We were lucky to catch up with Bianca Turner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Bianca, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I’ve been creating art for more than 22 years. However, at the beginning it started just as a hobby. I used this hobby as a meditation technique to relax after spending long hours, working in a corporate job. It all started with a small artist kit that my significant other brought home, more for fun. Since then I haven’t stopped painting. I had my first art exhibition in Moorpark, California about 10 years later. Then, more local exhibitions followed. Being an economist, as a full time job, I decided to start doing some PR for my art work and see where that plan would take me. Therefore, I built my first artist website. Once I put my website online and started to analyze the art market and check what the latest tools are for the art PR, I began to have more and more opportunities to exhibit my work. Seven years ago I took a leave of absence from work due to some health issues and I started to focus full time on my artistic career. It was hard at the beginning because I took a huge financial risk and I had no idea how to navigate through the art world. But, having a PhD in economics, at least I knew how to do research about this new industry I was in. Half of the day I was studying about the business of art and the rest of the time I was painting because I knew that I needed an art inventory. Little by little I started to build up my artistic career and also I accrued more and more knowledge about art and marketing. At some point in my career I started to be approached by other artists (either they were self-taught or graduates from the visual arts schools/universities who needed help with their own PR). So I found the niche in the market: to help other artists to become successful by using the same tools that I’ve used. The next step was to put all of my knowledge in writing and that’s how the book “The Business of Art” was born. Currently, I am in Europe (in particular in Romania) where I am lecturing from my book at the Faculty of Visual Arts and Design Timisoara. From Romania I will most likely present my book in other universities in Europe. As an artist, in the last seven years I had approximately 50 exhibitions around the world, I painted almost 900 works and sold about more than 40% of them and I also won various art awards from Europe and the USA. In Los Angeles I am represented by two galleries (The Artists’ Gallery and Open Mind Art Space), where I had solo exhibition shows in the past. This year I will continue to have solo exhibitions in Romania and Los Angeles. Being an art influencer on Instagram also helps with taking my artistic career further. I have never returned to my previous corporate job and I found out that doing what you are passionate about makes you feel that you are in a permanent vacation.

Bianca, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a self-taught artist. I have a PhD in economics and post-graduate studies in marine biology and oceanography. I am considering of getting a second PhD in visual arts. I am a full-time artist, art curator, art consultancy specialist and lecturer at various universities. I am also the author of “The Business of Art” (lectures and seminaries). On the instagram I am an art influencer and painter. My work is provocative, militant, and I have a message in every composition I create. I use vibrant colors because I am inspired by the nature and the wonderful weather we have in Los Angeles. However, my art focuses on societal issues that surround me, political matters, and different causes where I can help as an artist by raising funds through charity foundations. I am passionate about helping other people through my art and bring awareness to the world about issues like: human rights violation, climate change, tyrannical political regimes and their way of ruling, wildlife conservation, the industry of war versus the industry of peace, gender inequality, and more. The quote that I created for my brand is “art is the definition of infinity” (it is also a hashtag that I use on Instagram) and I am a firm believer that my job as an artist is to be the hope for the future generations.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

We all know that on social media, the algorithm changes pretty often. I would say that understanding the algorithm, adapting every time when is changed and following the rules are the main factors to keep your social media accounts going. In order to achieve growth, I found it successful to post daily (especially on Instagram), to be honest about myself, to share not only pictures, stories or reels of my art but also stories about myself and my life (because people are interested to see the real person that’s behind “the scenes”), to always be polite with your audience and interact with them as much as possible, to work only with organic followers and to be humble but passionate about your work. Even you don’t know who is on the other side of the screen when your work is viewed, the public senses honesty, and other personality traits that the artist/influencer has. Of course, posting original art, ideas, teaching other how to be successful and working hard helps a lot when you are an influencer.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Sometimes people say that artists or athletes should not get involved in any matters other than their field of work. I respectfully disagree with this notion because I think that every person can make a difference and be the hope for the next generations. Moreover, the artists have the capability to reach out to a broader audience when they exhibit their work and in this way they can always send a message to the society, to change it in better. I am aware about the fact that art should be without borders when we express ourselves. However, I also think that an artist’s job is to create emotions through their art that can change the world into a better place.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.biancaturner.art/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biancaturnerart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inall4all/