This week my frustration is around artist-targeted phishing scams. Why why why must scammers feel like artists are good targets? Isn't this biz hard enough without having to be suspicious of every person who reaches out wanting to purchase a piece or hire for a commission? The emotional rollercoaster of yay! a sale - but they preferred to pay via PayPal, ok, so sent an invoice -and to go through the logistics during an already busy week to get the piece from the studio, make sure I had the right size packing materials to be ready to ship... only to then be ghosted, followed by a bunch of weird texted & emailed links trying to get me to click on things. Then followed by an "international gallery opportunity" that upon closer scrutiny was just yet another way they were trying to get me to click on dubious links. Sigh. No easy answer on this other than a reminder to always be vigilant. (And definitely don't ship until payment confirmed - I didn't thankfully) But I wish I could go back to that nice happy feeling when I thought I had a real sale.
Okay. I'll go first....*deep breath*...so as I mentioned on Trophy Tuesday, I'm doing this year long course which focuses on portraiture. Sooooo many things have pointed me in this direction over the years that it feels like things are (finally?!) clicking into place. Which is GREAT. BUT. (you knew there was one right?) The outward response has been OVERWHELMINGLY positive. Like people coming out of the woodwork to say Amazing! or Terrific! And it feels lovely except where WERE they for the last 25 years?!? Was my work previously so awful or misunderstood or unappealing? And intellectually I Get It! Faces are recognizable. Representative work is understandable. But it's taking a bit of the learning curve glow off this new work. How...HOW...does one move forward without feeling resentful or mustering up some gratitude for this journey? Is the key NOT to share this new path? Gotta say. I feel such shame at being cranky about folks LIKING my work! But there you have it.
Inspired to reply without knowing you or your work, simply as a fellow artist who had a similar moment awhile back. The thing is, even if the new work is completely different than what came before, you're coming at that new work with ALL the things you learned and the experience you gained finding your voice in the previous work. Which is likely contributing to how strong, and how much this new work is "clicking" with other people - if that makes sense?
Love the phrase in Marianne's artist description, "tender approach to design and art.." hmmm, something to think about.
This week my frustration is around artist-targeted phishing scams. Why why why must scammers feel like artists are good targets? Isn't this biz hard enough without having to be suspicious of every person who reaches out wanting to purchase a piece or hire for a commission? The emotional rollercoaster of yay! a sale - but they preferred to pay via PayPal, ok, so sent an invoice -and to go through the logistics during an already busy week to get the piece from the studio, make sure I had the right size packing materials to be ready to ship... only to then be ghosted, followed by a bunch of weird texted & emailed links trying to get me to click on things. Then followed by an "international gallery opportunity" that upon closer scrutiny was just yet another way they were trying to get me to click on dubious links. Sigh. No easy answer on this other than a reminder to always be vigilant. (And definitely don't ship until payment confirmed - I didn't thankfully) But I wish I could go back to that nice happy feeling when I thought I had a real sale.
Okay. I'll go first....*deep breath*...so as I mentioned on Trophy Tuesday, I'm doing this year long course which focuses on portraiture. Sooooo many things have pointed me in this direction over the years that it feels like things are (finally?!) clicking into place. Which is GREAT. BUT. (you knew there was one right?) The outward response has been OVERWHELMINGLY positive. Like people coming out of the woodwork to say Amazing! or Terrific! And it feels lovely except where WERE they for the last 25 years?!? Was my work previously so awful or misunderstood or unappealing? And intellectually I Get It! Faces are recognizable. Representative work is understandable. But it's taking a bit of the learning curve glow off this new work. How...HOW...does one move forward without feeling resentful or mustering up some gratitude for this journey? Is the key NOT to share this new path? Gotta say. I feel such shame at being cranky about folks LIKING my work! But there you have it.
Inspired to reply without knowing you or your work, simply as a fellow artist who had a similar moment awhile back. The thing is, even if the new work is completely different than what came before, you're coming at that new work with ALL the things you learned and the experience you gained finding your voice in the previous work. Which is likely contributing to how strong, and how much this new work is "clicking" with other people - if that makes sense?
Thanks Sara. It totally makes sense. And maybe it's *my* satisfaction for this new phase vs the subject matter. I'm gonna fly with that! 😁