I had the chance to interview Australian artist and art gallery director Vanessa Ashcroft recently. We discussed some juicy stuffs and how she became an artist.

Show Notes:

Vanessa never studied art at school and she only came upon art 25 years ago
She used to have her own fashion label and had stores but she sold the business as there was no money in fashion and it was a lot of hard work
She went to Annette Pringle’s class and it was like finding God – she enjoyed and loved her class and that started her art journey
Vanessa had a few other teachers such as Judith White and Allison Steel
Her first sale was in Holy Family School
When she first started painting, she couldn’t draw and that’s why she used all those different materials
Close enough is not good enough
She’s not good at selling herself and just didn’t have the confidence to go in a commercial gallery unless she felt confident that her work was good enough
She was part of a group show in Bondi and had really good feedback
She has a fear of missing out on opportunity
Wants every artist to be successful
Some artists really struggle with selling their art and it’s just a matter of practicing and talking to people – the more you do it, the less stressful it becomes

Visit her website to see more of Vanessa’s work.

14: Vanessa Ashcroft