We recently connected with Alan Furst and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Alan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

I started painting for personal reasons as a way of self care. I posted what I was doing on social media to my small circle of friends.

My friend Larry reached out and asked me for a commission piece of him riding his bike. It sounded like a fun project so I agreed not expecting any payment.

He was so thrilled with the final painting and hung it in a prominent place in his home. The surprise came when he insisted on paying me for it. That was my first dollar I ever earned from painting!

Alan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I had previously been involved in aiding humanitarian workers in crisis situations. When the pandemic began countries shut down their borders and airlines stopped flying. My work load dried up and I took that as an opportunity to retire and begin a new chapter.

Reflecting on my life I felt I needed some way to express all the feelings and experiences I had the privilege of seeing over the previous number of years. So I picked up a brush and started painting. Those first paintings were not very good at all from a skill perspective but I was learning a new language.

The challenge was different than other challenges I had faced because it was about communication and how i related to others. I had to identify how I interpreted a moment in time emotively. Instead of looking for precise words to explain it, I sought for an image. After this I began to paint.

With each piece I did I experienced a growing satisfaction. Those unresolved matters in my mind settled down. I was very encouraged.

After more than a year I decided to have an open house and invite people to come and see my body of work. This was a defining moment for me and how I understood my art. Several people came and looked at my work. I noticed how people interacted with my paintings. They began to experience different emotions, memories, and stories. They would tell me what was going on in their minds as they considered a painting. This is when I realized that my art had become instrumental in creating a sacred space for people to share themselves with others.

It has been a few years now but this is what is behind my art and my pursuit: creating the opportunity for that sacred space to show up and give permission for someone to tell their story.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

If I had my way I would do nothing but paint all the time. However, after that first open house I held I realized that I had way too many paintings hanging around my house! And I kept creating more.

My family had an “intervention” of sorts and let me know that I had to start moving these pictures out. Another defining moment for me: I had to start marketing and selling. Ugh.

Social media is the elephant in the room. I think that it is unavoidable for growing a business.

I began just posting my art on Facebook. It did not take me long to realize that my audience was not growing there. So I expanded to Instagram. Building an audience there was much faster. Once I reached 1000 followers through posting, following, liking and commenting, I intentionally eased off the growth pedal and shifted my thinking to quality.

I looked for ways to meaningfully connect with people and converse. This was more invisible to people scanning my posts. The result is a growing circle of people who are connecting with my art.

Social media continues to challenge my learning curve. Some big lessons that I’ve learned include know who you are and what you want to accomplish, there’s always some “expert” ready to take your money, and don’t serve at the whims of algorithms.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

Oh, and NFTs. Just block them. Ignore them. Don’t go there.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alanjfurst.com
• Instagram: @art.by.alanfurst
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alan.furst