artchatter with Gaynor Leverett-Jaques & Karen George

116 - chasing numbers

17 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We made it through another year together! How wonderful. Now to consider our dreams, create a wish list and send everyone love for a beautiful and pea...

115 - how do you find your way back?

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ugh. Are you people pleasing in your art? Do you do what YOU love or do what you think others will love and approve of? Karen and Gaynor explore comi...

114 - repeating patterns

19 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hands up who’s created a pattern to their year that’s become a dull routine of “but I always do this”? When do we need just stop our old rout...

113 - procrastination

05 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Well, holy heck… our cheeky little podcast, artchatter, hasbeen nominated for a Women’s Business Club Award https://womensbusiness.club/awardsWHAT...

112 - silly season

23 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s that time again! Prepping for the selling season, getting everything planned, staying up late to ensure our organisation is tip top. Packing bo...

111 - dealing with disappointment

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Humans and artists alike face many disappointments. Things don’t go as we’d hoped. Rejection. Lack of sales. Paintings not behaving. However, it’...

110 - bravery

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s all been done before. There’s nothing new. We just can’t find anything original to present to the world. Everyone else has got a great offe...

109 - resetting

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Righty-ho, we’ve reviewed allllll the things we’ve been doing. What do we work on now? What are we carrying forward and what are we gently expelli...

108 - in review

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We often overlook appreciating how far we have developed, but in order to consider what we want to take forward it’s a good idea to think about how ...

107 - keeping your hand in

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Summer is lovely; blissful long days and warm evenings, holidays, playing on the beach, in the park, visiting places and visitors making memories. But...

106 - moving forward

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Artists. Let’s free up our brains and shake off the constraints of painting or producing work for a reason. Developing our work, our skills and our...

105 - why do people buy art?

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Recently several instagram posts sparked a conversation between @karengeorgeart and @gaynorljart - all around the reasons why people buy art. @emuplop...

104 - how do you see yourself?

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 104Are we who we show up as on social media? What does authentic really mean… what do we care about what people think of us? Does it matter?...

103 - marketing: let's flail together!

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What is the simple definition of marketing?“Marketing, in its simplest form, is about letting people know about a product or service that might meet...

102 - what we learn if we listen!

04 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chatting with other artists can teach us so much. Not just about them and the way they work, but also how we are, how we work, the way we speak to our...

101 - get ready with us

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Way back when in 2024 we took a trip to Cheltenham to check out galleries for a joint exhibition… the planning began. ‘Journey’ came from an id...

100 - pivotal moments

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gahhhhh it’s the 100th episode of artchatter. Who knew? So here we are doing something a little different in celebration. Three-ish years, two artis...

99 - attitude and approach

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The idea that "we are the sum of the five people we spend the most time with" is a commonly attributed quote, often associated with motivational speak...

98 - trying new things

26 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We talk about pushing ourselves and stepping out of comfort zones, but how does that look, in reality? How do we know it’s a success and use what w...

97 - seasonal inspiration

16 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The sun is shining-we are energised! Woo hoo… let’s get sorted, find our sketchbooks and get painting. We are emerging from hibernation and ready ...

96 - springing forward!

26 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The beginning of 2025 feels like three years ago. We wrote plans, set intentions, made lists and away we all went. Now it’s edging toward spring and...

95 - the dirty word

12 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s such an icky word to many artists - selling. Why? We need to get over ourselves and let people who like our work, admire our ethos or want to s...

94 - comfort zones

29 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s easy to play it safe, to always rely on routine, but what if we feel the niggle to change things up? When we start to feel stale in life, in wo...

93 - word of the year

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We’re starting 2025 gently. Instead of signing up for all the workshops, courses and reinventing ourselves, (which, lets face it, are all incredibly...

92 - habits! and which ones are serving you

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How many things do you do out of habit? What are you missing out on because you always do something that doesn’t serve you? Who do you want to see m...

91 - trusting your instincts

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes it can be easy to jump into things with FOMO driving us, sometimes we see others doing ALL the things on social media and love it all and wa...

