In this episode of The Art Confidential, Jacqui and Andreina sit down with poet, writer, and visual artist David Gate for a conversation about creativity, care, and what art can make possible in difficult times. From poetry and mental health to friendship, truth-telling, and the role of artists in community, this one is thoughtful, honest, and deeply grounding.

David shares his path from writing songs to becoming a widely loved poet whose work speaks to loneliness, sensitivity, masculinity, and hope. They talk about how Asheville shaped his life and work, why creativity became a form of self-care, and how art can help people feel less alone by showing them their own experiences reflected back.

We talk about:

• How David moved from songwriting into poetry and found his voice
• Creativity as care and its connection to mental health
• Why telling the truth is an act of rebellion for artists
• Male sensitivity, emotional language, and naming what we feel
• The role of sharing art and creating connection through your work

Plus: baby goats, late-night writing, Burial Beer, and a poem that might make you cry.

This episode is for artists, writers, parents, and anyone who needs a reminder that sensitivity is not weakness, it is strength.

Mentioned in This Episode

• A Rebellion of Care: Poems and Essays by David Gate
   https://amzn.to/3OIvmxw
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
  https://amzn.to/41FcPVS
• The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison
  https://amzn.to/48aDltL
• David Gate website
   https://davidgatepoet.com
• David Gate Instagram
   https://www.instagram.com/davidgatepoet/
• David Gate Substack
   https://davidgate.substack.com/
• Burial Beer Co.
   https://burialbeer.com/

Some links may be affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

About The Art Confidential

The Art Confidential is a podcast about how the art world really works. Hosts Jacqui Fehl and Andreina Bates sit down with artists, gallery owners, consultants, and other insiders for candid conversations about building a creative life—from studio practice to sales, exhibitions, and the realities behind the scenes.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode exploring the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping today’s art world.

Connect with us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartconfidential

Website: https://theartconfidential.com

Pricing your artwork can feel emotional, awkward, and confusing, especially when you are trying to balance confidence, consistency, galleries, collectors, materials, and your own gut feeling.

In this episode of The Art Confidential, Jacqui and Andreina talk honestly about the pricing mistakes they made early on, from undercutting galleries to letting someone else push prices too high. They share practical ways to build a pricing structure that feels fair, sustainable, and believable.

We talk about:

• Using price-per-square-inch formulas without losing the human side
• Why consistency builds trust with collectors and galleries
• When and how to raise your prices
• How to respond when someone asks for a discount
• Commissions, deposits, revisions, and knowing when to say no

Plus: why email lists, collection releases, and subscriber previews can become part of your selling strategy.

👉 Want the exact pricing grid and worksheet we talk about?
Sign up for the newsletter at https://theartconfidential.com/ and we’ll send you the download link.

This episode is for artists who are tired of guessing, underpricing, overthinking, or quietly resenting the business side of their creative work.

Mentioned in This Episode

• The Art Confidential – https://theartconfidential.com/
• The Art Confidential on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/theartconfidential/
• Jacqui Fehl website and newsletter signup - https://jacquifehl.com/
• Andreina Bates website and newsletter signup - https://www.andreinabates.com/
• Shain Gallery – https://shaingallery.com/collections/andreina-bates
• Ampersand Aquabord Panels – https://amzn.to/4cRdDw0

Some links may be affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

About The Art Confidential

The Art Confidential is a podcast about how the art world really works. Hosts Jacqui Fehl and Andreina Bates sit down with artists, gallery owners, consultants, and other insiders for candid conversations about building a creative life—from studio practice to sales, exhibitions, and the realities behind the scenes.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode exploring the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping today’s art world.

Connect with us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartconfidential

Website: https://theartconfidential.com

In this episode of The Art Confidential, we sit down with the owner/editor of The Scout Guide (Asheville) to talk about what it really takes to build community from scratch.

After moving to a new city without a built-in network, she took a leap and launched a local edition of The Scout Guide, creating a platform that highlights small businesses and connects the people behind them. What started as a bold move has grown into a thriving community rooted in trust, relationships, and consistency, with lessons that translate directly to artists building their own networks with galleries, collectors, and collaborators.

