Mark E Shellshear.

Sometimes the simplest truths can hold the most potential, and like all truths you have to act on them. “The best best study of life is how it is, not how you want it to be.” So then we must take advantage of how it is. Therefore we must consider the things that we have, the things of life. Here are just a few. We have time, do we take advantage of it? Do we use the time we have to get the best out of each day, or do we squander away time on unnecessary distractions? When we should be painting are we? Are we being our most productive with the time we have to create, be it one hour a day or eight hours a day? Take advantage of the time you have, its yours to use, its how it is. Talent. Are we taking full advantage of this wonderful gift we have been given? Or are we in fear of what others may say, therefore we are not as adventurous as we could be with our talent. Do you just let your creativity have full reign? Do you strive to be the best you can be, to develop your ...

If we really are Artists, then our first desire is to create and do beautiful original art work. Second, we want to give of ourselves and our art work, I find most Artists are very generous. Third, selling can be so difficult, for all the reasons and excuses we can imagine, but we do need to sell? Fourth, we put everything that is us into our art work and we then put it out there in a public place, naked and exposed, fearing that we will be rejected or mocked. Very valid fears, but how courageous of every Artist to do that? Rejection or acceptance, it takes real courage and self belief to put your work on sale in front of strangers. Artist, you are courageous, believe in yourself and sell.

Turn off the noise…… people talking at you about what you should do or not do with your paintings, they are your paintings, paint how you want to, you do not need anyone’s permission. Please paint. Turn off the television……... the destroyer of original thought, creativity and painting time. Turn off the radio……. Endless chatter full of unwanted views and advice. Turn off the music…… Quiet is needed Turn off the internet…. It will still be there later. Please turn off the noise…. All of it is noise and clutter. And get back to the place where Artists need to be… within your own creative self….Quiet. For many people, no noise, quiet, is a difficult place to be, they are not used to it and many are scared of quiet, no noise. At night, I so enjoy my place where I can turn everything off and have silence, to think, reflect and ponder. Asia has taught me that there is a personal solitude that is a very calming and healing place, a place to go to be alone, I enjoy my quiet solitude. ...

Artists try and learn to depersonalise rejection and criticism. We have all been in that situation where we are showing our paintings and some unthinking person comes along and criticises our paintings and it is hurtful. We take it very personally and if we are not careful it can effect us for a long time. What we need to do is not take it so personally. I know it is very easy to say, but had to put into practise. We need to develop coping actions to help us try and depersonalise the negative words. We first of all need to recognise that they are criticising one painting and not us personally. Yes I know our paintings are very personal to us, but we do need to learn to stand apart from them. A wise old Artist once said to me, “Some people like Avocados and some people dislike them intensely and voice their opinion. The man selling the Avocados is not being rejected, the Avocados are.” I know you will say, paintings are different and yes I agree, but the principal is the same. We nee...

I was listening in the taxi to Michael Jackson singing his song, “I am looking at the man in the mirror,” and I thought how profound that song was. How true it is, yet every day we see the man, woman in the mirror but we do not look at them. Looking at ourselves in the mirror is learning to think about ourselves, correctly. Thinking is so very important and yet we so often just allow any thoughts to flow through our head, unchallenged and unhindered . As Artists often the difference between success and failure is the way we think about a situation and what we tell ourselves, and so often its automatic. One person says, “ I knew this would happen and I know I will not sell.” Another person facing the exact same situation says, “ What a great opportunity, I will sell here.” Same situation, but seen through different eyes and different thinking. How you think is everything. We are all the enter of our own universe, so how we talk to ourselves can define the reality that we live ...

The Artist life can be filled with rejection and disappointments, but these are not just reserved for Artists, everybody in all walks of life must experience these negative things. The question we face as Artists is, what are we going to do about it that will make a real difference in our lives, when we are challenged by these negative emotions? It rains on the happy and the sad at the same time. The sun shines on the rich and the poor at the same time. Life is Life, and it happens to us all, how we handle it is the important question? As difficult as it may be sometimes we must respond to setbacks. We must forgive people who hurt us and say unkind things to us. We must, no matter how heavy the rain or how dark the night is, choose to smile and be positive. Always look past the harsh word or insensitive comment and ask what is going on inside that person? What could I do to help that person? I believe we as Artists are on this earth to bring joy and happiness into peo...

