Honest Answers
Every week inside the membership, artists send in their questions. Career challenges, pricing dilemmas, difficult clients, creative blocks, gallery relationships, commission nightmares, confidence crises. Ceri works through them live, unfiltered and at pace, with more questions landing in real time from the room. The result is one of the most popular sessions inside the membership. Fast, direct, occasionally sweary, and completely honest. No script. No softening. Just Ceri answering whatever artists are actually grappling with right now. It has yet to be proven that there is a question she cannot answer. This episode gives you a taste of what happens inside the Art Surgery every week. If you want the full session, the full archive, and the chance to bring your own question live, the membership is where it all happens. Join our Membership at - https://cerihand.com/membership/ KEY TAKEAWAYS Admin expands to fill whatever time you give it. Every email feels urgent. Almost none of it is. Batch it all into one admin day and protect the rest of the week for the work that actually matters. When anxiety spikes, “spray and pray” feels like action – but it isn’t. Instead of firing off panicked applications, start by calming your anxiety, telling your brain nothing’s gone wrong, so you can act from a calmer, more intentional place. One artwork can live many lives – One piece can quietly work for you all year, let it travel. That film or artwork can stay as a full piece or elements of it can be used for clips, newsletters, embeds on other people’s sites and more. Selectors aren’t hunting for perfect work. Most submissions are good. The ones that get remembered feel inevitable and alive – like the idea and the medium have clicked so well the work couldn’t exist any other way. BEST MOMENTS “Rather than am I right for it? The question is - Is the work right for it? Would your work come alive in that context?” “We have to carve out the day to make ourselves the most clear-minded thinkers and makers. We have to give our time to that bit that only we can do.” “Don't do that little garden studio down because actually there will be absolute gold in there, and you want people to access it.” “We have to remind our brain that our creativity is fundamental to who we are, to everything we do … if we're not regulated. We can't do good stuff in the world.” 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 hello@cerihand.com **** 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/
July 26 · 1 hr 47 min
Fast Robots, Slow Clocks: How To Design Art That Lasts Beyond Your Lifetime with Zander Rose
Somewhere inside a mountain in the West Texas desert, a clock is being built to keep time for ten thousand years. All mechanical. Wound by whoever makes the day-long hike to reach it. Designed so it´s chimes never ring the same sequence twice. Zander Rose has spent nearly thirty years building it. He grew up in a junkyard on the Sausalito waterfront – boat builders, artists, an activist mother who went on to become mayor, and a flea market every Sunday where he and his father took machines apart to see how they worked. Before the clock he was making combat robots that won six world titles, fast machines built to win in seconds. Then he gave half his working life to the slowest object on earth. What he’s really after isn’t the engineering. It’s a question I keep coming back to: Are we being good ancestors – and what would we build differently if we believed the future was watching? In this conversation we get into where that question came from, what it’s like to design for someone who won’t be born for thousands of years, and what the world’s oldest organisations – a hotel run by the same family since the eighth century, temples older than most nations – know about lasting that the rest of us have forgotten. It will leave you thinking about being a good ancestor and building things to last. KEY TAKEAWAYS Trust the future. Build it room to think. Don’t take options away from the people who come after you. The forest you don’t cut down, the river you keep, the law written simply enough that the next generation can reinterpret it – that’s the work. The conditions you grow up in aren’t just backstory, they’re training. A junkyard, a boatyard, a poor area – these aren’t obstacles to a creative life, they’re live laboratories. The places you learned to improvise quietly decide what feels possible to you now. Competition doesn’t have to mean scarcity or shame. Other people’s excellence can become raw material for your own growth, not evidence that you should stop. BEST MOMENTS “Look at what you're making this week and ask who it's really for. Then ask whether you're adding options to the world, or quietly removing them.” “Trust the future. Build it room to think.” “I was only interested in building something that was the first of its kind. I had zero interest in building another one of anything.” “Fail fast is definitely the fastest way to learn.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://rosefutures.com https://longnow.org 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? 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 hello@cerihand.com ** 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/
July 22 · 26 min
Public Art: The Four Questions Every Artist Must Answer
