Artist Tim Pauszek giving a lithography demonstration at Hello, Print Friend Studios. Images courtesy of Hello, Print Friend Studios.
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Miranda K. Metcalf holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in art history with a concentration in printmaking. She has led arts organizations across Australia, Thailand, and the United States in both commercial and non-profit sectors and currently serves on the board of Print Austin. She is the director and founder of Hello, Print Friend Studios, as well as the founder and co-host of the Hello, Print Friend podcast. |
I was lucky enough to sit down with Justin Anthony, co-founder of Artwork Archive, for what may be one of the most important conversations I’ve ever recorded for my podcast, Hello, Print Friend.
The podcast has been around since before “podcast” was a household word.
When I launched it in 2018, I vividly remember trying to get a bag of metal logo pins through TSA on my way to a conference in Texas.
“It’s for a podcast!” I chirped, only to be met with complete confusion.
Since then, Hello, Print Friend has released over 400 episodes in English and Spanish and has amassed well over a million lifetime listens.
Yet in all that time, I had never had a conversation quite like the one Justin and I shared last week.
How Artists Can Thrive in Challenging Economic Times
I usually talk to artists about the landscapes of their childhoods, the paths that led them into making, and the deeply personal reasons they devote their lives to art. While the podcast centers on printmaking and the broader print ecosystem, the conversations often wander into philosophy, humor, and the emotional complexities of creative life.
But my discussion with Justin had a different, very specific aim: to offer artists practical guidance for navigating the current art market—one that many would describe not as cool, but outright frigid.
Artists across the world have been sharing similar stories: solo shows where unprecedentedly not a single work sells, galleries shuttering despite decades of stability, collectors becoming hesitant and inconsistent.
It is easy to slip into malaise in this atmosphere, and even easier to imagine that something is personally wrong with you or your work. Justin and I wanted to cut through that fear by grounding the conversation in tactics, clarity, and agency. Our goal was to explore what artists can be doing right now to position themselves for success when the market inevitably swings back.
Selection of works published by Hello, Print Friend Studios, left to right, top to bottom: Julia Phetra Oborne, Sasicha Jamie Rubesch, Tim Pauszek, Swoon, Udom Udomsrianan, and Chidkamon "Fern" Jitkasam
Justin was an ideal partner for this discussion. As a maker, gallerist, entrepreneur, and the co-founder of Artwork Archive, a platform that touches nearly every corner of the art world, he understands the complex and interwoven moving parts of the art world.
Together, we looked at the practical, at times unglamorous, and absolutely essential foundations artists often overlook: knowing where your work is, keeping track of who bought from you last year, maintaining clear and organized records. Not only with clients and galleries, but with fellow artists, who are often your strongest professional allies.
We talked about the value of building relationships with art consultants, the people whose work it is to place art in major private and public collections.
We emphasized updating your CV, bio, and artist statement, and keeping these documents somewhere easy to access when opportunity arrives unexpectedly.
We explored the importance of your public-facing world, your website, social media presence, newsletters, and what a coherent messaging strategy can do for your career. And that was only the beginning. I highly recommend giving the episode a listen. You can listen to the episode—and subscribe to Hello, Print Friend—on our website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Listen to Justin Anthony’s Full Hello, Print Friend Episode
Miranda K. Metcalf talks to Artwork Archive's Justin Anthony about what artists can do right now—this week, this month, over the next year—to support your career so when the market does bounce back you’re going to be even better off than before.
"If you are someone trying to make a life in the arts right now this is going to be required listening." —Miranda K. Metcalf
Artists: Reconnect With Your "Why"
But perhaps the most important part of our conversation wasn’t tactical at all.
It was about reconnecting with your “why”—the reason you spend your precious life making art in the first place.
Why choose a path filled with uncertainty, vulnerability, and enormous personal investment? Why work in a field where there are no guarantees, where the outcomes rarely match the effort, and where external validation can be inconsistent at best?
Because here’s the truth: even if you do everything right, you may never achieve the exact version of “success” you imagined for yourself. But something else will happen to you and it will be transformative, unexpected, and deeply meaningful.
And that is why your “why” has to be clear: it’s the compass that carries you through the inevitable moments of doubt.
Left: Our first artist in residence, Reinaldo Gil Zambrano, and our master printer Tim Pauszek with their lithograph. Right: Artist Tintin Cooper working on a lithostone.
You Have to Love Your Artistic Process
The emotional, at times rocky, terrain of an art career is real. Artists must build steel skin for rejection emails, walk into museum openings as a newcomer, and swallow the nerves that arise when approaching a curator or collector they admire. That familiar palm-sweat breaking out as you cross the room.
It can feel terrifying. But it can also feel exhilarating. And, honestly, aren’t we the lucky ones? Most people don’t have something in their lives that raises the stakes this high. While many get their adrenaline from binge-worthy shows, artists are out there on a Thursday night with their heart in their throat, showing up bravely, introducing themselves, taking the risk.
That’s why loving the process—the highs, the lows, the uncertainty—is essential. The unknowns aren’t flaws in the system; they create the adventure.
An artistic life is a journey, and there is no hero’s arc without risk. The reward isn’t just the recognition or the external markers of achievement. The reward is the transformation that comes from trying. When it feels hard or scary, that’s okay, because you’re doing something that is hard and scary. And that is exactly where growth happens.
The personal and artistic expansion that comes from chasing your dream and living in the vulnerability of sharing your work is a pretty solid “why.” Falling in love with the journey is the secret sauce that turns uncertainty into one of the most rewarding aspects of your life.
The Hello, Print Friend team, left to right: Narit Tananon, Miranda K. Metcalf, Tim Pauszek.
Lean On Your Art Community—They'll Support You Through Good Times and Bad
And here is a guarantee: if you put yourself out there, you will meet extraordinary people. The arts pull together individuals who are courageous enough to create in public, who understand the risk and choose to try anyway.
These are the people you’ll meet at openings, residencies, workshops, and shared studios. Printmaking in particular is famous for its communal spirit. After hundreds of interviews with artists, one phrase appears again and again: “I came for the art; I stayed for the people.”
Shared creative spaces forge deep bonds. Through kiln failures, bad burnouts on litho stones, smeared monotype plates, accidental spills, and through the triumphs: acceptance letters, first solo shows, creative breakthroughs. These are the people who will remind you of your “why” when doubt creeps in. And you will remind them of theirs.
The old adage says that nothing is certain, and it’s true. Human life is unpredictable, and the time we get is heartbreakingly brief. Pursuing an artistic life offers no promises of financial stability or international acclaim but that does not distinguish it from any other meaningful human pursuit.
What art does guarantee is growth, discovery, connection, and a sense of purpose that few other pursuits can match.
And while chance, timing, and luck all play their roles, artists are not simply at their mercy.
There are real, tangible steps artists can take to influence their own futures. Many of them (organization, relationship-building, communication, clarity, preparedness) are discussed in my conversation with Justin.
None of them guarantee success, but they dramatically increase the likelihood that when opportunity arrives, you will be ready.
Success, after all, is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Artists often have more control over the “preparation” part of that equation than they realize. And the rest is what gives this path its depth, its challenge, and its reward.
Listen to the full episode—and subscribe to the Hello, Print Friend podcast—on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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