I asked for input last week on what topics you’d like covered in my upcoming blog posts.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond with wonderful ideas and kind words about the blog.
One comment embedded in an email struck a chord. It went along these lines.
“I just attended a sidewalk art show downtown. The artist who sold the most work made ceramic donuts, real-sized, glazed and candied. He displayed them on a peg board — very cute — and the peg board was picked clean later in the day. So … beautiful pieces were still for sale, while the well-done but utterly frivolous donuts made a killing. My artist’s heart can like many things. I’m just wondering if I should encourage it to like kitsch.”
And my emphatic answer is ‘NO’. The world is full of kitsch. We don’t need any more.
But I think the more interesting underlying question is ‘should I make art that I ‘think’ will sell?”
I’ll admit. I’ve done this. I’ve tried to guess the market and make paintings that I thought people wanted. Everybody loves trees, don’t they? So, I set out to make some tree images. But I’ll tell you they lacked the same soul and spirit as my other work. And I know it.
With the exception of one image. It’s an image that was taken the morning we finished cleaning out my parent’s house after they were gone. I walked the property and took some amazing images. One of those images has made its way into my paintings…..and people react to it differently than the other tree images I’ve made. I think it’s subconscious, but viewers know when you’ve put your heart and spirit into a piece.
I recall a story photographer Keith Carter told a group of us one night. Keith and a friend, a scientist, were discussing the differences in their work. The scientist said that his work would get done with or without him. It was just a matter of time. He then added: But if an artist doesn’t do his work, then the work never gets done.
This friend of Keith’s wasn’t referring to artwork that was kitsch or created trying to second guess the market. That’s not what creating art is about. It’s about finding your voice (I know there I go again on finding a voice) and connecting to a viewer through an emotion, feeling or mood. That’s why people buy Art.
Now I know that people can open their wallet for a myriad of other reasons. But I must ask, are you doing this just for the money? Because I can tell you there are easier ways to make money. Or is there a fire inside of you that needs to express itself?
Do you want someone to put a donut up on their refrigerator, and a month from now, or a year later your art ends up in a junk drawer? Or do you want someone to love your piece as much as you do, cherish, and honor it, because it also feeds their soul?
I guess at the end of the day, the choice is yours. But PLEASE choose making Art that comes from inside over trying to figure out what you ‘think’ will sell. The world needs more of what only you can create.
Would love to know your thoughts in the comments below. Have you ever created art because you ‘thought’ it would sell? How did it turn out?
Be well….be creative,
Love this
Thanks Kay!!
I would love to sell donuts!
My art are simply moments captured in time and a result of me chasing the light.
Selling donuts would be a nice contribution to my travel bucket
If your objective is to sell stuff, then you should make stuff that sells. If your objective is making things important to you, then you might not sell as much. Or anything at all. The similar question comes up in applying to juried shows or other competitions. If your objective is to get chosen then you make stuff to get chosen. If your objective is to be heard, then you might not be chosen.
In both cases, you might be fooling yourself. Purchasers and jurors are not always easily manipulated. By trying to please them, you can accomplish neither.
I agree wholeheartedly:)
Oh Clare!
Straight to the heart. Just can’t get enough of you! Keep sharing!
Shima
Thanks Shima!!
No donuts here. I guess it is similar to my early desire to do science that mattered, not just do experiments in cows or wombats that someone else had already done in mice or people.
Yes, very similar. Doing something that matters……
It can me much harder sometimes, but in my opinion, well worth it.
I so agree with you about why we buy art – it tugs at our emotions. We should, in turn, create our art with our emotions as well. If someone buys it, then they are in turn getting a part of us with it.
Great advice as usual Clare.
Thanks Nancy!
