Tiffani Taylor: No Starving Artists (#8)

Tiffany Taylor: 00:00:05

To be an artist is to be an entrepreneur. Breathe into that. Open your hands to that.

As much energy as you put into your studio work needs to be put into your website, your social media presence.

Chuck Allen: 00:00:22

That's Tiffany Taylor, international artist and owner of the Tiffany Taylor Gallery in Savannah, Georgia.

Tiffany Taylor: 00:00:28

There has never been a better time to be an artist, an entrepreneur, than right now.

Chuck Allen: 00:00:34

Tiffany's art can be found all over the world in collections, including those of Pierre Cardin, Oprah Winfrey, designer Diane von Furstenberg. It's even in the Salvador Dali museum.

Tiffany Taylor: 00:00:44

We have everything at our fingertips. We have social media. We have the ability to create a website. We no longer have to wait for an agent or a gallerist.

We have everything at our fingertips, and most of it is free.

Chuck Allen: 00:01:00

I'm Chuck Allen, and for 30 years I've studied leadership, performance, communications, and as an executive coach. I'm passionate about helping people design lives with greater intention. Welcome to cool change.

This podcast is about the choices people make when they want to change something about their life. Maybe to make it more meaningful or more satisfying, maybe more money, maybe just cooler, you know?

Tiffany Taylor doesn't necessarily fit the mold of the traditional cool change guest. Usually we have someone who has made a big pivot or a shift in their career.

Tiffany, on the other hand, has known from a very young age that she would not only be an artiste, but that she would make a living being an artist. And we're going to find out how that went. Why is she on this show?

Well, she's one of the coolest people that I've ever met, and she is perpetually changing in order to meet the needs of her business, of her art form, of her customers, and lately, of a global pandemic. She divides her time between Savannah, Georgia, and Paris, France, where. Where she teaches.

She creates and helps out with a program in La Coste, France, on behalf of the Savannah College of Art and Design. So I first met Tiffany probably eight or nine years ago, walking through Savannah with my wife.

We discovered a piece of art that we fell in love with.

We sought her out, found out that she had a gallery close by, was lucky enough to find her at the gallery, and became enamored not just with her work, but with the artist herself.

Tiffany Taylor: 00:02:50

I think my humble beginnings and knowing what it was to worry about shelter and food made me realize how not romantic being a starving artist would be. And so I had to figure it out. And I also respected what I do when I painted murals in high school.

And I found out that the people laying tile were making more than I was.

I went to the person who commissioned the murals and asked for the same compensation because I think that as trained artisans, we should function as a guild in Florence as they did, which, you know, I'm sure we'll talk about Savannah art walk, but that's why I founded Savannah art walk, so that we could function as guilds and support each other. But going back to the beginning, you know, I just had this drive and the murals that I painted before I came to SCAD, I printed into a portfolio.

I made a business card for $35 and my first job in college at a paint your own pottery studio. Every day I worked, I put out my little portfolio, my $35 business, cardinal, and eventually got my first mural commission in Savannah.

And these patrons, who are very dear friends of mine, she happened to know the director of Salvador Dali Museum, and eventually I was painting pottery for the Salvador Dali Museum. So it's about connecting, being open and doing the work. And I've always done the work. I still do the work.

I have never had an investor or anybody else fund me. I've always lived within my means and built as I could.

Chuck Allen: 00:04:37

I love the idea of guilds.

oted in the newspaper back in: 2015

Tiffany Taylor: 00:05:02

Savannah, Savannah art Walk.

So going back to that time of nose to the grindstone, open up your own gallery, learn point of sale, learn things a little artist should never have to learn about Ada compliant bathrooms. So I awoke after four years of owning a gallery, and I looked up and I asked, where are all the artists? What is everybody else doing?

I had been so immersed in learning and growing and sustaining, and as I did this, you know, I was asked by one of the local hotels to give a speech about my art and to share with their guests. And then another GM of a hotel came up to me and said, can you do that for our hotel?

