Podcast Summary: Art + Audience
Host: Stacy Bloomfield
Guest: Vanessa Piche
Episode: Ep. 37 – Vanessa Piche on Starting Over as an Artist: What Happens When You Lose Your Audience?
Date: December 16, 2025
Overview
In this honest and relatable episode, Stacy Bloomfield speaks with painter Vanessa Piche about the challenges of rebuilding an audience after relocating and the shifting art business landscape. The conversation dives into the realities of starting over artistically and entrepreneurially, particularly as digital platforms and buyer behaviors rapidly change. With candor and vulnerability, Stacy and Vanessa unpack why building (and keeping) an art audience feels harder than ever, the impact of societal and industry changes since 2020, and how resilience and openness to new possibilities remain essential for creative careers.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Vanessa’s Backstory & The Big Transition
- Vanessa’s journey: Vanessa spent 15 years building a thriving in-person art business in Rhode Island, relying heavily on art festivals and her brick-and-mortar store. She also launched a T-shirt line to complement her oil paintings.
- Relocation & radical change: Inheriting her grandparents’ farm in Indiana, Vanessa relocated from an established scene to rural life with animals—a huge lifestyle and business shift.
- Losing the audience: With the move, she lost her in-person customer base and faces the daunting task of starting over in a place without built-in art events or an existing personal network.
"My whole time I was really in person building my audience... mostly it was all in person with the T shirt line that I started and the oil paintings that made my whole season."
—Vanessa Piche [02:41]
The Struggle to Rebuild & The Broken “Funnel”
- Stacy and Vanessa both observe that the “organic growth” most artists depended on is stalling. Audiences aren’t converting, and acquiring new customers—vital for any creative business—has gotten much harder.
- Even seasoned artists with successful businesses are grappling with fewer “warm leads” and more unpredictable income.
"It's becoming harder and harder to get people to spend dollars with you, especially if they're not previous customers... Our top of funnel is really small right now."
—Stacy Bloomfield [05:22]
Platform Changes, Social Media Fatigue, & Industry Shakeups
- The recent news of Etsy’s CEO stepping down, with a drop in both shop owners and buyers, signals deep shifts industry-wide.
- Social media is unreliable: algorithms obscure artists’ posts, audiences drift, and even followers can’t reliably see work.
- The pain of invisibility: As Vanessa notes, even dedicated followers miss posts because content gets lost in feeds.
"I've had a few say, 'Well, I hope to see you on my feed, because I follow people and then I never see them again.' And I'm like, well, that's a problem."
—Vanessa Piche [08:01]
- TikTok success stories exist but usually follow relentless posting—there are no guaranteed formulas; what works for one artist is rare for another.
The Value (and Challenge) of In-Person Connection
- There’s a persistent theme that real-world events—retreats, shows, brick-and-mortar shops—build trust and lasting relationships in a way that pure online presence rarely does now.
- The Covid-19 pandemic fundamentally altered buyer behavior and, for some, severed the habit of shopping or mingling in person.
"A lot of my online sales came from people who bought from me in person already... So that was a lot of my online sales for people making a second or third purchase."
—Vanessa Piche [15:55]
- The “back corner at the art show” comparison for social platforms: Sometimes, no matter your effort, it feels like you’re invisible.
"It's like having a bad spot at an art show in the back corner. That's how Instagram is right now... nobody sees you."
—Vanessa Piche [09:56]
Where Do We Go From Here? Alternatives, Experiments, and Community
- Stacy and Vanessa debate whether the answer is returning to more physical, communal events, with ideas including:
- Organizing regional artist cooperatives and events
- Simple, intimate retreats and classes
- Combining in-person markets with online live-streams to serve both audiences
"What if it's different with TikTok influencers? What if what we need to do is make a list of the top 100 TikTok influencers for your niche... and then we cold mail them..."
—Stacy Bloomfield [19:59]
- The persistent need for experimentation: Mailing art samples to influencers, direct engagement, and doing the hands-on legwork many hope to automate away.
Aging Audience, Demographics & Niching Down
- Vanessa points out her most reliable buyers are over 50 and are far less likely to be online, challenging the notion that all audiences can be reached digitally.
"The median age of my art collectors was 50 to 75... they had the income and guess what? They're not always online. Half of those collectors don't go online."
—Vanessa Piche [23:17]
- Stacy questions what niching down really means now: perhaps it’s about literally showing up where your collectors are—in person.
The Importance of Resilience & Openness
- Seasons of struggle are inevitable; consistency and the willingness to try, pause, and try again is what differentiates sustainable artistic careers.
- Both women emphasize it’s normal—and survivable—for a business to have off years, and for the “right path” to be impossible to see until hindsight.
- Vanessa’s new mantra: “I’m open to possibilities.” [27:31]
- Stacy’s friend’s wisdom: “We’ve always had what we needed when we needed it.” [29:15]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On social media fatigue:
"What do we do whenever what has always worked doesn't work?"
—Stacy Bloomfield [08:17] -
On changing times:
"What if a year from now... the path you thought you were supposed to go on actually was a different path. And even though it all added up on paper, what you're supposed to do is even better, but totally out of left field. That's kind of my hope."
—Stacy Bloomfield [27:13] -
On keeping perspective:
"I've never had two years the same in all of my years in business... Next year will not be like this."
—Vanessa Piche [26:14] -
On trying new things:
"I'm open to possibilities. Right. Maybe I'm looking at things a little skewed. Maybe I need to open..."
—Vanessa Piche [27:31] -
Ending with humor and authenticity:
"There's great peace in chickens and poop too."
—Vanessa Piche [31:00]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- Vanessa’s background & the move: 02:41–04:14
- Losing her established audience & current challenges: 04:14–05:22
- The struggle to rebuild online/organic reach (“top of funnel”): 05:22–08:01
- Platform problems and social media fatigue: 08:01–09:56
- Parallels of in-person vs online trust, pandemic shifts: 11:35–13:55
- Potential solutions, going back to physical events, and creative experiments: 15:55–20:40
- Audience demographics & niching down: 23:12–24:23
- Resilience & acceptance of business “down years”: 26:14–28:34
- Final encouragement and wisdom: 29:15–31:00
Conclusion
Stacy and Vanessa offer no magic bullet but provide valuable solidarity, wisdom, and a host of questions worth considering for any artist in transition. If you’re struggling to reach your audience or questioning your next step, their conversation is a frank reminder that you aren’t alone—and that sometimes the next version of success requires both patience and a willingness to rethink everything.
Where to find Vanessa:
- Website: vanessapiche.com (under construction)
- Instagram/TikTok: @vanessapiche
- Facebook: Vanessa Piche
“If we're having this conversation, I feel like, you know, we are on the side that we are going to survive it. Because we're willing to have the conversation, and we're willing to look at things differently.”
—Vanessa Piche [28:12]