Creativity Coaching

I work with visual artists who are getting serious about putting their art and words out into the world.

Together we paint a picture of what you want to achieve. I help you draw on your strengths and inner wisdom and support you to reframe limiting mindsets and assumptions so you and your work can begin to soar high.

You were born creative. Now is the time to unleash those powers - the world needs what you have to offer!

Are you curious what coaching might be like? Why not read one client’s own account of what it is like to be coached by me.

Considering working with me?

My coaching list is currently full but I will have spaces available from March 2023

However, I’d still love to hear from you if you would be interested in working with me in the future or if you just have any initial queries about my work.

Please do send me a message via the button below and I will get back to you to discuss your needs and plan our work together. 

 Book a free, no-obligation thirty minute chat to see if coaching with me is the right option for you.

 Have questions? Just send me an email and I’ll reply as soon as I can.

Existing client? Book an appointment with me now.

WHAT CAN COACHING DO FOR ME?

Remove Creative blocks

Stop holding yourself back.

Creativity is important to you. You know the basics of your craft or are starting to learn them, but you feel you hold yourself back. You have so much you want to achieve but you never quite seem to get there.  The joy you have experienced as you make art is tainted by the frustration you feel.  You want to reach your full potential but you struggle with issues like

  • perfectionism
  • imposter syndrome
  • fear
  • procrastination 
  • other emotional or emotional or frustrations
You are ready to commit to the creative life and to work to overcome your internal obstacles.

Together we can design your own definition of success and strip away the layers of doubt, fear and uncertainty that are holding you back. My role is to support and challenge you, to give you new ways of thinking and fresh insights about yourself and your art life. Yours is to take what you learn into your studio and have fun creating your new future with your new tools!

Art Show Success

Go from idea to opening night, with confidence.

You are headed for a  new show. You might have a firm gallery booking or working on finding a space to show your work. 

You are excited but a little daunted. Or, you are determined to put on a great show but lost in the details of all you need to do.  Maybe you really want to do it but are sick with fear or find yourself procrastinating or blocked.

You need:

  • to create a clear plan of action
  • to create or choose a cohesive body of work
  • to have information on how to do key tasks
  • support to help you make your best choices
  • someone to help you rid yourself of your mindset gremlins – the fears and unhelpful thoughts that beset you along the way.
  • someone experienced in putting on shows to walk the way with you.
  • to consider publicity materials and social media
  • to get your pricing right

My role is to help you define what success with your show means to you and to support and challenge you to make the mindset changes and take the actions you need to meet that success. I will bring my experience of putting on a number of group duo and solos shows in a range of galleries.

Your role is to dream big and commit to  take small step after small step  until the dream is a reality.  

Find your words

Polish your ability to write about your art.

You are ready to get your art out into the world but writing about that art is not your strong suit.   You need to have

  • Artists Statements and Bios 
  • Descriptions of your Art work
  • Website copy
  • Blogposts
They need to sound like you and speak to the audience you have in mind.  However you
  • struggle to describe your art
  • don’t know what is required by galleries
  • worry that your writing is not good enough or
  • are unsure what your online audience needs to hear from you.

Together we can look at what you want your art writing to achieve and who it is you want to speak to. We can look at what you already have ( if anything) and can work to polish it. We will discover who you are as a person, what your voice sounds like and what your unique message is. 

My role is to bring my skills as a published writer and long time storyteller and to equip you with confidence and understanding about your words and about yourself as an artist. Your role is to show up with authenticity and bravery and do the drafting and  redrafting that will polish your message to the world. 

Stepping up to the next stage

Making art a part of your life's work part or full time.

You are  serious about your art  and know your craft. Now is the time to make art a bigger part of your career or life’s work. 

Either

  • you want to create a business and to make consistent money from selling, teaching or other art related activity, either to liv eon or as a supplementary income stream.

or

  • You are still very serious about your work but you are more focused on art as a service or as a vocation.   Your renumeration is less about money and more about something like service, community work, protest or  simply the joy of self expression at a high level of professionalism. 

 Either way you are ready to:

  • Take a big step up and create a clear plan of action
  • Deal with the doubts, fear and misgivings that may derail you
  • Start good habits with regard you your finances, marketing and studio systems.
  • Learn to deal with criticism and to build resilience for the long haul
  • Establish good self care habits
  • Figure out support systems
  • Learn to let go of the past to create your future
  • Learn self coaching skills to sustain you after the package ends.

Embark on this  serious endeavour in partnership with someone who has walked the path before you is the right way.. Invest in yourself and build a firm foundation, because this next step is going to bring meaning and joy to the whole of your life. 

My role is to help you define what success means to you and both support and challenge to to make the mindset changes and take the actions you need to do to achieve that success. I will talk about who you are becoming as an artist and help you to grow. As a consultant, if you ask me to, I will offer practical information about how to do certain tasks and will review any writing you do.

Your role is to grow! It is to commit to activating your deepest desires to take consistent small steps towards the future you design and to be open to being challenged and to discover new insights and abilities within you.

How does coaching work?

