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.
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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.
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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.
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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'.
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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.
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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!
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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'.