Invest in yourself so you are able to build more value into your Art practice. Make sure you do workshops in other disciplines than what you use, it will extend you and cause you to think more about your work practices. Read books on Artists and learn from their life experiences and build those positive lessons you get from them into your practice. Be a good student, take what is good for you only and leave the rest behind . Go to museums and look at the masters learn from them, I remember the first time I saw a Rembrandt in Victorian Art Gallery I wept, I couldn't imagine someone could paint such a beautiful painting, the light, the shadows, by the hand of a master. Always be learning, no matter how old you are. Work hard on yourself, change you and you change your world. Welcome the disciplines, no change without discipline, this is what creates value in your life. Live with intensity, put everything you have into everything you do. Ignore the critics, they will always be...

I was talking you a talented young artist who is so worried all the time about what people think of him and his Art that he is so afraid to do things differently just in case he gets it wrong and people laugh at him, this was my answer to him. Innovate in your art, be different. Increase the ask of yourself, push yourself to do more and be creative. Do not let fear stop you, it is the gateway to your success. Look for this sign:- “WARNING brain is in retreat mode.”. When you are about to innovate and be different or do something new and your brain says, “Stop, wait, think about this, this could all go terribly wrong, just like it always does! People will laugh at you. People will think what you are about to do is childish and silly. People will ridicule you. People will criticize you if you try to be different. People will hate you. People will talk about you behind your back.” I said to him, “ Just go and do it, what is the worse that will Happen? You will not be decapitated....

I have learnt that it is best not to defend your position. I get many artists who believe I am wrong with what I say and come to me to argue and tell me how wrong I am and want me to defend my position. It is like you artist when you are at a show and someone says to you, “ My 5 year old grand daughter could that.” there is no way or even any reason to defend against such stupidity. Some unthinking person says, “ you are trying to sell that, its a terrible painting?” Again you cannot defend against such ignorance, best to smile and say nothing. So how do I deal with this? Ignore it or if you cannot do that then think of it this way. As I said I have my critics and haters and if I allowed them it could hurt me I would never write again, but for ever critic I have so many really wonderful people who say nice things and thank me for my help. I have learned to listen to the nice people and ignore the critics, because I realize this and I hope it helps. Some people are critics and say me...

“ My paintings speak for themselves, I do not need to say anything about them.” “ My paintings sell themselves, I cannot talk about them.” “ I am to shy to talk about my paintings to strangers, if they like them they can buy them.” These are some of the things I get told when I ask Artists to come and talk about their paintings. Here is a statement that most artists never think about, The collector, buyer lives with your painting many years longer, than you live with it. Now when that sinks in, it is easy to understand why they want to know all about the art work and the Artist, they want your story and the story about your painting. Artist if a painting is worth putting all that precious time, love, money and energy into, it is also worth telling the story behind it. The story invites me the potential buyer to connect with you the Artist and your painting. Next time you put a painting up on a Facebook artist group, tell your story about your artwork, “The Wh...

Friends if you have been in the Art Business, trying to sell your paintings and have been selling for 5 years or less. Then the price you put on your paintings or how much you think your painting is really worth is not as important as getting paintings onto peoples walls, strangers. So many starting Artists have put “the cart before the horse,” their prime objective should be to get people, strangers, to buy their paintings and hang them on their w alls, not achieve high prices, if you are successful that will come, it takes time, patience. Make your prices so people will want to buy and you will become popular. I am not saying to give them away but I am saying make them very competitive. So many interpret this as, “ You want Artists to give their paintings Away.” No, I just want them to price competitively in the beginning of their career, so you can build your market and your prices will rise as you become well known. This is what I tell new unknown Artists. The object is to ...

I received an email asking me, “ if I coach Artists, and if so how much do I charge?” What an interesting question. I help Artists and charge nothing. I do not want to charge anything and I am not selling a course, a podcast or coaching. I give out my material for free that I hope is good value for Artists and anyone can share it with whom they choose. I just give it out and I answer all comments and emails and just give it all to Artists, asking nothing in return. Why? Because I really believe in giving value and the world would be much gentler place if more people gave rather than always trying to turn a dollar. I believe Artists should give more value also with their product? Do I not mean give away your paintings for free? No, not at all. I believe all Artists should get a fair price for their work, I do not believe they should give discounts or have to barter their work. Put the price on your painting that you believe its worth and don't move, discounting is always a neg...

My reasons for not commenting. I receive lots of emails asking me to look at paintings and give my opinion. I do understand why artists do it but I make it a policy not to comment on whether a painting is good or bad, according to me. My reasons for not commenting. Artists you do not need my approval or anyone else, you are an artist. If you want to be very successful artist or really successful in any area of your life, then these are the things I believe you need to do. Ask not for approval. Ask not for permission. Ask not for a map. You must approve of your work not others. You must give yourself permission, you do not need it from others. You must make your own map for you to follow. Get council and advice from others, and then decide what is best for you. Seek out the wisdom of older artist who can mentor you, but you do not need their permission to be you. You make your own map, because this is your life and you are special and creative and there has never been ...