I so appreciate this blog and your voice Clare! I still haven’t found my niche/my voice in my work and in this moment am feeling a little stuck. I’m thinking its s great time to re watch the videos from your course and begin to play with my photographs and wax. Thank you for continuing to inspire me. The part of this blog that is sticking for me is that people feel the heart and emotions in the work… Thank you again, Tracie
That’s exactly it Tracie. Go back…..and do the assignment at the beginning of the class. Figure out what feeling, emotions, moods you are drawn to in other people’s work. Sit with those feelings. Let them ruminate. These are what resonate with you…..go about creating work with these emotions. You’ll connect to yourself and your viewer. Try identifying some music that also has those emotions. Play it while you work. See how it changes your images. This isn’t easy…..and many artists don’t ever get it. Take the time you need!
Perfect. The love and heart that goes into work is what makes it worth everything.
It does indeed make it worth everything!
I soooo needed to read this today! Thank you!
I am sooooo glad it rang true for you today Mel!
Wonderful question Clare. 8 years ago I started selling my work online and my online shop had these wonderful vintage map jewelry pieces that sold and were written up about in our paper. I received a lot of recognition for these but truthfully I didn’t enjoy making them because my heart was truly on my photography and my need to somehow figure out a way to incorporate my photography with art which is when I started to find encaustic wax. Now in the past few years, life has me really wanting to only focus on this part of my life and not the “donut” side of my business. It’s what I love and I need to get better with all of it…my photography and incorporating encaustics into it. Finding my voice and following my feelings and allowing that to come out, regardless of whether something sells is where I want to be. It’s scary to me….but I am becoming more open as I age to allowing that to come forth. Thank you for this post! I love it!
I with you all the way on this Raemi. It is indeed scary. Just think how wonderful you will feel when you get to the other side though!
🙂
You know when you are creating art that you are in love with, the Adrenalin rushes, the heart pounds and you can’t get enough of it. You know it is just perfect, even if it is not and you are not worried about what any one else will think, just living in the moment oblivious to the outside world, just you and your lover. Stay true to yourself and your art, be passionate with your art. No donuts 🍩 please !
Absolutely Aileen……listening to the Adrenalin rush is so very powerful. We know in our heart of hearts when something is exactly what we need to create in that moment.
I know I didn’t respond to your “voice” blog but I have been thinking deeply about it ever since. Today’s topic relates to that. I do both, make for sale and make for pure expression. In fact though, both sell but probably the voice pieces sell more though less frequently. When I’m doing donuts I try to stretch on the technical side to keep it interesting. On the voice side I allow myself huge freedom to fail and whatever time I need. These are not deadline pieces.
The result of all that thinking about voice is that I’ve begun writing messages on my photographs in pencil before I wax. They probably won’t show in the end but they are in there as missives, prayers and affirmations to and for the world. Even the donuts have more intention and a sense of purpose somehow.
I love that you are putting messages in your work Carol. I do the same. Before I even start, I write on the substrate. For me, I know that people will never see the words, but it sets my intention for the work and give me a grounding place to start.
Needed this! Thank you!!
You are so welcome Malissa. I learn so much in writing these pieces as well:)
Excellent post – great way to express what is sometimes discussed in art classes and in coffee shop chats among creatives. Thank you.
Thanks Kathleen…..I can only hope that I’m adding to the conversation:)
I like making both! My overhead is taken care of by the “donuts” I create that are proven best sellers. That financial lift gives me great freedom to create the art that I’m inspired to create from the heart. It’s like a well balanced scale and works well for me.
And for some, it works. I’m so glad it’s working for you Angel. Something tells me that your ‘donuts’ still have some soul and spirit to them!
Amen to that! Thanks Clare.
Thanks Dave!
Love this post and I go through same process when I’m not selling at gallery. It is very difficult for me to make myself go into studio to work if I’m working on what I think might sell. However, like you, when I’m working on a piece I love, the woking process is full of joy and seems to flow. I find eventually the right person will find the right piece that speaks to him/her, I just wait for that person to love a piece I love.
And eventually that right person will find your piece……that is of course, if you work on getting it out into the world for others to see!
