THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Being okay with the fact that I’m considering myself a professional artist, my work is valuable. Not hiding behind what you think people want and don’t want and what they’re willing to pay for it.
Miriam Schulman:
Well, hey there, my passion maker, you, this is Miriam Schulman, your curator of inspiration and you’re listening to episode number 164 of the Inspiration Place Podcast. I’m so grateful that you’re here. Today, we’re talking to an artist who has turned her passion for wildlife into a full-time living. You’ll learn how she did it, and I’m sure you’re going to be inspired by her techniques.
In this episode, you’ll discover how this artist turned a magazine spread into over $9,000 of sold art. You’ll learn how she built her art business while working full time and why when you’re selling high end art, it’s okay to rely on just a few avid collectors. Today’s guest is a contemporary wildlife painter who has found abundant inspiration through her years of guiding wildlife tours in Yellowstone National Park. She specializes in oil finger painting, which allows her to create bold textures, that bring expression and movement to her subjects. She gains inspiration every day by getting out into nature and observing wildlife in person and loves sharing her passion for wildlife and conservation through her art. Her works have been shown in venues, such as the National Museum of Wildlife Art and the National Buffalo Museum, and have been collected around the world. Please welcome to the Inspiration Place, Elizabeth Mordensky. Hey Elizabeth, welcome to the show.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Hi, thank you so much for having me.
Miriam Schulman:
Well, I’m so excited you’re here. Did you move to Portland yet?
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Just about a week ago? Yes.
Miriam Schulman:
Oh my gosh. Have you unpacked even?
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Yeah. So I’ve actually been set up in Portland for about six months because my husband moved out here already, but I had still had a commitment in Yellowstone. So I was basically having the craziest, hectic summer you could imagine of working in Yellowstone, coming home and painting for, for about a week at a time and then going back. So it’s been insane.
Miriam Schulman:
Wow.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
But yeah, so the studio is all set up, luckily, so I didn’t have to do anything there. Oh, that’s
Miriam Schulman:
Good. That’s the hardest part I bet. Of all your stuff.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
When did you decide to become an artist?
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Well, I think it was kind of slow in coming. I always loved art even as a little kid, but as many people and I’m sure many of your listeners didn’t necessarily believe that that is a possible career, that you can do art for, not just for the fun of it, but as a career. I made a stab at it several time where I would do a flurry of work and try and market myself without any idea of what I was doing and go for it and fail miserably each time, or felt like I was failing miserably each time, maybe making a thousand or $2,000 in a year. So definitely not a sustainable business. I’ve just finally decided I needed completely go all in. And that’s when I started listening to podcasts and ended up finding your podcast online.
Miriam Schulman:
So, Elizabeth was a very successful student of the Artist Incubator Program. And what really impressed me about you, Elizabeth is when you joined, and Elizabeth is a self-study member with an accountability buddy who lives halfway across the world.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Yep. In Australia. Yes. Hi, Vicky.
Miriam Schulman:
So what really impressed me about Elizabeth is she would come to the calls and you could really see your determination, how committed you were. And I remember telling you from the beginning, “Well, obviously you need to do press for your artwork because it’s the wildlife connection.” And you listened to me. I was like, well, nobody, my kids never listened to me. I’m so happy that I have these artist clients who listened to me. So tell me about your experience. And do you agree that that made the biggest difference for you was going all in on publicity? Or do you think it was something else? Was one of the factors?
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Yeah, it has been a factor and I’m certainly still trying to master that, but I certainly think it is a contributing factor.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. We’ll go over the other factors in a moment, but let’s start there with the factor number one, publicity. Tell everybody about what you did and what the results were.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
So gotten publicity in a couple of ways. The Desired Hope is free publicity. So I have been successful in a few instances when I have partnered with bigger organizations. For example, when I had my paintings in the National Buffalo Museum, which they are still on display there and they actually purchased one of them for their permanent collection.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s fantastic.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
I was super excited for that.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
So I was able to get some publicity just through the newspapers around there. I was not successful in getting any of my local town, but I still was able to get both online and in physical newspapers, in the area of the museum. And then also the same thing when I partnered with the Wyoming Wildlife Advocates as well for a charity show, I was able to get some press for that. And then I have done some paid publicity as well.
Miriam Schulman:
Which we call advertising.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
We called advertising. Yes. And I remember distinctly talking to you about this and is it worth it? Is this something that I should or should not look into? You basically just said, be extremely strategic about it, make sure that in the publications that I’m looking at, that people that are being successful in my area are also showing up in these places. So I paid attention to that, paid attention to the fact that they were showing up multiple time in these magazines.
So I chose to go with Western Art Collector as this advertising, paid advertising. I didn’t just go for it when they were like, “Oh yeah, you can pay for an ad and do a quarter page or a half page.” I made sure they worked into the deal that I was going to be also in some of their editorial pieces. So I paid for three ads and I got into four editorial pieces. So definitely a huge win. And I know I got some traffic from those editorial pieces. I sold one of the paintings right after the magazine came out. And I don’t think I had any other connection to this person at all. So…
Miriam Schulman:
Can you share those numbers? How much was that piece that you sold after the magazine?