And I was like, well, instead of just speaking, why don't you do a wine pour? And you could be the starting point of an art walk, and we can all, you know, shine brighter together and have an organized event once a month.

And he said, yes. And so for six seasons now, we've had Savannah art walk.

We've gained sponsorship by Savannah College of Art and Design, the National association of Women Artists, where mary Cassatt was a member and so we're not only supported locally, but we're supported nationally.

Chuck Allen: 00:06:24

Enter Covid-19 what's it like trying to sell art to people who are concerned that they're not going to have a job soon or they're not going to be able to pay their bills?

Tiffany Taylor: 00:06:35

Pivot, adapt, innovate. When we first started receiving information and I knew there would be a shelter in place, I turned the air conditioning way up.

You know, that I've always relied on the lessons my grandfather shared with me of him growing up during the great depression, and I've lived similarly. I think as an entrepreneur, it's important to be smart with our money and to always respect money. And I think my patrons know that about me. And so I.

I know it seems simple, but I turned the air way up. I turned off the halogen lights, I set up a little desk near the front, and I leaned into my faith. I painted crosses and I painted psalms.

Like, you know, God is within her. I leaned into my. And I just stood like a captain at her ship.

I had a serious conversation with God and my family, and I spoke about how this is unprecedented. I don't know what's going to happen. And ego aside, I may have to let this go.

And the gallery, the paintings are a manifestation of me, but they are not me. So if I'm meant to let this go, if I'm meant to serve in a higher capacity, I'm okay with that. And I get emotional because it is.

And then everything worked out. I mean, I reached out to you and Tarilla, and you gave me a resource where I was able to receive the PPP. And I also listened. I was guided.

My sister asked me to go and puzzle with her, so I created a line of puzzles. And we, you know, were shipping a hundred puzzles within the first week.

And something that I've read about, you know, patrons and businesses, is that you always need to have something new and, like, what? What do your people need? And right then, people needed comfort and they needed puzzles.

So I started doing these watercolor tutorials for free and just posting those online. Like, how can I bring comfort? How can I offer solace?

Chuck Allen: 00:08:54

Friends?

I'm just going to tell you right now that I have visited Tiffany's YouTube tutorials where she is painting poppies, which is sort of one of her signature monikers. And I can promise you that as simple as she makes it look, it, mine would not turn out anywhere, anything like what you saw as her final result.

Tiffany Taylor: 00:09:16

After 40 years of poppy painting, it is a little easier. But what I love about the tutorials is that you can pause them and go back. And we also talked about being resourceful. Like, what do you have?

Like, it's not about having everything high end, what you need. It's like, do you have a little praying watercolor set? Some typewriter paper? Like, let's all work with what we have. Let's be in this moment together.

So not long after the puzzle collection, I was inspired to create a collection of masks, and they are currently helping sustain the gallery through this time. We're shipping them all over, and we keep offering new designs. We've made sure to have a 10% off code on the website.

Another thing that we did immediately was offer for three months, because I just knew, it's like, this isn't going anywhere. So from day one in March, I was like, free shipping 10% off now through June 1, and we'll just keep open.

I don't have an image of what things should look like. I'm just open. Take everything one day at a time and just keep doing the right thing.

Chuck Allen: 00:10:37

So check out this story. Probably five or six years after we first met, Tiffany, my wife, and I were driving through Provence on what was my first trip to France.

No agenda, really, just kind of driving through the countryside. And as we're going along, we see up on top of this big hill, this medieval city, stone city, and we decided to go check it out.

So we get up there, and we're walking along the streets, and we're walking along the ruins, and we duck into a little gallery, and what do we see but the walls covered with Tiffany Taylor's artwork. And it had been several years since we had had any contact with her. Fortunately, I still had her cell phone number with me.

And I took pictures, and I texted them to her, and I said, tiffany, are you aware that your artwork is in this medieval town called Lacoste in France?

Tiffany Taylor: 00:11:38

I'll never forget when you texted me the pictures that you were in La Coste.

