Art agent Lilla has decades of experience in the creative industry – as an art agent, an illustrator, a speaker, a columnist, creator of a national jewelry craft line, an educator, an author and more. And – though you might not know it to look at her – she also has decades of experience as an actual human being, who’s lived through war, peace, economic downturns including three recessions, and times of prosperity. Long story short: she’s got a lot of wisdom to share.
Some of Lilla’s career highlights so far, including her first book, I Just Like to Make Things, her regular column for Uppercase magazine, her jewelry craft line on the front cover of Stringing magazine, and more.
And she loves to share her wisdom – through her courses with Make Art That Sells, by mentoring the artists she represents, through her live Zoom events, through her monthly column for Uppercase magazine, and more.
So we thought it would be a good idea to put some Big Questions to Lilla. Things like: how do I deal with envy? How can I stop being my own harshest critic? How do I make my art commercially viable without feeling like I’m selling out? We’ll have answers to all of those questions coming up in future newsletters – and if you have your own burning question for Lilla then feel free to get in touch.
Art by Make Art That Sells student Cass Urquhart for a free #MATSprep warm-up exercise where students were asked to illustrate the concept of optimism. This image later featured on the cover of Frankie magazine’s calendar.
Today though we’re starting with this Big Question:
Q: What happens when an artist is facing a difficult situation, things like sickness, or loss, or financial issues? How can we keep creating with joy in difficult times?
Lilla, you often say that people buy your joy. But sometimes it can be hard to find that joy when there’s all of this. The world has often felt like a hard, scary place over the past few years. How do we as artists deal with that?
Lilla replies: This is a very valid question. When I’ve gone through difficult times, my studio was a place of refuge. Commissions and work can be a healthy way to escape. The demands of assignments can be a good focus.
All of us at my agency are mothers, so we’ve gone through the ups and downs of children, teenagers and adulting, and we have all commented on how our work is a place to put worry out of our minds for the time being and to focus elsewhere.
But how to get started with your art when you’re not feeling super joyful? You can try to paint and draw your emotions; good, bad, ugly and weird. There’s a lot of relief and clarity that comes from that. Joy doesn’t need to mean all rainbows and smiles in your art. It just means you’re making art that comes from a joyful experience. By joyful, I mean engaged, fascinated and engrossed.
Another approach: sometimes it starts with simply playing around with new materials – messing around with no goal in mind. I’ll be doing some FREE live art demos soon, so keep your eyes peeled for those – they’re going to be a lot of fun.
Make Art That Sells student Jo Podmore’s take on the concept of optimism.
Thanks Lilla. We hope that that helps. And don’t forget, if you’ve got a question for Lilla then get in touch by emailing [email protected]
- April 8th to 19th: Save big in our wonderful Spring Sale, with 25% off every course and 40% off some brilliant bundles. You won’t get our courses for 2024 cheaper than this!
- Monday, May 20th: Create a complete ready-to-send picture book illustration pitch in just five weeks in our career-changing LIVE course, Illustrating Children’s Books!
- Next newsletter: Find out more about our fab Spring Sale and FREE Spring Break Art Camp!
Lots of love
The MATS team xxx
