Creative Mentoring
£30 per session
What can a mentor help you with?
A new perspective on your work, with personalised feedback designed to help you go beyond your current practice.
Support to put together a cohesive portfolio of work for college, university, or sale.
Goal setting and accountability support as you develop your practice as an artist.
On making your appointment, you will be asked to complete a short form. This is so that I, as your mentor, can begin to gain an understanding of your goals.
If you are visiting my studio, bring along some of your work, either an overview of what you are doing, or specific pieces that you are finding challenging. We will settle comfortably to discuss what you have done and what you hope to achieve in more detail. Each session is tailored to the needs and requirements of the artist.
If you are booking an online session, it will be helpful for you to email me some images of the work you are doing currently.
After the session, you will receive an email describing the mentoring session, what was discussed, and goals set. I will also include any links to further research that may help you. We may schedule a brief email or WhatsApp check in before your next session, and you will be able to contact me in the same way.
Mentoring is most successful when committed to for a period of time. What this looks like will depend on the artist, is something we will discuss as part of your first meeting, and may change over time.
What does a mentoring appointment look like?
Hypothetical artist - Ryan
Ryan is in college studying for a diploma in fine art. He is enjoying his course, and hopes to go on to work as an artist. However, although he is learning a lot of technical skills and trying different materials on his course, he finds it hard to focus on one direction in which to develop his work. He is wondering if he should go to university to study Fine Art, or not, and is unsure whether the cost of tuition fees is currently worth it. He wants to know more about different routes into the art industry before he makes a decision.
Together with his mentor, Ryan explores what it is that really excites him about making art. They discuss alternative routes through the art world, and research the portfolio requirements for university courses that interest him. They put together the basics of a portfolio, including an online version, that he can later tweak as necessary. He decides to spend a gap year travelling, sketching and visiting some amazing places. During this time he will use email to stay in touch with his mentor, who will help him build an online following that he can later use to begin to market his work.
Ten ways a mentor can help you develop as an artist …
…guidance and advice from someone more experienced as an artist
…support and encouragement to work through creative blocks and challenges
…to gain fresh perspective as you develop your work
…begin to place your work for sale through Instagram and/or a website
…for skill development in technique and understanding of art making
…motivation to push the boundaries of your work
…gain personalised critical feedback for your work, pinpointing ways in which can develop your ideas.
…to clarify your aims and direction in regards your work, and accountability to aid you in meeting your goals
…develop a portfolio for college or university applications
…to create connections within the artist community, building a network of support
Hypothetical artist - Daphne
Daphne has lived a busy life, working as a teacher and raising a family alongside her husband. Now, though, they are both retired, and she has returned to an old love of sketching. She enjoys drawing the plants and flowers her husband is growing, but wants to develop beyond filling sketchbooks. She has done a couple of courses in watercolours, and enjoys using them to add colour to her drawings. She isn’t really interested in selling her work (although it would be a nice extra!), but wants to find out more about how to develop her sketches into a portfolio of finished paintings.
Daphne’s mentor helps her to pinpoint where her interest in flowers and plants lies, and how to develop a style of working that reflects her love of colour. Together they explore similar work, and set some goals to help Daphne produce a small series of finished pictures. With her mentor’s encouragement, Daphne begins to share her work online, and is excited to make her first sale.
Margie works in an art shop in a large city where she also enjoys visiting all the galleries and museums, and gazing at beautiful art. She has always dabbled in art-making herself, and often buys new and interesting materials using her staff discount, and plays with them at home. She sometimes feels like there is part of her brain where great artistic ideas reside, but she can’t quite pull them out and onto canvas, and never feels like her paintings are finished. She shares what she paints online sometimes, and people seem to like it, but she doesn’t feel confident enough to call herself ‘an artist’.
Margie’s mentor provides her with some gentle constructive criticism that helps her to focus on what she loves the most about painting. Together they plan some goals that motivate Margie to develop her skills more deeply using her favourite materials, collage and acrylic. With her mentor’s encouragement, Margie persuades her employer to let her begin an amateur artists networking group using the big table at the back of the shop. Together the group put on a small exhibition, in which Margie has three finished pieces that she loves.
Hypothetical artist - Margie
Artist Mentoring
£30 per session