Painting Outside the Lines

The Truth About Building an Art Career (Our First Episode)

Painting Outside the Lines

Show Notes

Welcome to Painting Outside the Lines — the podcast for artists who want to build a creative life and business without pretending to have it all figured out.

We’re your hosts:

🎨 Rebecca Knörr – an abstract artist based in Germany, originally from England.

🎨 Valerie van Kraaij – an abstract figurative artist living in France, originally from the Netherlands.

We’re both building our art businesses while working other jobs. We’re learning, experimenting, making mistakes, celebrating wins, and sharing the whole journey with you.

No gatekeeping. No pretending. Just honest conversations about what it’s really like to build a life as an artist.

On this podcast, we talk about: ​ Building an art business ​ Growing on social media ​ Selling artwork ​ Finding collectors ​ Creativity and mindset ​ The ups and downs of being an artist ​ Productivity, marketing, and everything in between

If something works, we’ll tell you. If something doesn’t, we’ll tell you that too.

Whether you’re just starting your creative journey or you’ve been making art for years, we hope you’ll feel inspired, encouraged, and reminded that you don’t have to figure it all out alone.

✨ New episodes every week (we hope 😅).

Follow us here:

Valerie van Kraaij Instagram: @messyartbyvalerie https://www.instagram.com/messyartbyvalerie

Rebecca knörr Instagram: @artbyrebeccaknoerr https://www.instagram.com/artbyrebeccaknoerr

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a comment, and share it with another artist. It really helps our channel grow and allows us to keep creating free content for artists around the world.

Thanks for being here, and welcome to Painting Outside the Lines.

Keywords: Art podcast, podcast for artists, art business, artist life, creative business, selling art, art marketing, Instagram for artists, how to become a professional artist, contemporary art, abstract artist, figurative artist, creativity, entrepreneurship, artist mindset.

More from Painting Outside the Lines

Oct 16, 2026

Artists Rebecca and Valerie talk through the rewards and challenges of commissioned work, drawing on Rebecca’s years of experience and Valerie’s first commission. They share practical ways to set expectations, protect your time and creative process, and build lasting relationships with collectors. Key topics

Oct 11, 2026

Faith, life-changing pivots and gold leaf… otherwise known as the devil’s dust. 😂✨ In Episode 9 of Painting Outside the Lines, we’re joined by artist Jennifer Dunlap for a conversation about how her son’s diabetes became the catalyst for the biggest pivot of her life. We talk about faith, finding a new direction and the role creativity has played along the way. And, because it’s us, we also get into the joys—and absolute bloody chaos—of working with gold leaf. An honest conversation with plenty of heart, humour and a little sparkle. Subscribe for more conversations about art and the life happening around it, and tell us in the comments: what’s been the catalyst for YOUR biggest pivot? #ExpectMiracles #JenniferDunlap #PaintingOutsideTheLines #ArtistPodcast #ArtAndFaith

Sep 25, 2026

In Episode 8, we continue our deep dive into the very real relationship between mental health and making art. This time, we’re talking imposter syndrome, fear of failure, the pressure to keep producing and why rest is actually part of the creative process — not something we need to feel guilty about. We chat about those inevitable moments of “Who am I to be doing this?”, what failure really looks like as an artist, and why sometimes stepping away from the studio is exactly what your creativity needs. As always, it’s an honest, unfiltered conversation about the bits of being an artist that don’t always make it onto Instagram. If you’ve ever doubted yourself, felt guilty for resting or wondered whether you’re actually good enough to call yourself an artist… this one’s for you. 🎨❤️

Sep 23, 2026

In the second episode of our deeper dive into mental health & art, we’re tackling two things that so many creatives know far too well: perfectionism and burnout. When does wanting to do your best become a need for everything to be perfect? And when does the pressure to keep creating, posting, selling and showing up start sucking the joy out of the thing you love? We chat about our own experiences with perfectionism, the pressure we put on ourselves, creative burnout, comparison, guilt around taking a break — and why sometimes good enough really is good enough. An open, honest (and inevitably slightly chaotic 😂) conversation about protecting your creativity AND your mental health while still wanting to grow.

Sep 14, 2026

Instagram. Love it, hate it, delete it, reinstall it… repeat. 😂

See all episodes →