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Yeah, so I actually sold three pieces to that collector and it totaled about $9,600 total.
Miriam Schulman:
Fantastic.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
So it was a big sale…
Miriam Schulman:
Way more your investment.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
… And one of the pieces that was in the magazine… Yeah, absolutely. That’s way more than the investment. Paid advertising is something that you should never do lightly. You just need to make sure that you’re really researching what you’re getting into. And is it going to be put in front of the right eyes? The collectors that you’re targeting.
Miriam Schulman:
Right. Not other painters.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Exactly. Yes. Not just other painters.
Miriam Schulman:
Which, of course painters do buy art too, but…
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Absolutely.
Miriam Schulman:
Right. But you wanted the primary audience to be collectors. By the way, I wanted to make sure you knew I have a masterclass coming up, how to sell more art without being insta famous. During this free masterclass, you’ll learn why your success isn’t measured by your social media following, and what’s really going to move the needle when it comes to sales. How to ditch unnecessary social media platforms and get more of your studio time back, digging deep to go beyond the star artist mindset, to uncover what’s really sabotaging your success. The best way to grow and nurture an audience full of collectors, not just drive by commenters and why most artists get stuck when they try to sell their art. Plus my top tip for getting your first sales coming in or breakthrough to the next income level.
You’ll also learn the five P’s of profiting from your art. These are the five things you do need. We’ll talk about what you don’t. So make sure you attend and pay attention and inspiring stories of artists who have built a sustainable income, selling their art. You want to see how they did it. Go to Schulmanart.com/sellmoreart, choose your showtime and I’ll see you there. Now back to the show.
I want to back up a moment because you mentioned the National Buffalo Museum who collected a piece of your art. How did that opportunity come about? Tell us about that.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Yeah. So this is actually what I would say was even more influential in how I’ve been doing with my art even than what you were saying with actually jumping on the press, which is something I am still trying to do more of, but putting myself out there and asking for things.
Miriam Schulman:
Yes.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
I remember being incredibly inspired by a couple of your other students, including Dawn and Kira, but mostly Dawn in this instance where she was always just like, “Okay, well Miriam said, I should ask for something. And so I’m contacting all these places and asking.” And so that’s what I did. That’s what I did with the Wyoming Wildlife Advocates. And that’s what I did with the National Buffalo Museum. I said, “Hey, I would like to create a herd of bison. And I would like to hang them in your museum.” And they said, “Well, we don’t have space for that, but we can give you three prime spots.” I painted a life size bison, and then two slightly smaller than life size bison. And they are hanging where there’s a lot of traffic in that museum. So, and it all came about by me just emailing them and saying, “Hey, I see one of your exhibitions is coming to a close. I would like to be your next one.”
Miriam Schulman:
So that’s factor number two is be willing to let people say no to you. So here’s what people don’t always understand is that they look on social media and they see everybody’s yeses. I know from conversation with Dawn, I’m sure it’s the same with you. I know it’s the same with me, that there’s like 10 nos for every yes. We just don’t go on social media and brag about it. We’re like “Today I was rejected. Hooray.”
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Absolutely.
Miriam Schulman:
So we only talk about our wins on there. So people, it’s very easy when you don’t keep that in mind that you have to be willing to hear no in order to get those yeses.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Absolutely. And I have definitely heard nos. I’ve heard nos from publicity opportunities. I’ve heard nos from galleries. I’ve heard lots of nos, but the yeses have been big. I’ll take the yeses.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. All right. So we went over factor number one was publicity, factor number two is being willing to hear no. What would be the third biggest change for you?
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Being more confident about putting myself out there. Not even just in the way of putting publicity, but being willing to stand up for my art and say, “This is what it’s valued at. This is what I can put my prices at” and not be scared to do that. So I’m talking about on social media, I’m talking about my email list, just on my website, just talking to people in person, being okay with the fact that I’m considering myself a professional artist and that my work is valuable. And here we go, let’s sell some pieces. So I think it’s really comes to that mindset piece. So of not hiding behind what you think people want and don’t want and what they’re willing to pay for it. I’m just a lot more confident. And I think that’s come from seeing other artists in the program, listening to you talk, and then also just working on the mindset side of things.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. So now I want to talk about email marketing. Is that something that you did always, or was, was that a change for you when you joined the incubator?
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Email marketing was a change for me and I’m still not great at it, but I’m getting better. I think one of the most amazing things that your listeners really should take away from this is that I was working five to seven days a week on my other job for the last six months. And I’ve still by far, had my most successful year I’ve ever had. I’ve already passed my income goal, not my stretch goal yet, but my regular income goal just by implementing as much as I could in the time that I had while I was working 60 hours a week on another job.