I'm Ceri Hand, and this is Extraordinary Creatives. Thirty-five years in the contemporary art world as a gallerist, curator, commissioner of public art, institutional director, and now coaching artists and creative leaders worldwide to make a bigger impact and earn more money doing what they love. Over the last eight weeks, we've built a complete commissioning practice together. We've looked at the mindset, the five signatures of under-pricing, the commission ecosystem, the inquiry filter, the chemistry call, the alignment document, paid concept development, the production agreement, managing the making, the delivery, the legacy package. What public art is, the roles you can play, and what changes when the commission is this big. So, today we're going to cover three things, and then I'm going to leave you with the one sentence that I hope you carry out of the whole series. KEY TAKEAWAYS Build your scaffold once, then run every commission through it. The artist who thrives isn’t winging it each time; they’ve got a clear structure on the studio wall - they have stopped rebuilding the system from scratch for every new brief. Run every commission through joy, safety and income filters before you say yes. When those filters are true to you and your practice they alert you early to commissions that look good on paper but still not right for you. Preserving your capacity for work that is truly yours. BEST MOMENTS “Saying no to a commission that doesn't pass the filters is not lost income, it's preserved capacity; every no protects the yes you're truly waiting for.” “Built once, used again and again. The artist who thrives has built the scaffold once and now runs their commission practice through it calmly, profitably, without drama.” “A process without the willingness to say no is just admin. It looks good on your website, does nothing for your life.” “The artist who wins commissions isn’t the most talented. The artist who wins commissions is the one who makes it easy to say yes, makes it safe to trust them, and never starts from scratch.” Want grounded, art‑world‑tested guidance each week? Join my free Beat the Block newsletter and put this commissioning scaffold to work in your own practice by going to https://cerihand.com/subscribe/ EPISODE RESOURCES Pollinator Pathmaker episode - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-ambitious-work-is-never-just-about-ideas-with/id1709105337?i=1000753927961&l=zh-Hans-CN 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 hello@cerihand.com **** 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/
July 19 · 1 hr 21 min
Late Starts, Long Breaks: A Survival Guide to the Art World with Hettie Judah
The art world runs on storytelling. The story of the artwork. The story of the artist. And one of the most seductive stories of all, the one that says if you got your toe over the line out of art school, your career goes onwards and upwards from there in a straight line. My guest today, Hettie Judah, has been inside the art world since the early 1990s, as a writer, critic, curator and advocate. And she has written a book that quietly dismantles that story. How to Enter the Art World… After a late start, a first career, illness, raising children, a crisis of confidence, leaving it in disgust… In this conversation, Hettie shares how the art world's myths are really costing the people inside it, why the relationships that move careers are built in quiet galleries rather than at private views, and what the financial reality of a successful writing and curating life actually looks like. You will leave with a sharper read on the structures around your practice, and permission to stop measuring yourself against a career shape that was never real in the first place. KEY TAKEAWAYS The art world tells a particular story about itself - A linear career. A clean upward arc. The right schools, the right shows, the right age. And if you didn't get on that track, or you stepped off it, maybe to have children or it was never offered to you in the first place, the story says you missed your window. Hettie demonstrates that is not true. If you are coming back to your practice, or finding your way in for the first time, or rebuilding after a long stretch away, take this as the invitation. Not to enter someone else's version of the art world. To build the one that holds your work. Often creative labour is quietly self‑subsidised so the rest of us can have the books and conversations we need – think a £150 fee for an event, from which the writer or artist still has to cover train fares and providing their own books. BEST MOMENTS “You can construct the art world you want to be part of …. the structures around artists can be changed.” “We all need one another…. we all learn from the questions that other people ask.” “I really wanted the book to feel like you were having a conversation with a friend.” “I remember them (art works) with my body as well as my mind's eye. I remember them so strongly.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://apollo-magazine.com/author/hettie-judah https://www.instagram.com/hettiejudah/ Hettie´s books - https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Hettie-Judah/author/B00E9ZRESS 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 hello@cerihand.com This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
July 16 · 17 min
Why Most Artists Lose Money On Their First Public Art Commission (Part 8 of 9)
