Art Mentor | Alexandra Novik-Khamis

Who is an artist's mentor? A wise and trusted counselor? A teacher? 

It is someone who has already the experience and knowledge in his or her career - so much so that they are capable of supporting, inspiring and guiding others with their advice in the same career.  

A mentor is not a teacher. A mentor goes beyond teaching.  

A mentor can be a huge benefit to an artist, art student or emerging artist. (Or in whatever profession or line of work.) But who and where do we find these artists mentors? Well, think about it. When you were in art school or took an art class, perhaps a teacher recognized a determined desire in a particular student or students who were willing to work hard and learn all they could in the art field. Almost like sponges trying to soak up all they could possibly learn. Perhaps you were that student. Outside of the classroom, the teacher might become a mentor and give someone extra guidance with achieving their goals and working through all the challenges they may face. It would be a pleasure to advise and help someone who shows the tenacity and strong determination to do their best to learn all they possibly can.  

A mentor is similar to a coach or counselor and is willing to invest their time in providing their knowledge in helping another in their field.  

The mentor is not a teacher, as much as they are there for supporting, recommending, making suggestions, guidance, and encouragement. Of course, if wanting to find a mentor, you will want someone whose work you truly admire and someone who is trustworthy, has knowledge and experience in the same art medium; one who can guide, encourage and also offer constructive criticism in the same field. There must also be a mutual respect. A mentor helps the artist improve their artwork, their art marketing/promotion/art business side, even framing or the presentation of their work to the public and help further achieve their other professional art career goals.  

A good mentor can shorten the time or years it takes to reach those goals. The mentor helps stimulate your desire to improve your work. . . and the more you improve, the more confident you become. Often a mentor sees himself or herself of where they were once upon a time and after seeing the potential of another will want to help them to realize their career goals. We all learn from mistakes but having a mentor can help skip over some of those mistakes. If you do not have a personal mentor, there are many books available to read that could almost be considered mentoring books when it comes to helping artists further their careers. 

The artist who has an art mentor will be miles ahead on their art journey in overcoming the challenges in achieving their goals at a more rapid growth. 

You will have an advantage with an art mentor.