Extraordinary Creatives

What if the thing that you keep calling procrastination, lack of confidence or self-sabotage isn’t quite what you think it is? What if one part of you desperately wants the exhibition, the opportunity, or success, while another part is trying just as hard to keep you safe? And what happens to our creativity when we’re also carrying grief, uncertainty, difficult relationships, and everything that’s happened to us before, as well as everything happening in the world around us right now?

I recently spent four days in Oxford thinking exactly about these questions at a conference on trauma, healing the mind, the body, and the spirit. I came home thinking how much of this connects to the challenges that I see creatives wrestling with every single day.

So, in this episode, I want to talk about agency - the different parts of ourselves that can want completely contradictory things; grief and trust; how we protect our attention without turning away from the world; why spirituality is still a dirty word in the art world; and why the problem that you think you might need to solve might only be the visible part of something much bigger.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

If you’re procrastinating, stuck on pricing, or avoiding galleries, it may not be a simple confidence problem. The visible snag could be connected to exhaustion, grief, old hurts, or the conditions you’re working in.

Your creative block may be tied to loss, not just bereavement. Maybe losing a community, security, or the person you thought you’d become. Naming what you’re grieving can help make sense of what feels stuck.

You can care about what’s happening in the world without taking in every update. Managing your inputs isn't indifference - it enables you to remain present and useful for longer.

Agency doesn’t mean carrying the whole art world on your shoulders. Agency is saying this isn't all within your control, so let's identify what is.

You don’t have to become fearless to make work or put yourself out there. Confidence can mean taking a step without knowing how it’ll go and trusting yourself to meet what comes next.

BEST MOMENTS

"The bit of you that's frightened doesn't disappear because you tell it to be quiet. It just keeps tapping you on the shoulder, and sometimes it gets even louder.”

“Sometimes, what we're grieving is a version of ourselves.”

“Maybe confidence is I don't know what's going to happen, but I trust myself enough to find out.”

HOST BIO

With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals.

**

Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today!

https://cerihand.com/membership/

**

Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course

Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today.

https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/

**

Book a Discovery Call Today

To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at hello@cerihand.com

**

Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity

Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative.

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

What do you do when an artwork you’ve been quietly developing for years suddenly goes stratospheric? And how do you turn a hit into a career-changing opportunity without sacrificing your health, your family, or the work itself?

My guest today is extraordinary artist Freddie Yauner, whose work explores how our drive for continual growth impacts people and the planet. Held in MoMA’s permanent collection, his projects range from world-record-breaking toasters to portraits of CEOs painted with pollen.

Years ago, I invited Freddie to make a film using his Mirror Mask, an ingenious piece reflecting the viewer rather than the wearer. Newly edited and reposted, the film exploded - racking up millions of views, reaching fans like Dawn French, and sending thousands of masks around the world.

We discuss the mechanisms of success: how great ideas are mobilised, navigating health issues and imposter syndrome when things take off, and how to reinvest a hit to protect your creative life. Freddie also shares what shifted for him when he joined my six-month Artist Mastermind Circle.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Sometimes a number one hit arrives years after you first made the work. Your job is to be ready for it. Treat virality not as a fluke but as the moment when preparation meets opportunity.
You don’t have to do everything yourself. Investing in help with admin, social media or production isn’t indulgent, it’s how you create the capacity to stay creative, resilient and available to new opportunities.
Doing less, better, is a radical act. When health or life reduces your capacity, it can also sharpen your priorities. Limitation can become a lens that clarifies what really matters in your practice.

BEST MOMENTS

“Luck favours the prepared mind.”

“Treat a successful artwork like a number one hit… don’t abandon it because you’re already thinking about the next thing… stay curious about how far it can travel, who else it might reach and what doors it might open.”

“You put all this energy into making the work, and then actually it's not complete until you work out how to share it as well.”

If you’re an experienced artist who’s already had some success through exhibitions, but you know there are areas where you’re ready to level up, applications are now open for my next Artist Mastermind Circle.

It runs for six months, from November 2026 to May 2027, with twenty-five artists from around the world. A carefully curated group, so places are by application, and the deadline is Monday 28 September.
Apply here: cerihand.com/artist-mastermind-circle.

EPISODE RESOURCES
https://freddieyauner.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/freddieyauner

HOST BIO
With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals.

**
Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals - https://cerihand.com/membership/

**

Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course
Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly.
https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/

**

Book a Discovery Call Today
To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at hello@cerihand.com

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

“I don’t know enough people” might be one of the most convenient lies artists tell themselves. And before you get cross with me, hear me out.

If you tell yourself, you don’t know the right curators, collectors, commissioners, gallerists, or writers, you get to keep believing the problem is your network. You don’t have to risk contacting somebody. You don’t have to hear no. And you get to keep hoping that one day somebody might discover you.

But hope is protecting you from the very thing your work needs you to do.

I speak to artists every single day, and I hear versions of this constantly. “I live in the arse end of nowhere.” “I don’t have the money.” “I hate private views.” ““I’m awkward.” “I didn’t go to the right art school.” “My work is too strange.” “I’m an introvert.”

And look, I have empathy with a lot of this. I’m an introvert myself. Given the choice, I would much rather sit in my little home office writing or talking properly to one interesting person than spend three hours shouting over somebody at a private view.

But I think something else is going on.

Why, when you already know how to network, are you still not doing it?

I don’t think most artists need another lesson in networking. I think some of you need to stop waiting to feel comfortable enough to start. That’s what today is about.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Stop waiting to be discovered. You can’t control whether somebody says yes, but you can control whether you make the invitation, send the email, follow up, or put the work in front of somebody.