So when, you know, summer of: 2015

So I would go and meditate, do yoga, come back, and just. I was so open. At that time, I was even open. Like, if I meant to keep the gallery, if I meant to keep going, great.

But if not, I'm not going to keep self sacrificing. I can't keep up the pace that I was. And just the gallery was energized.

It's almost as if by letting it go in a way that I saw how resilient it was and the energy shifted. The gallery started doing very, very well. My work in Provence did well. I was connecting with people. I was just very open.

I was painting in the fields.

I was running through sunflower fields, lavender fields, and just meeting magical people, such as the director of icard university, where he would later ask me to be a professor of art and marketing in Paris, France. And I've maintained an energy outpost there where even after that summer, I was asked back to lecture, to teach workshops.

I got an apartment in France after that summer.

So I came back, checked on my business, enrolled in french school at Alliance Francaise in Paris, had an apartment the size of a shoe box in the 8th arrondissement near the Champs Elysees. And I went to museums. I lit candles in cathedrals. I was present.

I would roll up my paintings that I would tack to the walls and schlep them to the US eventually, you know, being able to airship them, but you just have to figure things out. You're an international artist. What are the shipping laws? So all of that had to be figured out. And it was this grand adventure.

I never thought I would learn French.

Chuck Allen: 00:14:19

And yet she did, which became very useful because she would live in Paris.

Tiffany Taylor: 00:14:26

So I lived in Paris about eight months out of the year for the first almost three years.

But after I was a professor of art and marketing, and I realized that joy almost made my feet not touch the earth by having these 58 students who would then go on to work at the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, open up their own galleries. When I enrolled in the MFA program, I thought I was giving up Paris because I had to come back to Savannah, attain my MFA.

But it was if by leaving her that I gained her, because I was then asked to coordinate the alumni atelier program by President Wallace and to steward her endowment, which means living in France about six months out of the year.

Chuck Allen: 00:15:13

ege of Art and Design back in: 1978

And SCAD is now up to 16,000 students and place 99% of their students in jobs after school. And while those are some fantastic numbers, they do come at an expense. SCAD is not inexpensive to attend.

I know because I had a daughter, too, that actually wanted to go there. And so I checked in with Tiffany about how is it coming from a meager financial background that you were able to attend?

Tiffany Taylor: 00:16:02

You know, I knew without scholarships, I could not attend. So I had Fulbright scholarships to Weber State, BYU, Utah State. SCAD offered me some scholarship aid, but it wasn't enough.

So I wrote the president and I asked for them to match what I was being given by these other universities, and they did even more. So they gave me a presidential scholarship.

Chuck Allen: 00:16:27

So now you know something of Tiffany's strength and her wisdom, wise beyond her years. Let's rewind the clock a little bit back to her early days growing up in Ogden, Utah.

Tiffany Taylor: 00:16:42

There's such a wealth of memories when I think of my childhood, mostly because of my grandparents and being immersed in nature. We grew up camping, fly fishing. I was mostly sketching on vintage family quilts while my brother and my grandfather fly fished.

And I think it was when my mom ordered the blue leather bound encyclopedias and I read about the lives of artists that at six years old, I told my family, I'm going to grow up and be an artist and live in France. I'm going to be in Paris. And their unconditional love. I come from very humble beginnings, but that support and belief was everything.

They immediately entered me in every coloring contest. I won a bike, I won these little gift certificates, which, when you come from humble beginnings, it's like, wow, I think I can do this.

Well, I think I was given a gift, and then I think coupled with unconditional love and a grandfather who just thought I was a superstar, really made me persevere and believe in myself. They say if you have one person who loves you, that that's all you need. My grandparents were at every art opening. They just always showed up.

And my mom, even though, you know, she was a single mom with three kids, and even putting herself through nursing school, she made sure that I had the erasable crayolas, you know, like, we didn't scrimp. I had the best art supply. It made all the difference. Like, I would trade.

I mean, I wouldn't trade that love for any amount of money because, you know, you can grow up, I think, in a very wealthy family, but not feel supported. I had an able body, a keen mind, and unconditional love. And I think that's, you know, and strong soul roots. Like, I'm connected to my family.

