Commissions and Creativity

Are you an artist?  Have you been asked to create a commissioned piece?  How did you feel about that?  How do you handle commissions?

I suspect that some people thrive on them, can see them as a challenge to get their creative teeth into and love the ideas and energy that flows when creating something outside the realm of what they may normally consider doing.

[caption id="attachment_820" align="alignnone" width="206"] Pre-Goddess[/caption]

There is another side to the coin though and if commissions leave you feeling blocked you may need to find a way to say 'no' gracefully.

In the past I have created commissioned beads, eager to try some new technique or thought process, but I have come to understand they are not what I want to be doing.

[caption id="attachment_821" align="alignnone" width="300"] Early Goddess beads[/caption]

Recently I've had requests for certain styles of beads I have made and sold in the past.  Each time someone would ask me if I was going to make 'more of those....' my immediate response would be - 'yes, I hope to have some in the near future'.

A recent conversation on Jani Franck's Blooming Business Facebook group got me doing some serious thinking.

[caption id="attachment_824" align="alignnone" width="289"] Evolving Goddess[/caption]

I learned some important things.  I learned why I said 'yes' to each of these requests -- turns out there was more than one reason.  I said 'yes' because I didn't want to let people down, I said 'yes' because I wanted to keep customers and make sales and I said 'yes' because I honestly thought it would be no big deal to make more of a certain design.

While these might be good reasons to say 'yes', I now realise I had a bigger reason for saying 'no'.

[caption id="attachment_823" align="alignnone" width="266"] Perfecting shapes[/caption]

I found myself not wanting to light my torch,  feeling blocked and weighed down by the thought of recreating beads I had made before.  Several designs loomed as deterrents to my creativity and joy.  I wasn't just not making these requested beads - I wasn't making any beads!

How does this affect potential buyers?  At best they may drift away forgetting that I exist, at worse they will come to see me as someone who doesn't deliver what she says she will.

[caption id="attachment_822" align="alignnone" width="266"] Learning skills - becoming more intricate[/caption]

The lack of momentum, the not following through, the finding excuses not to torch all left me feeling guilty which added to the list of reasons I didn't want to make beads.

At this point I probably should say -- I am eternally grateful to anyone who has ever bought one of my beads or even requested a particular style.  It's a huge thing to feel accepted and validated by somebody else - to have my art appreciated and purchased gives me the ability and desire to continue.

BUT  I now know that next time someone asks me for a bead 'like this' or 'one of those you made before', I will be proactive.  I will gently explain that I cannot guarantee that I will replicate any of my previous designs, that this uniqueness  is a part of what makes them special.  I may make something similar in the future, but the designs are always evolving and changing --- AND improving!

[caption id="attachment_825" align="alignnone" width="300"] Gaining skills, evolving desings[/caption]

As artists we are not mass producers, we create the ideas that flow through us.  To be true to ourselves and our art - AND our customers we need to understand the things that make us feel blocked and if necessary how to politely say 'no'.