You don’t need the whole art world. You need your world: the people whose interests genuinely overlap with what you’re exploring.

Who curated the exhibition that you loved, who wrote that essay that you keep returning to? Who commissioned that artist whose trajectory really fascinates you? Start with your curiosity, research those people, and follow the threads.

You don’t have to become fearless, extroverted, or brilliant at networking. Start ridiculously small. Find five people you’d genuinely like to talk to, choose one, and contact them. Then do it again next week. One small gesture each week is all it takes.

BEST MOMENTS

“Your network should grow out of your curiosity, not your desperation, because desperation makes everybody look like a gatekeeper. Curiosity makes everybody interesting.”

“When your brain says, "I don't know anybody, I want you to course correct it. It's a thought error. Say I don't know them yet.”

“You don’t have to become fearless. You just have to become more practised.”

HOST BIO

With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals.

**

Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Join today!

https://cerihand.com/membership/

**

Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course

Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to thrive in the art world today.

https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/

**

Book a Discovery Call

To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at hello@cerihand.com

**

Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity

Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative.

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

Andrea Grover has spent nearly thirty years championing artists who take risks. And right now, she’s taking a few of her own.

She’s turned her dining room into an experimental performance space called the Ponderosa Lounge. She’s started doing stand-up comedy in her fifties. And after ten years leading Guild Hall in East Hampton, she’s thinking deeply about what creativity, community and leadership can mean when life changes in ways you could never have planned for.

Andrea is a curator, writer and arts leader who founded the pioneering Aurora Picture Show in Houston, went on to curate ambitious projects including Radical Seafaring, and has spent her career making space for experimentation, play and what she calls the “head-scratchers”, the art you don’t immediately understand but can’t stop thinking about.

Earlier this year, Andrea was diagnosed with ALS. We talk about what that diagnosis is teaching her about accepting help and love, why she’s using comedy to process what’s happening, what decades of working with artists have taught her about leadership, and why she believes creativity can bring people together when so much around us is pulling us apart.

There is so much life in this conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Creative community can feel like finding your way back to the weird kid lunch table. A place where you’re allowed to be fully yourself, to laugh, to be vulnerable, and to let other people help you when you can’t do it all alone.

Depth matters more than churn. When you commit to artists and audiences over time, you create the conditions for real trust, real risk, and real change.

Leadership in the arts isn’t about control; it’s about distributing power - trusting others to hold the work with you and letting them surprise you.

BEST MOMENTS

“An extraordinary creative life really asks of us. Not that we control what happens next, but that we remain curious enough to meet it. To make something with what we have. To let other people in. To keep finding joy, play and connection.”

“Accepting love, accepting help has been very healing …. this sickness is healing me. It's healing me of this relentless pursuit, a forward motion towards I don't know what.”

“I love people who don't think like me.”

“You can't just run a cultural institution on ideas. You actually have to know how to run a business and how to pay people.”

EPISODE RESOURCES

https://www.guildhall.org

https://www.instagram.com/gentleridevan/

@guild_hall // @gentleridevan

HOST BIO

With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals.

**

Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today!

https://cerihand.com/membership/

**

Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course

Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today.

https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/

**

Book a Discovery Call

To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at hello@cerihand.com

**

Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity

Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative.

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

Today, I am talking about a feeling that most of us know intimately. A feeling that most of us don’t talk about: Envy. This episode is about both kinds, which turn out to be the same machine running in two different directions.

We’ll look at what happens inside you when you hear someone else’s good news - the prize, the residency, the museum acquisition, the sold-out show - and feel that sharp jab under the ribs that bends you double. We’ll talk about how, within about 90 seconds, you can pick up their achievement and swing it at your own career like a wrecking ball, and why that reaction isn’t just you being “awful,” it’s information.

Drawing on research into “benign” and “malicious” envy, we’ll separate the kind that quietly points you upwards towards the work you actually want to be making from the kind that wants to pull other people down when you feel you have no control over your own situation.

We’ll also talk about the other half that almost nobody names: what happens when you are the one being envied. The colleague who goes a bit cool, the snide remark at the opening, the tall poppy swipes that land at two in the morning and come home with you.

This episode is an invitation to notice which kind of envy has landed, what it’s trying to tell you, and how to move from resentment and comparison towards honest data and self-trust.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Envy is a two-way machine. It’s one word for two different emotions, both triggered by someone else’s good news but pulling you in very different directions.

When you envy others, ask what kind it is. The benign kind pointing you towards your own next step, or the malicious kind that needs you to reclaim your sense of agency.

Expect some envy, some odd weather as you become more visible: the cool colleague, the snide remark. Pause and sort what you’re seeing and hearing. Warm, awkward admiration gets a “thank you”; real nastiness usually gets no response and never results in a smaller you.

BEST MOMENTS

“When it (envy) lands, ask what kind you've got. If it's pointing you upwards towards work that you want to be making and you're not currently making, it's data, useful data.”

“Being envied by someone whose eye you trust is a form of recognition that no review will ever give you. That artist had the benign kind.”

“People are far more accepting of success they believe was earned and feel justified in cutting down success that looks like bragging or luck or shortcuts.”

PODCAST HOST BIO

With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals.

****

Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today!

https://cerihand.com/membership/

****

Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course

Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today.

https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/

****

Book a Discovery Call Today

To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at hello@cerihand.com

****

Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity

Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative.

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/