I'm connected to the earth. Like, very strong soul roots.

And I went on to high school and in high school with my art teachers there, you know, Travis Crowther, Steve Songer are both really well recognized artists, and they show at galleries. They saw my talent during my first year of high school, and they were just like, what you just did was not what we asked you to do.

It would get a five on the AP test. Like, you need to keep going. And so I was able to paint with them in their studio and enter different scholarships.

ah College of Art and Design,: 1996

And my art teacher, Steve Songer, over my shoulder saying, that's where you need to go.

Chuck Allen: 00:19:58

You know, every time I've ever been with Tiffany, one word comes to mind, and that is light. How is it that someone can remain so light, so positive all the time?

Tiffany Taylor: 00:20:11

Well, I'm not all the time. I mean, if we're gonna be authentic and, you know, if this is to help people, it's to be really, really honest.

And you cannot shine this bright if you do not restore. And, you know that saying about the crack is where the light gets in? There are a lot of cracks.

And I think that it's made my heart bigger and more compassionate, more loving. And also, I've realized now that this love is so good. And the more you reside in love, the more love you create.

And it's not just in romantic relationships. It's in our tribe, and the way that we support each other, the way we show up.

Chuck Allen: 00:20:56

Tiffany let me know that Scad has a motto that she loves. It's no starving artists.

And, you know, we've all heard these stories about kids who want to go off to school and have a creative pursuit, and then the conversation with the parents about, well, how are we going to pay for your schooling on the other side of this? So, financial rigor, financial discipline, and that whole topic of money is a big deal in this space.

Tiffany Taylor: 00:21:22

No, you can't throw up your hands, and you cannot depend on anybody but yourself. You should not be waiting for an agent to discover you doodling on a napkin. We, again, there has never been a better time to be an artist.

We have all. All the tools at our disposal.

And regarding finances and what we spoke about in regards to the time one spends on business should be the same amount of time one spends in the studio. All of it deserves your attention.

And my grandfather, with, you know, having his example, having grown up in the Great Depression, I really have taken everything I learned from him and made it applicable to my life. And it's just really important for me. I value freedom over everything. I realize that love and freedom, like, I value my freedom.

And having that freedom means being very careful with your monetary funds early on, you know, God plants people in our lives. One of my first mural patrons was a financial advisor.

And first and foremost, they were like, Tiffany, you cannot just charge us $50, you know, like you're riding a bike. Don't you want a car? Because I just loved what I, you know, I love what I do so much. I would do it, you know, just a God of free.

And so having them planted in my life and learning about the stock market, you know, and buying a few stocks, nothing big, but just having these people planted in my life was very instrumental in building my foundation. I think that it's important for us all to have six months, right?

No matter what you do, six months before you become a full time artist, before you quit your day job, six months when you're 40, maybe a year. But it's important to have savings so that you always have enough. Even living in Paris, I lived on so much less.

But it was this investment of time to go to the museums, to heal my heart, to just be in alignment with my higher self. Like, it was this investment so that the rest of my life would be better.

So sometimes it's not necessarily about money, but yourself and investing in yourself, as opposed to being crazy about your retirement fund. But those things are also important.

And as artists, we do have that at our disposal, where we have e trade, where you can have a 401k, you can have a roth. And I love teaching art and marketing because I want us to be comfortable having this conversation, because to be an artist is to be an entrepreneur.

And earlier I said, like, breathe into it, open your hands to it, accept it. This is the time we live in. Like, you're an artist, you're an entrepreneur. We need to have these discussions. It's healthy.

Chuck Allen: 00:24:44

You know, one of the things I've seen artists struggle with, including my daughter, Rachel Allen, who is an artist and has been for the last decade, is how to value your work. And this extends beyond just artists and paintings.

And it goes to all of us, consultants, employees, the idea of valuing your work and understanding what it costs. Here's how Tiffany thinks about it when it comes to her artwork.

