How do you be an artist? How do you become one in the first place, and what sort of advice should you heed along the way? Is art a 'career', or a vocation? Do you need a studio or a dealer, and how do you find one? Are artists too competitive? How do they come up with ideas, and what is the point of the private view? Does financial success-or the lack of it-change an artist? What are the advantages of getting older? How do older artists look back on their earlier work, and is it possible for an artist to ever retire? Based upon advice from a huge roster of artists, dealers and curators; and encompassing every stage of an artist's life-from early works, to debut shows and mid and late-career-this book answers all the key questions that every artist has at some point asked themselves.

What if you could sit down with your favourite artist and ask them anything you liked - Life? Work? Inspiration? Based on new interviews and archival material from a huge roster of artists, this book does exactly that. Is art a 'career', a vocation or something else entirely? Do you need a studio or a dealer, and how do you find one? Does financial success - or the lack of it - change you? Should you read the reviews? Encompassing every stage of an artist's life - from early works to debut shows and mid- and late-career stages - this book allows artists to answer these key questions.