We talk about:

• starting over in a new city and building a network from zero
• what The Scout Guide is and how it works
• building trust when nobody knows who you are
• why relationships matter more than selling
• handling rejection and not taking 'no' personally
• balancing creative work with contracts, invoicing, and admin

Plus: favorite local spots, quiet time as self-care, and starting coffee at 40.

This episode is for anyone building something from scratch, growing a small business, or trying to create meaningful connections in their community.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Manifest: 7 Steps to Living Your Best Life by Roxie Nafousi (https://amzn.to/4cBmSRO)
• The Scout Guide (Asheville) (https://thescoutguide.com/asheville/) 

As an Amazon Associate, we may earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. 

About The Art Confidential

The Art Confidential is a podcast about how the art world really works. Hosts Jacqui Fehl and Andreina Bates sit down with artists, gallery owners, consultants, and other insiders for candid conversations about building a creative life—from studio practice to sales, exhibitions, and the realities behind the scenes.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode exploring the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping today’s art world.

Connect with us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartconfidential

Website: https://theartconfidential.com

In this episode of The Art Confidential, Andreina turns the tables and interviews co-host Jacqui Fehl about the winding path that led her from childhood trips to the Art Institute of Chicago to Hollywood sets, voiceover work, and eventually to becoming a working artist and gallery owner in Asheville’s River Arts District.

Jacqui shares how an early love of drawing, a painful childhood art class experience, and years spent pursuing acting in Los Angeles all shaped the artist she would later become. Her story is not linear - and that’s exactly what makes it so compelling.

We talk about:

• Drawing “princesses” inspired by Picasso and Monet as a child
• How one painful art class experience pushed her away from art for years
• Moving to Los Angeles young, broke, and determined to work in entertainment
• Working behind the scenes in Hollywood and on sets like Boy Meets World
• How voiceover work became both a career and a creative training ground
• Returning to painting later in life and slowly building confidence as an artist
• Finding her way into the River Arts District and eventually opening her own gallery

Plus: childhood princess drawings, sitcom stories, bold career leaps, and why waiting for permission can keep you stuck.

If you’ve ever taken the long way around creatively - or wondered whether it’s too late to begin again - this episode is for you.

Mentioned in this episode:

• https://jacquifehl.com
• https://www.instagram.com/jacquifehl

About The Art Confidential

The Art Confidential is a podcast about how the art world really works. Hosts Jacqui Fehl and Andreina Bates sit down with artists, gallery owners, consultants, and other insiders for candid conversations about building a creative life—from studio practice to sales, exhibitions, and the realities behind the scenes.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode exploring the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping today’s art world.

Connect with us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartconfidential

Website: https://theartconfidential.com

In this first guest episode of The Art Confidential, we sit down with Asheville artist, gallery owner, and Emmy-nominated film editor Jaime Byrd.

Unfiltered conversation ahead - occasional strong language included.

With over 35 years as a working creative, Jamie shares her journey from film and music back to painting - and how the pandemic accelerated her return to her original passion. Now, she's redefining what a painting can be by blending traditional oil work with technology to create pieces that literally come to life.

We talk about:

• Her unexpected path from film editing to full-time painter
• The technology behind her animated paintings (and why it’s not AI)
• How travel fuels creativity and perspective
• The reality of running a gallery in the River Arts District
• Why belief - not talent - is often what separates successful artists
• Letting go of perfection and knowing when to stop

Plus: rapid-fire questions, studio habits, and why "mud happens" might be the next great artist merch.

If you've ever questioned your creative path, struggled with pricing your work, or wondered how artists actually make it - this episode is for you.

Tools & Materials Mentioned in This Episode

• R&F oil pigment sticks (modern color set)
• R&F oil pigment sticks (landscape color set)
• Marabu watercolor crayons
• Gamblin oil paints
• Letter to my Daughter: A Novel by George Bishop
• A Happy Pocket Full of Money by David Cameron Gikandi
• 310 Art

As an Amazon Associate, we may earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. 

About The Art Confidential

The Art Confidential is a podcast about how the art world really works. Hosts Jacqui Fehl and Andreina Bates sit down with artists, gallery owners, consultants, and other insiders for candid conversations about building a creative life—from studio practice to sales, exhibitions, and the realities behind the scenes.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode exploring the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping today’s art world.