90 - the right questions

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Habits, tried and tested, keep us safe. We’re in our comfort zone and we know what to expect. Karen and Gaynor are noticing patterns - and questioni...

89 - with intention

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

@karengeorgeart and I spend a lovely amount of time with other artists, so get to learn tons of great stuff from them. One amazing thing that we’ve ...

88 - what is it you need?

23 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are you like us having regular accountability calls, creating a to-do list and rushing to get it all done?  Well, hold on a second…here’s a thoug...

87 - events within events

09 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Art exhibitions and trails are always worth a visit, there’s so much talent around, so many choices to be made. The difficulty arises when there’s...

86 - i am cringe but i am free

26 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Okay… you’ve done thing. Now to promote it. We have to let people know, right?  Instagram: do a reel, a still, a carousel, onto Pinterest, emai...

85 - getting honest with yourself

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Okay. Phew. We did summer…and survived. Kids, families, holidays, down time… and now we have to find our footing again. Let’s get into some sort...

84 - biscuit theorem

28 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Who decides what’s good and what’s not worth looking at - who are the gatekeepers? Why does some work sell for tens of thousands, and others hold ...

83 - the commitments

14 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Does summer throw you a curveball, does it disrupt your art when other family members are around? How easy do you find it to block off time for your w...

82 - social media dependencies

31 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Artists need to be on Instagram daily, apparently. Oh and Facebook. Maybe chuck in some threads, Substack and X for good measure. We HAVE to be seen. ...

81 - letting go

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Declutterring our studios highlighted all sorts of things we’d been holding onto, physically and metaphorically! Both realised old practices, old be...

80 - being brave

04 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is brave being ‘gung-ho’ or stepping back and trusting intuition?  Let’s give ourselves some credit. We all do something most people aren’t c...

79 - declutter it all

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As we dance merrily into our studios and sing happily opening our sketchbooks, loading our easels or mixing paint, there’s something joyous about st...

78 - a balanced approach

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We natter about self-worth, valuing ourselves, valuing our work, pricing and mindfulness… all as a result of attending an event with Alice Sheridan ...

77 - stall wars: showing art in real life

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How to show? Hang it all, go solo or team up with beautiful collaborators? Whatever you do, do it with generosity of spirit and a smile on your face!...

76 - focusing up

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What are we all trying to achieve? We have so many to-do lists, time pressures, work pressures, life pressures… and so many of us are spinning.  C...

75 - walks of shame and worthy failures

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How do we all handle failure? How many rejections can we deal with - do they make you stronger or knock your confidence? Do we learn or feel dejected?...

74 - why bother?

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes life is a bit of a slog. We drag ourselves to the studio, to events, …to no avail! What to do when everything is an effort, nothing is goi...

73 - control

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Let’s be honest, there are some things we all like to “manage” and “steer”. We want events -and artwork- to go a certain way, can any of us ...

72 - am I an artist?

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Do you consider yourself an artist? Do you get to call yourself an artist even when you’re not painting, taking a break or working in paid employmen...

71 - bouncing ideas

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We can all have those racing thoughts and going-nowhere ideas, but when you’re a solo artist, hiding away in your studio space, who do you turn to? ...

70 - when you don't know what to do

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Everyone else is doing ALLLL the stuff, they’re all great, but how do we get back into the groove when our mojo mosies off? As always, Karen and Ga...

69 - what's stopping you?

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When you think of a big challenge, do you revel in the idea? Do you rub your hands together and relish the task … or do you fight self-doubt, second...

68 - social media madness

18 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Karen went VIRAL!!! What does this mean? Is she now a superstar with a millionty billion followers?? Yeah…nooooooo. Not so much.  In a keeping it ...

uh oh! a schedule goof-up story

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Oops! Unfortunately dear friends, there’s a technical issue so please pop back tomorrow for the real thing!

67 - new year ready?

03 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How lucky are we that we get the chance to do this all again… but with the benefit of hindsight! What happened last year that lit you up? Which ev...