Tiffany Taylor: 00:25:10

I love discussing the business of art and in regards to pricing, my advice would be based on my experience, and that is start low. And when you first start selling, when you start selling well, even a couple of commissions raise your prices 10%.

And every time that you start to feel a little stressed because you have this need, you raise your prices 10%.

And then what I eventually did was look at the pricing per square inch of what my best selling paintings were, and I made it applicable to all art so that the emotionality was taken out of it. Because some paintings I would be like, that would be a million dollars, and that's not feasible. So it creates a consistency.

And every year we raise my prices 10%. But, yeah, that's how I recommend. Like, it's based on need.

And you want to look at the materials that you're using, and you want to value yourself and your time.

Chuck Allen: 00:26:17

In. My favorite piece that Tiffany has painted is a grove of birch trees against an orange background.

And as you get closer and closer to the painting, you realize that the birch trees are not actually fully painted onto the canvas, that they are actually pages from a recipe book, an old recipe book. And you look closely, and that makes up the bark on the birch trees.

Tiffany Taylor: 00:26:45

My grandmother's recipes, which my, you know, mom cut me off after that painting. So I'm glad you have it.

I was no longer allowed to use the recipes, but, you know, my advice would be for artists to paint who you are, create from who you are. Authentically thinking about the book, the great Gatsby, be like somebody who pretended he was everything he was not.

Like, embrace the lack of, or the abundance of the familial ties or the lack thereof. And that's what I do in my art. I've always embraced my roots and who I am, and I've listened to the muses when they speak.

n my first quarter at SCAD in: 1998

And I had these dreams of my grandmother playing the piano and my mom playing the piano. And the music was filtering through scenes of nature and then my poetry, because I've always kept my journals.

It was scribbled throughout this dream like I could see my words floating, you know, through the wild, through nature. And I worked ardently for four years to make manifest that dream. Everything's going to be okay. Like, everything's going to be okay.

I think that's part of my job on this earth is to communicate that especially to artists. Because we are very vulnerable as artists in many ways.

We share soul and I would encourage each artist listening, each entrepreneur to begin to start stream of conscious. Journaling has been an amazing tool for me. Have a journal. Do not judge what you're writing, but just write. Make it a practice and write down goals.

Because what you write, I am a manifester. We all are. What you think, what you write down, you are giving energy to and it will be made manifest.

So be gentle with yourselves, be kind to yourselves. Think positive. Write down the highest version you see of yourself and just work every day to getting to that that version.

And spend time creating and keep everything. Put it under your bed. I have a lot of art under my bed that one day I'm sure it will be seen. But not everything I do is like gallery wall worthy.

But it's all sacred because it's part of my path. Carve out time to create. Begin the journal Materials of Art. If you don't have a budget, ask for art materials for holidays. Make it a priority.

What you lend energy to will get bigger. Just like when you reside in love, you create more love. When you give your energy towards creating, you're going to create more.

Try to create every day, ten minutes, all day, whatever you have.

Chuck Allen: 00:30:02

But begin to our listeners, Tiffany, let me know that it would be fantastic if you would reach out to her directly if you'd like more information.

Tiffany Taylor: 00:30:11

I enjoy being accessible for people who need inspiration, guidance, encouragement to know more about the business of art. I'm available on Instagram. Tiffany Taylor S A v. It is Tiffany with an I. My website is tiffanytaylor.com with an I.

And there you can send me a message. Our facebook is Tiffany Taylor Gallery. If you want to watch my free tutorials, it's on the Tiffany Taylor Gallery YouTube channel.

Chuck Allen: 00:30:43

Tiffany, it's been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for your time with us today.

Tiffany Taylor: 00:30:48

Merci beaucoup avec place. I could talk with you all night. It was fantastic.

Chuck Allen: 00:30:56

And there you have it, friends. My conversation with Tiffany Taylor on this episode of Cool Change.

Would you do us the kind favorite of subscribing, liking, sharing with your friends. It really does help when you help get the word out. I'm your host Chuck Allen and we will be with you again next week on cool change.

Y'all have a good one.