She went from not wanting to call herself an artist to her first solo show!

Rhonda Doré went from cautious about calling herself an artist, to having her first solo show, and later getting ‘Best of Show’ after allowing herself to experiment with her art.

Despite having painted for almost a decade, Rhonda had doubts about calling herself an artist. She used strategies from the Mindset Mastery program to overcome these self-doubts, and find the time to paint- even with a demanding full-time job.

Since taking two Savvy Painter workshops – How to Develop a Relationship With the Right Gallery as well as Mindset Mastery, Rhonda has had her first solo show and now proudly calls herself an artist.

Meet Rhonda:

Rhonda Doré is an abstract painter and collage artist living in El Paso, Texas. She is a creative director at an advertising company but would like to transition more of her time to her art.

Her work is in private collections in the United States, England, and Scotland. She has been an award winner in the National Collage Society’s annual juried exhibit and has shown her work in exhibitions nationally and in the Southwest. You’ll find her work at The Art Avenue Gallery in El Paso, Texas, and often at Laura Carrillo Design in El Paso.

Am I a real artist?

Even though she has been painting for well over a decade, Rhonda struggled with calling herself an artist.

“I think there was still a lot of doubt in my mind, whether I was even an artist or not. And I had been painting for at least ten years, but that didn’t seem to matter to my mind.”

Despite her dedication in the studio and the validation of selling her work, Rhonda still didn’t quite feel like a legitimate artist:

Pushing past the roadblocks

Rhonda has been listening to the Savvy Painter Podcast almost since the beginning.

About two years ago, Rhonda joined one of the very first Savvy Painter workshops How to Develop a Relationship with the Right Gallery.  Not long after, Rhonda started seeing amazing results:

Within a few months of Antrese’s course on getting into a gallery, I not only got into one, but had a successful solo show. She helped me break that self-imposed limited thinking and move along a more productive path. Not everyone’s going to have the same result, but everyone will take away something liberating. She’s really good at re-directing your thinking.”

With that success under her belt, when Rhonda saw Mindset Mastery open for enrollment, she saw the opportunity to work on some of the issues she was having with the ‘artist’ label.

I had a problem telling people, “I’m an artist,” or “I’m a painter,” or “I’m a collage artist,” or any of the things that I am, I had trouble saying it.”

The 5 week Mindset Mastery program helped Rhonda get past the doubts she had about calling herself an artist and gave her concrete methods to deal with her inner critic. Rhonda also learned how to minimize distractions and focus her energy on the right things when she is in her studio.

Rhonda has a demanding schedule as creative director at an advertising agency, so optimizing the time she does have to paint is crucial.

I am an artist!

Today, Rhonda proudly calls herself an artist. There’s no more hesitation when she says it.

And with a lot of hard work in the studio and on herself, Rhonda has been reaping the rewards.

She paints regularly now and has found a way to make her painting practice consistent, even with a demanding full-time job.

People are noticing too! She has had her first solo show, which sold well, and she has developed a great relationship with that gallery. She also won best of show with a painting that started out as an experiment.

But the best was one very important person’s reaction to seeing her work in a gallery for the first time:

Want to get results like Rhonda’s?

I will be launching my next program in the next couple of weeks! It is a six-month intensive course. You will design a goal that fits YOUR life. But not just any goal, I’ll make sure we design a goal that has real consequences for your art practice.

I’ll show you how to validate your idea and break it down into small steps that you absolutely can achieve. Not only that, but you will have weekly of check-ins and group phone calls to make sure that if you slip, you have someone to pull you right back up! You will have me and a community of artists to work through whatever it was that caused you to fall off the wagon.

Sign up for the early bird list now!

If you have been listening to the podcast for a while, you know how much I put into making sure people are comfortable and safe talking about their struggles. You know I go the extra mile to deliver value.

Now is your chance to work with me directly and connect with a dedicated group of artists who understand what you are going through and have your back.

Rhonda’s Paintings