'pens' by divadea on flickr

(Note: this is cross posted from my own blog linked at the bottom of the post).

I’m an artist. Too. Definitely into non-profit technology work, but one of my passions is my music and getting it out into the world. When networking and explaining what I do professionally, I’ve spent countless hours crafting and re-crafting my resumé. It’s always a work in progress. Well, like my professional statement, my artist’s bio also changes as I grow and develop new techniques and skills.

But where do you start when making your own artist’s bio? Here’s 3 resources for coming up with your artist statement.

  • It’s an Artist’s Bio, Not A Resumé
    This one’s geared towards musicians, but should be translatable to your form of making. Covers red flags to look for, the importance of humor, and knowing your reading audience.
  • 25 RANDOM THINGS: Action Steps for Your Artist Statement #3
    This one is great because it focuses on the writing and story of who you are. The rest of the series is pretty excellent too as is the rest of Luanne’s blog. I particularly love her wall hangings.
  • How To Make a Great First Impression (as an artist, online)
    This one is pretty geared towards online profiles, uploading pictures of yourself. But I love the tips it has. One takeaway – make a quick list of words that describe your art – these can then be used in your ‘keywords’ used to describe your page for search engines (and thus make you more easily discoverable online).
  • How to Write an Artist Biography: A Bio Made Simple
    Also music related, but again, translatable (that’s half your work as an artist, right? Translating the awesome?) I like this one because it provides a paragraph by paragraph template.
  • How To Write Your Artist Bio
    • This one also provides a template too – in three sentences:
      “(Full name) is a (state)-based beadwork (profession or verb+er) who specializes in (list of two beading techniques). She is currently (verb+ing) a (noun) that will be (published/exhibited/for sale) in (date). You may contact (first name) at (website or email address).”

Do you know of any good articles/resources on writing your artist statement? What about your artist statement? Please link in the comments below – we wanna know!  Oh yeah, if you’re interested, here is my artist bio.

 
About The Author

Morgan

Great, great, great grandson of the boy with the torn hat. Site builder-ma-bob. Uncle, traveler and musician.

  • Danielle

    This is awesome advice! I'm definitely going to pass this along to my artist-type friends :)

  • http://www.awordwithyoupress.com/ Thornton Sully

    If you sense something in the wind for A Word with You Press, you are right. We have claimed to be devoted to writers and artists, but while in our infancy we have been tilting heavily towards writers only. Look for change in the coming weeks!

  • http://www.awordwithyoupress.com/ Thornton Sully

    what a great resource for artist and writers!

  • kristywebster

    This is very helpful. There's a lot here to get me started. Thank you! Kristy W.

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