I once had a gallery director tell me that I put my heart into my art. It was the first time I felt like I had been recognized. I have often considered trying to play the guessing game of what will the public want to purchase but it always comes down to my looking at a piece of my work and asking myself if it truly resonates within myself. Did I dig deep enough? If not, out it goes. I have to be honest with myself and through my art and if it only touches one person, well, that is the right person. Thanks, Clare for the reminder about being true to ourselves.
Love this Paula. Thanks for sharing.
Well said.
Thanks Mic.
Great article. Nice to hear I’m not alone in the frustration. I prefer to make what I love! If it sells, all the better. Otherwise, it’s just a job and I don’t need another one of those. If I love what I make, I love making it. And it’ll show. Thanks Clare.
YESSSS.
Exactly what I needed to read today! Thank you…again!
You’re welcome Dianne. Glad it hit a chord with you today:)
Yes, yes, YES to such great sharing here today. The ultimate bonus of making what your insides tell you to make means you are doing heart and soul work, not production work and that just feels better all the way around. For me, if it sells – terrific, I can buy more supplies! If not, I have something meaningful to remind me of a life well loved. Thank you, Clare, for bringing this up again and adding more clarity to a very tough topic for artists.
Thanks for your insights Diana:)
I live in Australia and often enter art prizes. It gets the name about and hopefully might result in a sale. Sometimes the judges identities are made public, sometimes not, but if they are then I’m sure some people create art they think may appeal to that judge. That way madness lies!But we all need verification that our work is ok, and getting our work accepted in the first place feels good, even if it doesn’t sell.But art prizes can be really bad for you as you put all your hope into getting accepted without remembering that all art is subjective, and every judge is subjective. It’s hard not to take it personally and go into a slump and turn your canvasses to the wall, but I try to make myself get up, and just go on.
Yes Judy, you just have to dust yourself off and go on. The same image might win a prize with one judge and not even be accepted by another.
No donuts. They are fattening and clog the arteries.. so to speak. Sometimes people buy the ‘donuts’ because its what they can afford at the time or they see a lot of other people buying them and it fills the need to fit in. Like mob mentality.
I make what makes me happy and fulfilled. If someone appreciates it enough to want to buy it, then I may or may not sell it. Creating is what feeds my heart and my soul. Selling can offer some validation but as long as I am happy with the finished piece, then I am at peace.
Lovely…..as long as you are happy with the finished piece, then you are at peace.
No donuts for me either. They kill my digestive system. I see “donuts” selling all the time at the art fairs, and I can’t do it. I wish my work would sell better, but I guess fine pastry is more difficult than the quick and easy donut you can just pick up in your hand and go. I make what I like. If someone else appreciates it, great. If it evokes an emotion, great. If I sell it, great. If not, that’s great too. I just like the feeling I get from making the piece. And, as for voice, I call it eye. And I’m still trying to find it after 9 years.
It can take a lifetime to completely develop your voice Winnie…..as it can be constantly changing. I guess that the great thing about art…..we get to change our work as we change.
Ive been self employed for 40 yeats, doing what i love in various incarnations. I am not a great business person by any means, but have managed to support myself. Everytime i have tried to sell donuts, my work dries up and. I get crispy around the edges. The same is proving true w encaustics. Seems if i am not true to inner self, I die prematurely.
Thanks Clare….
Love this Robin. Thanks.
Amazing thoughts here Clare. I do believe that the photo you took of the tree on your parents property was different than the others. I appreciate those moments when art melds with an energy and becomes something beautiful. Thank you for the thoughts.
Thanks LynnAnn…I too love when art melds with an energy to become something beautiful.
I’m late to the party with thoughts on this post, Clare. I love the thoughts you shared and completely agree. When it comes from the heart there is almost a magnetic pull, an inexplicable force that resonates with the right person, and then that creates a human connection between us and becomes the reason someone buys your work. Thank you for the reminder not to cave into producing work for reasons that have little meaning to the world.
So nicely said Emily. Thanks for posting……it’s never too late to add to the discussion.