66 - doing what it takes

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“Nothing that is meant for you will pass you by” a great reminder to us from a younger artist we shared space with recently: things will happen if...

65 - are you having fun yet?

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We all do things out of obligation, make ourselves do things we’d really rather not and keep going regardless of our heavy hearts! But, should we? ...

64 - slumps

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Busy! Busy! Busy! Rushing to all the art events, open houses, open studios, art trails, Christmas things: prep, selling, posting out, updating the web...

63 - people pleasing

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“You DID NOT say yes to THAT” seems to be on repeat in our heads… is it just us that can’t say no?! While it’s lovely to step in to help, s...

62 - on finding successes, and learning how to handle them

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The guilt of success. It’s a real thing…like survivors’ guilt but the whole doing well when someone else in the room isn’t. Do you cringe eith...

61 - comparisonitis

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a chronic condition many artists suffer from-and it’s contagious. Do you, or someone you know suffer from comparisonitis?  Do you have in...

60 - trials and collaborations

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Let’s talk collabs.  Working together, working together but apart, sharing space, exhibiting with friends, inspiring each other… can it work? Why...

59 - risk assessments of an artist: a summer in review

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The life of an artist can be very complicated. It sounds like a breeze doesn’t it, happily painting, but reality is there’s lots to consider - not...

58 - how to build your audience

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While many of us can rely on family to LOVE that we’re creative, the ones we love often aren’t the audience for our work. They’re not our buyers...

57 - the boat

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are you too late? Too late to start something new, to jump onto the new thing, is everyone else doing what you thought of a few years ago, but didn’...

56 - christmas in... august(?)

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

🎶🎵“It’s beginning to look a lot like… 🎄” 🎶🎶 Erm… soooo this is awks BUT hear us out! All the big conglomerates and high str...

55 - intergenerational pan-global summer art revolution

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do you summer? Are you basking in pools, drinking exotic cocktails and completely switched off, … or manically wrangling children, grandchildre...

54 - techniques for stepping back in

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We all know that feeling (not just us, surely?) when we can’t move a painting forward… worse-can’t start a painting, or worst thing ever-can’t...

53 - what works for us

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s always interesting to us to see how artists work, their inspiration, studios, how they do their thing… and we’ve been asked what we do. So,...

52 - finding the time

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Busy, busy, busy… while it’s a great problem to have, how do we find the time to prioritise what we want to do most? Finding our way through the t...

51 - confidence, confidence, confidence

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

All the talk of confidence and resilience in Epic Epi #50 gave us pause for thought. So many of our (amazing) contributors wished they’d been more c...

50 - fifty!

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ever wished you’d been given the benefit of great advice from amazing artists, maybe ahead of you on their art career path?  Well, to celebrate our...

49 - what if?

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What would you do if… this week we wonder if the grass is greener in another other field. Remembering what we’ve done in past lives, and why we d...

48 - putting your art out there (and how to stay safe about it)

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Okay, you’ve done the work, painted your socks off, set up on social media, prepped allll the things, booked a venue and you’re ready to chat to t...

47 - game plans

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What’s your game plan? Soooooo are you just going with the flow, manifesting like a master or do you meticulously follow a structured plan that’s ...

46 - on critiques and criticisms

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are you your own worst critic? Ever asked for an opinion and instantly regretted it? This week Karen and Gaynor discuss the critical eye…when it’s...

45 - joining in

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are you a course junkie, a joiner-in, a membership lover, have a love of alllll communities? This time we work out what works - Karen, as you’d mayb...

44 - books, covers, artists and others

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Do you make assumptions? Do people make assumptions about you?  Can you tell who someone is and what they do at first glance? Okay, so this week ...

43 - overcoming overwhelm

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes we slip. Sometimes we slip up. Our creative time gets disrupted and we slide into the ditch. It’s about finding our way out to overcoming ...

42 - work in progress

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Whilst Karen is tucked away in her studio splashing all the paint around, ready for a solo show, Gaynor is planning and thinking and collecting though...

