I read a blog recently where the question was asked ’do you doubt your work?’. That got me thinking about the subject and ask myself whether it is a good thing, or a bad thing, to have doubts and what effect does that have on your work and on your progression and growth as an artist.

Here’s some food for thought:
• do you doubt your work
• do you look at it and see all this is wrong, or do you see nothing wrong at all
• do you put everything you can into each work, ie finish it to the degree you want it, or do you leave it feeling unsatisfied, feeling perhaps that it should be better but you are not capable of making it better
• do you doubt yourself
• do you doubt your skills
• do you doubt that you are a ’real’ artist
• do you seek perfection, never being quite pleased or satisfied
• are you your own worst critic, focusing on every little imperfection instead of leaving well enough alone
• if you feel no doubt, are you too confident, have you stopped growing
• where is the line between expecting too much of yourself or expecting too little
• where is the line between perfection and overdone
• where is the line between a work that is fresh and not overdone, and a work that was finished too soon and really needed more work.

As artists, we can be our own worst critics. On the one hand, we can sometimes focus on every little imperfection instead of seeing the picture as a whole. That can be counterproductive. On the other hand, we need to be critical of our work, we need to try and see where and how the work could have been better, at least as a lesson learned for the next painting. But we also need to give ourselves a pat on the back for those things that turned out well. We need to keep in mind what stage we are at, ie beginner, intermediate or advanced, or struggling to learn vs experienced and accomplished.

I believe it’s a good thing to have some doubt, to question ourselves, to question whether we have done our best, or whether we need to try harder next time. But too much doubt just means a lack of self confidence and that is not good as it will be reflected in the quality of our work, through a lack of spontaneity and assurance and personality.

If you’d like to read the blog I referred to above, here’s a link to it. There are some interesting comments. ’Doubt’

Suzette

"I am doubtful of any talent, so whatever I choose to be, will be accomplished only by long study and work." (Jackson Pollock)

Yesterday was July 31, the day to make the draw for a $500 gift certificate good for any of my work. A while back, I told you about my raffle experiment. I thought, in these days of poor economic times, what better way to effectively sell some work than by offering $10 raffle tickets to visitors to my studio and shows, the prize being a $500 gift certificate. The maximum number of tickets would be 50, and if I sold them all, I would raise exactly $500 and some lucky person would go home with artwork of their choice.

So yesterday, I asked fellow artist and studio mate Jack Prasad to do the draw for me. I had a lot of friends and collectors who bought tickets and I did not want to be involved with picking the winning ticket. So Jack picked the winning ticket and signed the back of it as my witness.

I am pleased to announce that the winner is Darcy Colwell of Maple Ridge. Darcy is a friend and collector of my work and I am very happy for her. I called her yesterday and she is thrilled and in fact already has her eye on one or two paintings that she would like to take home.

So, was the experiment a success and would I do it again?

Most of the people I mentioned it to thought it was a good idea and were happy to buy a ticket. However, I realized rather quickly that I had to ’sell’ the tickets, in other words, I had to mention it to people, explain how it works and ask them if they would like to buy a ticket. That, as I quickly found out, I did not like to do. I am not a sales person and I did not like having to do that. I had a sign up on my table and after a while, I didn’t mention it anymore, leaving it to people to read the sign and ask about it if they were interested.

In the end, I did not sell all 50 tickets, but I am not unhappy with the results. And no, I would not do it again for that very reason, that I did not like having to sell them, I wanted them to sell themselves.

It’s interesting to know that I have similar feelings about selling my own work. When I do outdoor shows, or when visitors come to my studio, sometimes I talk to people in depth, talking about the work and my techniques, sometimes I just exchange pleasantries, sometimes I just say hello and only speak to them if they linger and are obviously interested. I have grown tired of in-depth conversations about my work unless the viewer is obviously interested. I do not want to have to do a ’sell’ job to people who are not interested in buying, for both our sakes.

Could that be why my sales are not as good as I’d like them to be? Would sales be better if I did more of a sales job? Interesting thought and one I’ll leave for another day.

Suzette

"Don’t aim at success – the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue... as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a course greater than oneself."   (Viktor Frankl)