Change: A Business Update
Yesterday I wrote an email sharing insights regarding inviting change into your art practice. It isn't just how I view my art, but having openness to change affects my life and business too. This year has been full of change and I need to to tell you about what that is looking like for my business.
Something's not working:
Earlier this month I found myself in the position of having to make some pretty major changes to how I teach online. The host that I’ve been using for my online courses for nearly ten years is under new ownership and over the last few months it's become clear that the direction they are taking is not one I feel like I can trust or continue with long-term. And as I considered changing to a different course host, the question became, “Is this a simple migration or should I be making bigger changes?” I realized that this is an opportunity to let go of some of the other things that are no longer serving me well.
What am I excited to teach?
When I first started teaching online, teaching watercolor techniques made a lot of sense. I was refining my own watercolor technique and it was exciting to share that with my audience. But in recent years, I’ve changed. I'm no longer as concerned with technique when it comes to my own art. I have become driven by the goal of letting go of my ego where my skill in watercolor is concerned, so I can focus on creating with a little more raw simplicity. Often I find myself intentionally working with total abandonment of control so I can be present in something I can’t plan or manipulate - I am simply moving responsively. This comes alongside my personal growth, learning that as a person, I have spent many years hiding behind a model of self-management, trying at all times to present myself as the person I want to be, and to never let anyone down, rather than letting go of my desire to please and learning how to exist and feel accepted despite my failures. As I learn how to just be who I am, where I am, without trying to hide behind control, my desire is that my art reflects that same sense of presence in imperfection. It makes it hard for me to engage fully into teaching others techniques to control watercolor, when that is not what I want to prioritize in my own practice.
Be reminded of what matters:
A week or two ago I taught a live painting session for Summer Creative Retreat and my topic was “Making Mistakes into Magic.” As I painted and talked about how I’ve redefined what it means to make mistakes in watercolor, my heart just sang. THIS is what I was born to share!
What's changing:
And so this is where I’m going. After ten years of teaching watercolor technique, I’m excited to shift to be direct and focused on the topic that matters so much to me - artistic development that prioritizes YOUR heart. No longer will ‘heart-led artist’ be something that slips in alongside watercolor techniques, ‘heart-led’ will be EVERYTHING. I’m working on two new courses that will reflect this direction; “The Heart-Led Artist Pathway,” a four-week course introducing the topics in an upcoming flagship course, “The Heart-Led Artist Freedom Journey.” The pathway course should be open for the first cohort of students in November 2023, and the Freedom Journey six-month mentorship program will be available in 2024. If you are a developing artist who is recognizing how powerful mindset is for growth or paralysis in your art practice, my new site and courses are for you.
Here’s answers to questions I know you might be asking:
You aren’t teaching technique anymore?
Not regularly, but you will still see me painting in online events and in-person workshops. My YouTube channel is still full of technique videos you can learn from. Additionally, from now until the end of 2023 you can purchase and keep forever any of the technique courses currently available at learn.angelafehr.com
What about the courses I have bought from you in the past?
These will still exist for your access on my Teachable site as they do now.
What about the Heart-Led Artist membership?
The membership remains available on a monthly subscription basis until December 2023. Monthly subscriptions will end and all recurring payments will stop when I close the course for enrollment at the end of the year, but yearly memberships will continue with no loss of access until their enrollment period ends. Please email if you need further clarification.
I’ve been waiting for you to re-open Watercolor Mastery. You mean this is never going to happen?
The new Heart-Led Freedom Journey course will be a superior program to the Watercolor Mastery Foundations course; I’m very excited about the opportunity to offer a six-month mentorship for developing artists and support a rich spectrum of artistic growth that will be applicable to artists in many disciplines.
Where can I find this new course and site?
Both are in development right now and not available for viewing yet. I'll be sending out an email announcement in October with links to the new site.
Anxious & Grateful:
This is a time of change for me, and I’m both excited and anxious about it. It is hard to let go of some of the courses that I owe so much to; how well I remember opening enrollment to my first “Loose & Fluid” courses and hoping that people would find the content valuable. I’m so thankful that these courses have helped so many artists embrace intuitive painting and find more freedom! With these changes I believe that I will be better able to serve growing artists in an area where I’m uniquely suited, passionate and care deeply about.
I was telling a friend about my planned business restructuring last week and confessing some of my uncertainties about the leap of faith I felt like I was taking. And he responded, “You’re changing directions so you can care for your students better! Makes perfect sense to me!” That is my sincere hope and isn’t it just like a friend to put it into words in a way that helps me step forward with eager anticipation.
Also, this is a heck of a lot of work. I’m definitely not feeling like this is choosing an easier path, but I believe it’s the right one.