41 - first steps into 2023

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Woo hoo 2023 here we come. Challenges. Goals. Plans. Oh dear lawd we’re exhausted already! How about small steps? Shall we be gentle and steady? Yea...

40 - it takes a village to raise an artist

21 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

So much love to share in this episode as Karen and Gaynor float along from the wonderful experience of taking part in an artist event in the beautiful...

39 - change!

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ch Ch Ch Changes! Whether it’s a deliberate plan to Move On or a gradual evolution, we all make changes. To our practice, to our selves, to the way...

38 - winning

24 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this world of harsh realities some things are universally true. Like small victories. They may be small but they be mighty to misquote the great ma...

37 - we can do whatever we can do

09 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Life as an artist is one big circle of fun, amirite? yeah. Nope. Let's face it, sometimes life can be a bit of a slog. Are we really failing, or do we...

36 - adventures in motivation

26 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Another day, another to-do list. Where to begin? Does it really matter? Another cup of coffee first?  As artists, creatives, makers, most of us work ...

35 - versatility

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

“Oh, you’re an artist?” they say. “Must be nice, playing with paint all day” 🤐  Shall we explain the things we do? The prepping, the...

34 - reset, refresh, refocus

28 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Okay, summer is well and truly over... autumn (the pretty season) is officially here. Rich golds, falling leaves, bracing walks, hygge, fresh thinking...

33 - putting yourself forward

14 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Collaborate, cooperate, group exhibitions… or fly solo? Can you do both..? when do we get to just prioritise ourselves, our work and what’s right ...

32 - inspiration

31 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Recently when Karen was playing catch up on Laura Horn, she had a moment of realisation... she needed to check out her mood board. First question: Moo...

31 - artists abroad (& closer to home)

17 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are giddy as the proverbial kippers today! Karen's been sketching, holidaying and dancing at a wedding (there may have been wine). Gaynor has been ...

30 - summer plans

03 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s hot, it’s steamy… what shall we doooo?!

29 - finding the lesson

20 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You've done the work, turned up to the event, set up in the searing heat or the pouring rain. Your display, exhibition, stand (tick appropriate) looks...

28 - a hammock of one's own

13 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Phew! Well, we're back. We hope you enjoyed the recommedations we offered last week. While we're on the subject, do let us know if you have any tips o...

Oooops!

06 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Gah... technical difficulties have led us to postpone for week. What techincal difficulties, you ask? Well, our talented editor, Ben, is halfway up a ...

27 - works that grab

22 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We all seriously love having a good old scroll through social media. As artists instagram can be addictive... very addictive as we see all the reels a...

26 - the paths we take to get there

08 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Is it serendipity? The people we meet, the roads we cross all lead to where we are now. Friends guide us, our heart strings tug us and we dance our wa...

25 - the red thread of fate

25 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Fellow artists, how do you feel about a day in public, showing your work, talking about it, explaining processes and the joy your work brings you? Now...

24 - the eye of the beholder

11 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A blog by the Stephanie Gibson, posted on Instagram prompted a question and conversation. Why buy original art? It's worth taking a look at Stephanie'...

23 - the art of wild abandon

27 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Are you free and wild, is work fun and spontaneous? Or are you uptight and too controlled? What are you doing, is your journey an easy one, (is it e...

22 - flex & flexibility

13 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Just how flexible do we need to be as artists? There's a LOT to adapt to on a regular basis. Things change, times change, we change, hopefully we lear...

21 - pop-up plans

30 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What to do when things don’t go to plan? Be grateful for the upgrade of course!  Things that go wrong can turn easily to opportunity, giggles o...

20 - the brand that feeds you

16 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

“I don’t need branding-I’m not a cow!” ha!! But a little bit of recognition and continuity would go amiss, right? Where to start, what to do? ...

19 - olympian goals and mentorship

03 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ever get stuck in the mud…too much thinking, too little thinking, frozen or frantic? We’ve all been there. We need a way to break the cycle before...