After completing an “Artist’s Way” group with Laura I reached out to an old friend who was starting to try his hand at visual arts – he’s a poet and a writer. We converse every week about our art in a mutually supportive way as suggested by Laura and Julia Cameron. We had to have our conversations via email because he lives in Western Canada and I’m in GA but it worked well. Then another dear old friend of mine started talking to me about how to go about selling her art work and how to get “unstuck.” I suggested she join in on the email discussions which might help to inspire and motivate her.
Everything was going along pretty well, we were creating and putting our work out there for the world to see when my friend made a comment that hurt. I was very proud of a set of pieces I made but my friend who had been so supportive until that moment crushed me with one comment. I was devastated. How could a “friend” be so cold and crewel? If my friends don’t like my work, how can I expect the public to like my work? It was time to put away the clay and get a day job.
You see, my mind can do some serious quantum leaps.
So I had to sit down and really think about this person, our friendship, the context of the comment and my feelings at that place in time. I had to determine if I really felt any malice was intended (no), if I’ve been misjudging this person for the last 20 or 30 years (no) and if it’s ok for others to not love my work (no…ok, it’s alright for a minute but they should come around eventually). Seriously, I had to determine if I had enough trust in myself to expose the part of me that I put into my art. It’s a huge risk, as artists we stand there naked and exposed with all the soft spots marked as targets. Yet when someone likes our work, when a gallery or shop will put faith in our work, when a customer buys a piece it’s like a hug from the world.
Precious Water Bowl by Lori Buff
Lori Buff is a successful artist and website designer from East Atlanta Village where she lives with her partner and five dogs. Lori enjoys working in the garden, riding motorcycles and doing volunteer work but when she's not busy running around, she can be found engrossed in a good book.
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Wow, Lori – good for you! And you are right about our soft spots being vulnerable, but that’s the only way the love can get to them, too.
So true, and so worth it.
Thank you Laura, for bringing “The Artist Way” into my life.
what a great reflection, here, Lori. and your brave, clear honesty is just striking. sure, those quantum leaps can happen–but i really like how you (next) broke things down into sub-parts to understand (for you) where things went awry. well said indeed…good for you, for having the guts to be so vulnerable AND so brave too.