Connect with us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartconfidential

Website: https://theartconfidential.com

In this episode of The Art Confidential, Jacqui flips the script and interviews co-host Andreina Bates about her journey from Venezuela to the American art world.

Andreina shares what it was like growing up in a family of strong women, studying engineering in college after moving to the United States at just 17, and discovering her creative voice much later in life—after becoming a mother of twins.

What started as a curiosity about watercolor eventually turned into a full artistic career, gallery representation, and a studio in Asheville’s River Arts District. Along the way, Andreina talks about learning to trust her instincts, navigating difficult gallery experiences, balancing art with another career, and embracing the parts of herself she once tried to hide.

This conversation explores the messy, honest path many artists take before they ever call themselves “an artist.”

If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s too late to start creating—or how artists actually build a career—this episode is for you.

About The Art Confidential

The Art Confidential is a podcast about how the art world really works. Hosts Jacqui Fehl and Andreina Bates sit down with artists, gallery owners, consultants, and other insiders for candid conversations about building a creative life—from studio practice to sales, exhibitions, and the realities behind the scenes.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode exploring the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping today’s art world.

Connect with us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartconfidential

Website: https://theartconfidential.com

In this episode of The Art Confidential, Jacqui Fehl and Andreina Bates share the everyday tools, habits, and rituals that shape their creative lives.

From favorite art supplies and unexpected studio hacks to music playlists, messy studios, and the power of creative play, they reveal the practical things that keep their art practice moving forward.

The conversation explores the materials they love most—from charcoal and graphite to pigment sticks and water-soluble crayons—as well as unconventional tools like yogurt lids used as paint palettes.

They also talk about studio energy, creative momentum, and why waiting for the “perfect time” to create can hold artists back.

The episode wraps up with a rapid-fire round of studio questions covering favorite supplies, studio snacks, music, and creative habits.

About The Art Confidential

The Art Confidential is a podcast about how the art world really works. Hosts Jacqui Fehl and Andreina Bates sit down with artists, gallery owners, consultants, and other insiders for candid conversations about building a creative life—from studio practice to sales, exhibitions, and the realities behind the scenes.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode exploring the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping today’s art world.

Connect with us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartconfidential

Website: https://theartconfidential.com

Welcome to the first episode of The Art Confidential.

Hosts Jacqui Fehl and Andreina Bates turn the microphone on each other to introduce themselves and share the stories behind their art practices.

In this candid conversation, they talk about the realities of being working artists—from the myth of effortless confidence to the challenge of balancing art with full-time jobs, family life, and creative self-doubt. They also explore how supportive artistic communities can replace competition with collaboration.

The episode also reveals how the idea for The Art Confidential began: two artists in Asheville’s River Arts District wanting deeper conversations about creativity, careers, and what really happens behind the scenes in the art world.

Future episodes will feature artists, gallery owners, and other creative professionals as Jacqui and Andreina learn alongside their listeners.

About The Art Confidential

The Art Confidential is a podcast about how the art world really works. Hosts Jacqui Fehl and Andreina Bates sit down with artists, gallery owners, consultants, and other insiders for candid conversations about building a creative life—from studio practice to sales, exhibitions, and the realities behind the scenes.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode exploring the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping today’s art world.

Connect with us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartconfidential

Website: https://theartconfidential.com

Welcome to The Art Confidential — the podcast where the art world gets refreshingly real.

Hosted by mixed media artists Jacqui Fehl and Andreina Bates, this show dives into honest conversations about building a creative life. From studio practices and creative breakthroughs to gallery relationships, marketing, and the realities of making a living as an artist, nothing is off the table.

Each episode features candid discussions with artists, gallery owners, consultants, or other art-world insiders who share their experiences, lessons learned, and practical advice for navigating the creative industry.

If you’re an artist, collector, or someone curious about how the art world really works, you’re in the right place.

🎧 Follow the show now so you don’t miss our first full episode.

About The Art Confidential

The Art Confidential is a podcast about how the art world really works. Hosts Jacqui Fehl and Andreina Bates sit down with artists, gallery owners, consultants, and other insiders for candid conversations about building a creative life—from studio practice to sales, exhibitions, and the realities behind the scenes.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode exploring the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping today’s art world.

Connect with us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartconfidential

Website: https://theartconfidential.com