Artists – most of you who take your first public art commission lose money on it. Not because the budget was bad, but because nobody told you a public commission is not a bigger version of a private one. It is a different job, with a different shape, and the work that does not appear in the brief – procurement, contracts, maintenance, stakeholder hours – is what quietly eats your fee. By the time you realise what you have signed up for, you are eighteen months in, with years still to run, and no honest way out. Here is what I want to give you today: the six things that genuinely change when you step from a private commission into a public one; the hidden costs inside the budget that almost no commissioner spells out, and that you have to know to ask about; and the support structure you need around you before you accept the commission, not after, because by then it is too late. This is for artists invited to apply for their first public commission, and for artists already inside one who can feel the ground shifting and have not yet been able to name what is happening. This episode is part eight of a nine-part series on commissions. Last week we covered what public art is, the five reasons it gets commissioned, and the six roles an artist might play inside a public commission. If you have not heard that one, it sets the foundation for today, so start here - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-six-roles-artists-get-hired-for-in-public-art/id1709105337?i=1000776044291 KEY TAKEAWAYS Public art is not just a bigger version of what you already do – it is a different job, with different time scales, different power dynamics, and a different kind of authorship you step into for decades, not months. The number in the brief is never just “your fee” – it has to cover engineers, fabricators, insurance, installation, maintenance planning, everyone’s professional time. If it does not, you will be the one underwriting the project with your labour. Build a small, smart infrastructure around yourself, so you can hold the integrity of the work through years of stakeholders, contracts, and weather, without burning out. BEST MOMENTS “Read the brief, do what the brief asks, no more, no less.” “Public commission budgets sound large and often aren't by the time you have to account for everything they have to cover.” “You'll need public liability insurance, often at significant levels of cover.” EPISODE RESOURCES Episode 7 of commission series – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-six-roles-artists-get-hired-for-in-public-art/id1709105337?i=1000776044291 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 hello@cerihand.com ** 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/
July 13 · 1 hr 22 min
We Move Through Scales of Blue: Making Art That Holds More Than One Truth with Phoebe Boswell
Ninety-six per cent of Black British adults don’t swim regularly. That's the statistic from the Black Swimming Association that my guest came across while she was deep in research about bodies of water / about what they hold, what they absorb, what they promise. Phoebe Boswell is a Kenyan-British artist whose work has been shown at the Venice Biennale and in major institutions and collections worldwide. In this conversation, Phoebe talks about her latest large-scale commission for Art on the Underground, we move through scales of blue, now running alongside the escalators at Notting Hill Gate and Bethnal Green subway stations in London. She shares how she works with communities without extracting from them, why she stopped painting for twenty years and what brought her back, and what she has come to understand about figuration, freedom and the responsibility that comes with the work. You will leave with a deeper sense of what it means to make work that holds rupture and joy at the same time - and the courage it takes not to resolve them. KEY TAKEAWAYS Phoebe holds two things at once - A figurative practice that she describes as lovemaking - a sustained attention to the body, particularly the Black female body, as a way of truly seeing. And alongside it, a refusal to stay in the language of identity alone. Making work that holds rupture and joy at the same time isn’t a flaw to be fixed. It’s a way of working: that stays true to pain, history and politics while refusing to let go of tenderness, nuance, and beauty. Phoebe’s approach to figuration, community and public space asks us to think more deeply about how we see who we work with. What we owe the people in and around our work, not just as subjects or audiences, but as co-holders of meaning. BEST MOMENTS “Art became a way of coming back to myself… it was a process of trying to re-see the self that had been kind of shattered. It was proclaiming myself, reminding myself that I’m still here.” “Art is this place for me to sense, to taste, or to test the borders of my own truth in a way that I don't think is always possible in real life. I think you go through seasons.” “Trust the porous borders between your projects. To return to what you left, changed. And to keep making work that is for the people in it, before it is for anyone else.” “I don't want to be free off the back of anyone else.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.phoebeboswell.com/ https://www.instagram.com/phoebe.boswell/ 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 hello@cerihand.com ** 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/

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