Words from a collector. “We have so many accomplished painters out there but where are the Artists??” There is so much Art out there now that is technically good, looks good, but lacks imagination, creative instinct and vision. We seem to be condemned to just repeat the same old stuff continually, another landscape, another abstract that looks like every abstract that came before it, another portrait, another pet painting, another celebrity painting all well done but have al ready been done before. We all remember Jackson Pollack but few even know about his brother Charles who was a painter and studied under Thomas Benton and painted like him until he moved into abstract painting later in life, he was unknown, a good painter but not the creative Artist his brother was, why was that?. I long for the next Rothko, the next Newman, the next Picasso or the next Pollack who comes out of nowhere and challenges the very foundation of what we call Art and cause change and upheaval and ...

I like to be brutally honest about some things especially if it is about me because I want everyone to see that, even with the best laid plans sometimes it does not work out how you want it to work out. I have just opened last night one of our most important exhibitions for the year. It certainly did not go to plan and by the time we closed I was questioning all I did to promote the show and I had lots of questions? I made a list of all I did and went over it and over it wondering what I could have done differently and in the end I decided what I did was right, so why didn't it work out the way I planed? Simple answer. Because sometimes things do not work out how you planned them to work out. Was I wrong in how I promoted it, no. Could I have done better, of course you can always see room for improvement with perfect 20/20 hindsight vision. So what will I do? That is a good question that I pondered over as I went through my morning rituals early this morning. I ...

My response to a conversation I had.. “Yes I understand, it is very hard to do. Yes people may criticize you, will criticize you and may tell you that you have no talent, maybe they will laugh at you and maybe make fun of you.  Yes it is hard to go forward with that in the back of your mind. Its called fear. We tell ourselves best to do nothing, so then I won't fail. We then tell ours selves that no body understands us, so that reinforces that we are alone and can do nothing. Fear stops us. Fear of failing and fear of trying because we have already decided that we will fail, we make as many excuse as we can to not go forward.. Do nothing, you are safe and hope for a miracle that will never come. Defeat this terrible fear, understand that 90% of the things you fear will not happen and the other 10% happen to everyone.” Excuses we make up to stop us having to put ourselves into difficult hard situations to be the successful Artists we desire to be. We all need to quieten the negat...

They sold by providing good value for money.          We get paid for the value we bring, not the time we put into it. They are sold by telling stories.          People need to connect to you and the product. They are sold by attracting one of the seven deadly sins. That's what sells stuff.

“ Mark you seem to expect so much out of Artists, you expect them to story tell their paintings, you expect them to be business people, you expect them to be sales people and you expect them to be exceptional Artists. Don't you think you expect to much out of us? We are Artists not writers, we are Artists, Artists are not business people, we are not able to run a business, we do not want to sell and be a salesperson, yes we just want to paint and be Artists, you are wrong .” I understand most Artists do not want to story tell, its hard work to learn a new skill? I understand most Artists are not business people, I get it, its hard to learn a new skill? I understand most Artists do not want to be salespeople, yes it is hard to learn a new skill? I al so understand most Artists just want to paint and stay in the studio, I know its all I wanted to do, but it will not lead most Artists to success. Sadly most Artists are ambitious for fame and fortune, most are no...

“ What should I do now?” L ook for a good commercial Gallery to represent you. If you have had a few good shows and good sales and there was very good press reports, these should get you interviews with good Galleries. A few good shows and you get their attention. You should join some like minded Artist groups and get involved in group shows getting yourself before strangers who may like your work and buy and become your collectors. Donate a painting to charity where your name will be published and again get before collectors who often support charity events. As a young Artist you need to use your initial successes to build your future career, not get looked away painting in your studio and ignore any momentum you may have. There is no easy way to the top of the Art World, it is hard work. Yes you need talent, but you will also need a ton of self belief and you will need to work harder than everyone else and never give up and you definitely need to be noticed...

If you wish to receive, then you need to learn to give. I have learned that in order to receive, I must give first. Now giving is not just about giving money, its about giving of yourself, being a blessing to others. To many people today just expect to be given things first as if for some reason they are special and entitled, but the truth is is you want to a receiver then you must first be a giver. It is always better to give than to receive. To start the receiving process you must first give. We all wants friends, then give friendship. We all want to be loved, then give love. We all want success at our profession, then give help to those below us. If you want to be a successful Artist, give help to younger up coming Artists. Giving to others and being a blessing to them, qualifies us to be a receiver. You see giving is the key to receiving in all areas of life. You can be rich and have no friends, no one who truly loves you because you expect others to always gi...