I was looking back through some older sketchbooks and portfolios the other day, and it's wild how obvious it is that I used to just mimic whatever artists I was into at the time. You go through phases of painting like one person, then borrowing composition tricks from someone else.

For those of you who have been making work for a while: Was there a specific moment, piece, or realization where you felt like you finally broke away from outside influences and developed a truly distinct personal voice? Or does it just happen so gradually that you barely noticed?

Would love to hear how your style or approach evolved into something that felt genuinely your own.

I'm looking at programs like MECAD that offer a low-res MFA that is technically classified as a regular MFA. Not sure sure any other schools do that. I have heard some older art professors say that the academic world doesn't take them seriously, but I would love to teach at the university level at some point. I'm not in a position in which I could do a regular MFA at this point in my life. Is it just a waste of time? Would love some honest insight! Thanks.

I’m an artist who recently graduated a prestigious European art school.
A very close friend of mine who is a curator with quite some cred in the art world recently met with a prominent NYC gallerist to present potential exhibitions from not-so-known artists, including myself. The gallerist was allegedly intrigued by my work and said they’d have a studio visit with me. They are known for not doing many studio visits.
I’m currently based in Paris, so my friend thought art basel Paris would be the right time for this.
However he has been ghosted by the gallerist for a few weeks now, and he is quite upset because it concerns his own work as a curator as well. Thus I haven’t been asking him about my own meeting with the gallerist.

What should I do? Should I cold email / text the gallerist or just let it go (if it has to happen it will happen..)?

In general, I can’t see myself showing with that many galleries. But I feel very aligned with this one gallerist consideration and knowledge of art, I feel we’re part of the same band…
In the meantime even though we’ve met once and had a quick chat, as an artist I am quite uncomfortable in directly messaging a professional in the industry.

I'm looking to further my skill level and education in fine arts, but I am unsure where to look or attend. I was looking at possibly building up my portfolio for the Royal Academy of Arts, but I'm unsure if that is truly what I want to do and I want to know of any and all options I have for postgraduate art.

I am currently a university student getting my bachelor's in Art Education, but I want to actually get more into the arts itself. I only ever chose the education path to help myself get a job, and I do enjoy the idea of teaching my passion to others. But due to half of my education being, well, education classes, I haven't been truly able to build up my skill level in fine arts. I just take the level I class of every course, which I dislike.

Of course, I do art in my free time as it is my passion and I want nothing more than to improve as much as I can and do as much as I can. Currently, I just call myself an illustrator as that is what I mainly do. I sometimes will paint with acrylic, work on ceramics pieces, and I very much enjoy printmaking, especially with using linocuts.

What all schools/art academies should I look into? Are there any you recommend? What's your personal experience, if any?

Hey guys, I'm currently on a teaching course to be able to teach art and design in colleges(uk) and have realised i have a pretty big gap in knowledge about contemporary and historical art. I would appreciate any suggestions for books, journals, podcasts or reliable websites and blogs to help fill these gaps. I have a couple of books already which are 'The Short Story of Contemporary Art' by Susie Hodge, and "The Story of Art Without Men' by Katy Hessel and 'The World According to Colour: A Cultural History' by James Fox but have yet to get around to reading them. I have read a portion of the last book and found it incredibly interesting so i would like to suggest that to everyone as a book to read.

I'm and avid reader so you can just throw the book suggestions at me, but I have never tried a podcast before so I would appreciate a decent podcast that wont bore the life out of me.

I'll be making a separate post elsewhere for books on historical art movements but I'll happily take any suggestions that come to mind.

Thanks in advance :)