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kathy dalwood 
face-to-face mentoring project
free for an introductory period

London

kathy@kathydalwood.com 

 
 

INTRODUCTION


An artist’s career can lead, as mine has done, in many different and often unforeseen directions. It can take the artist to troughs of despair - wondering if there’s a point to continuing while recognition seems so elusive - to sudden highs when one’s work finds an environment, an audience or a market and the positive feedback comes flooding in.
 
Looking back at my career, I’ve made some really cringe worthy decisions and can hardly believe I didn’t realize how idiotic and hopeless they were at the time. There’s nothing like learning from experience! But at the same time, right from the early stages, I benefited from some crucial pieces of advice and information, garnered from others, which had an impact far beyond what I could have imagined and which led me towards much more successful ways of managing my career and making decisions.
 
   
 

Sometimes the smallest intervention from someone else can offer a new perspective and solutions. Other times, an artist with experience in a particular field can help with planning a longer term strategy towards a goal.  We all have differing areas of expertise but between us we know all there can be to know about building a successful career as an artist, whatever your personal definition of that is.

30+ years pursuing a career in the art and design world has given me a pretty good overview of the possibilities, and pitfalls and the best strategies for making headway.  And my 12 years teaching Professional Practice at art schools revealed the main concerns of emerging artists and designers.

I can’t claim a 360 degree knowledge of the art and design world, but the experiences I’ve had and the subsequent routes and actions I’ve embarked on, I’d be happy to share.  And conversations with other artists are always engaging and thought provoking and in my experience, lead somewhere interesting, so I definitely see my offer as a two-way street!

 
   
 
ABOUT ME & MY WORK  

My sculptural work crosses between the design and fine art disciplines and the contexts I’ve discovered for it are very varied. A quick flick through my website will give you a reasonable overview.

I’ve never aimed for sole gallery representation which I looked upon as restrictive, and have been surprised at the number of different contexts my work has found for itself. 

These have ranged through public and private commissions, international exhibitions and sales through galleries, design stores, art consultants and interior designers, museum shows and special event installations.
 
 



 
 
MENTORING FOCUS

Thinking about placing artwork in varied contexts is something which my mentoring sessions could spotlight because artists can benefit from a wider focus than the commercial gallery system alone.

If I had to single out what I consider the most crucial tool in establishing a successful art career it would be presentation and promotion and all the various forms this can take,  and this I think could be another focus in a mentoring conversation.

Obviously there are many, many issues to consider in finding, exploiting and simply managing all the various opportunities and projects I’ve had experience of and I’m not going to list them all. Suffice it say, I’d be happy to discuss whatever a meeting throws up!

I should mention the areas where I don’t feel I could contribute specific advice are the fields of performance, community art and video & digital media.



 
 
 
 
WHO? & HOW THE MENTORING WORKS

I’m offering mentoring to artists/designers who graduated at least 5 years ago - unless you did your degree as a mature student. Experience tells me that mentoring is far more useful if someone has already explored some of the challenges associated with pursuing an artistic career.

This is all about face-to-face communication so I’m not offering input by email

I’m based in London and can’t offer sessions elsewhere

Meetings can be at your studio or my studio or a venue elsewhere

I can only meet on weekdays, not evenings or weekends.



 
 

 
 

IF YOU’RE INTERESTED

Just drop me a line with a very brief CV and an indication of the kinds of issues you’d like the opportunity to chat through.

I can only work with a very small number of mentorees at any one time so please forgive me if I don't reply to your email straightaway.


kathy@kathydalwood.com