 Coaching is a relationship  in which we work together to create the future that you want. It is not a cookie-cutter programme in which I push you through a system. It is not a ‘course’ in which there are set lessons ( though you will learn a lot!) It is a set of curious conversations in which you give me permission to kindly challenge you, to encourage you to see thing differently, to make different choices, to take concrete action.

In our sessions I will ask a lot of questions. I will let you talk and  give you space to think. I will suggest exercises you can do between sessions to build on what we discuss. I will always ask you to decide what concrete actions you want to take at the end of each session so the talk becomes actual real life progress in your art career.

On te whole I will not be telling you what you must do. That is for you to decide. Sometimes, however, it can be helpful to be able to short cut the process of finding factual information within a coaching session. When appropriate, I can also act as a consultant to give you the basic practical information based on my own experience as an artist, writer and small business owner.   I do not provide therapy or legal advice.  

My role is to get you to a position where you don’t need me anymore and have the confidence, clarity and access to your own inner wisdom to make your own choices with confidence and to achieve your own success. 

How much will I have to invest?

 Well, I’d encourage you invest your whole self into your creativity just as children having fun with paints do!. But we both know what you are really asking is:  what does it cost? So here is all the information you need

Every client has different needs. I will agree with you a plan for coaching that is within your budget and timescale and which covers you own needs.

I charge £100 per hour for the sessions themselves.

We can agree how long the sessions will be (and how frequently. I generally provide coaching on alternative weeks and have both day and evening appointments available.  You can reserve a set slot in advance or can arrange them flexibly as we work together. My online diary allows you to rearrange sessions easily – life sometimes does get in the way! 

 Because coaching is a process I do ask that you commit to a minimum of three hours work with me. You can of course continue toward with me after the initial package. If you have been an existing client I am then happy to do one off  ‘top up sessions’ in the future. 

Once you are my client you are free to contact me between sessions with extra emails to ask questions, keep yourself accountable and share you wins and successes.  I will respond to those as soon as I can, depending on my availability, but I cannot email on Friday evenings or Saturdays). There is no extra charge for these emails.  

I do not charge VAT and, as long as you are paying tax on your art as a business and the coaching is art business related, the payments should be a tax deductible part of your business.

You can pay in advance of sessions either in an upfront payment or pay as you go. I accept payment by card via my online diary or direct by BACS. 

GET IN TOUCH WITH ME

Want to know a little more? Have a look at these coaching stories...

Sophia* wanted work on deciding what to do next in her art business. She had a long list of possible projects and felt overwhelmed.

We agreed an in depth session of 1 hr 30 minutes to work on her priorities followed by three 45 minute sessions with emails in between as she worked on what was most important to her. We used those sessions to hep her get clear on how she created and could avoid overwhelm and on how to find her voice as an artist. She also took a Gallup Strengths Finder assessment to help her understand better how she thought  and operate

£395 

Rhianna* was getting divorced and her whole life was in turmoil. She painted, wrote poetry and liked to take  drumming classes and had an inkling that the thing that would save her sanity was her creativity. However, she felt blocked by the stress of having to go to court and the uncertainty that was all pervasive in her life.  She chose me as a coach because of my dual experiences with law and creativity. We agreed nine sessions of an hour each but arranged them on an ad hoc basis over a year, often in the run up to key stages in her divorce case. Together we worked on using the creativity to help her manage the legal process, to explore possibilities for her new life and to find a creative way to take her difficult experience and make it meaningful by using it to help other women going through a divorce.  

£900

*Names and identifying details have been changed.  Stories are representative of past clients and current prices. I do not post testimonials or social proof quotes as coaching is a confidential process and the very fact that we work together remains private, unless you choose to tell people about your experiences. 

Mark* was on the edge, stressed in his job and, now that the end his career was in sight, anxious that he leave a legacy and not miss out on doing what he had always wanted to do.  We agreed to work together for nine sessions of 90 minutes each, meeting once a month.  Each month Mark identified a topic he wanted to work on and we dug deep into what the challenges were and how he would move forward practically.   His art project was an illustrated memoir and he asked for some information about self-publishing and art techniques he might use alongside the coaching work we did. However, over time he also found that he was the project and the coaching also addressed his need to change his workaholic ways and allow himself to move towards a creative retirement.

Cost £1350

Dina* was already a professional creative working full time in an employed position and succeeding. However she felt that she didn’t deserve to be where she was, that she was always going to be found out. She undermined her own successes, dismissing everything and never feeling satisfied.  She wondered if she should just give it all up and work in a supermarket instead.  We agreed to start with my minimum of three hours working together and that was enough for her to break through her Imposter Syndrome and change her thinking so that she could not only recognise her existing success but actually set and and start to take on harder and more satisfying work

£300

Round frame wall impage

Shall we stay in touch?

I write a regular message to fellow creators to inspire and make you think about your own creativity. 

I also update you about my own creative process and latest projects.

Just let me know where to send it in the box below. You will receive a (mostly) fortnightly email or if you prefer, you can choose to read me in the Substack app instead.