So just listen to everything Miriam and says, because if you just implement a little bit of it, like email marketing a little bit, or trying to go after press a little bit, you’re going to be making strides. And I’m so excited now that I’m going into being a full-time artist here in Portland, what I’m going to be able to do next. But back to email marketing. Yes. I had not been doing that at all before, so that is a change. And I’m seeing some results from that, for sure.
Miriam Schulman:
I’m so glad to hear it. Okay. I want to hear about your collaboration with the Wild Excellence Films. You’re providing a film for the Golden Eagle Conservation. Tell us about that.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Yeah. I’m providing some art for the film that they’re creating and I’m also going to be providing a painting for them to have as a silent auction at the film debut in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It’s a really exciting project. I think this really comes from, I mentioned at the beginning of the episode, how I had tried several times to start my art career and I’ve always kind of floundered and not really gotten to where I wanted to be. And part of that was at that point, I was just creating art for art’s sake, which for many people that’s fine. And that is truly their passion. But for me, I really needed it to be connected to my other passion, which is the wildlife conservation and public lands conservation. That is a huge part of my life. And being in the outdoors is a huge part of my life.
And so it was really when I connected creating art and then also having that cause behind of it, sometimes very upfront in your face and sometimes just in the underlying theme of the art, but that was really another pivotal point in my career was connecting those two passions. And so the Wildlife Wild Excellent film people actually got in contact with me because I had worked with Wyoming Wildlife advocates, the nonprofit it’s located out of Jackson Hole. So it was that connection that I had reached out to a charity I was passionate about. And then they had passed my name on to this other group that was doing this film.
And so I’m really excited. I’m going to be doing some drawings and paintings for them to use inside the film, for them to explain the nesting hat bits of the birds and some other things as well. And then I’m also creating that big piece to be auctioned off at the opening. So just an amazing opportunity and something that is aligned completely with my goal as an artist and a person, and also gets my name out there in a big way. And especially in a community of people that are passionate about both what I love and art. So Jackson Hole is definitely a big art community as well.
Miriam Schulman:
One thing that I want the listeners to know that Elizabeth shared with me before we hit record, that I think is true for a lot of artists, is you actually don’t need a lot of collectors to make your business work.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
I was getting a little bit nervous, I guess, because a lot of my success this year has come through one big client who has been a repeat buyer for me. On the one hand I started thinking, “oh, well, a business isn’t necessarily sustainable through one client or a couple of clients.” But on the flip side, I started thinking “if there’s a client out there, who’s willing to collect my art over and over and over again, then there’s more clients out there like that.” It’s not just one. I just have to find them. Not only can I right now say, “all right, this is going really well for me.” But it makes me that there are people out in the world that are going to fall in love with my art. And they’re going to want to buy more than one piece and have seen that a few times. But yeah, it doesn’t take a lot. It doesn’t take a ton of people. You just have to find the right people.
Miriam Schulman:
A lot of my artist colleagues they’ll say the same thing. It’s like, well, it’s a good thing Mary showed up to the show. But that’s like what it is. And if you go into museums and you look at collection of, you look at the painting and you look underneath, you’ll see the same names over and over again for like Matisse, there that Russian textile, magnet, oligarch, whatever they call rich people in Russia. So he collected all of these Matisse’s. And then there was also, he depended on the Cone sisters. So he had these very few high end, net worth individuals who avidly collected his art. It wasn’t like there were thousands of people out there buying Matisse’s, but he did, he didn’t need that. He only needed a few people who were very enthusiastic about their art. And as we said on this show before, art collectors are kind of like cockroaches where there’s one, there’s more than one.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Absolutely. They’re around. You just have to find them.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. Maybe not cockroach, but something better. Maybe.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
Maybe cute mice or something like that. Where if there’s one there’s more than one.
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Bunny rabbits.
Miriam Schulman:
Bunny rabbits. Well, Elizabeth, I am so proud of everything you accomplished. You worked very hard and very smartly and you are to be commended on all the work that you did. If people want to find you can find Elizabeth on Instagram, Elizabeth Mordensky Fine Art. You can also find a link to that or her website in the show notes. Today’s show notes are Schulmanart.com/164. And don’t forget if you liked this episode, you have to check it out my free masterclass. If you want the same success as Elizabeth and escape the social media grind go to schulmanart.com/sellmoreart.
All right, Elizabeth, do you have any last words for my listeners before we call this podcast complete?
Elizabeth Mordensky:
Every small step you take, every little thing you do, that’s going to get you closer to your dream. So don’t feel like you have to have everything planned out and ready to go before you start. Just take actions, every little action you can when you have the time and you will start seeing results.
Miriam Schulman:
I love that. All right. Thank you for being with me here today. Next week we have on the one and only Patty Lennon. And trust me, you do not want to miss it. So make sure you hit the follow or the plus sign in your podcast app. Okay, my friend, thank you so much for being with me here today. I’ll see you the same time, same place, next week. Stay inspired.
Thank you for listening to the Inspiration Place Podcast. Connect with us on Facebook, at facebook.com/schulmanart, on Instagram @SchulmanArt, and of course on schulmanart.com.
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