I've been thinking about what I said here in June.
I'm wrong, the rare compliments are the true gems. The usual ones are great, but they do loose their luster faster by fading from memory sooner. The rare ones are the ones that truly get tucked inside the mind and held onto as real treasured memories.
Time has a way of passing, and in passing, teaching.
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Showing posts with label lessons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lessons. Show all posts
Monday, July 6, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Measuring Success: it's not just in the money
It's a topic that I have been thinking about for awhile and it certainly comes up with every show that I do. Inevitably an organizer, or more frequently, other artists/artisans will ask "Was it successful?"
Very rarely now do I feel that a show has been a failure. It has to be a real bad one in a lot of ways to get that designation.
This weekend's Art Market in Fredericton was no exception. All the attending artists were asked to complete a survey with various questions measuring the success of the venue. Did we hear/see advertising for the event? What went right, what went wrong? What else could have been done? And the clincher of most events that have some amount of municipal, provincial or federal funding: Circle the number that represents your sales for the show.
The problem with evaluating the success of a show/sale totally in terms of actual sales at the event is that it never takes into consideration the other things that make it a personal success.
There is the amount of personal promotional effort that a person puts in. How many business cards and brochures were distributed? How many conversations did you have with people who have never seen your work before? How many people are seeing you again and are now getting interested in what you do? How many people were complimentary or just plain curious? How many names did you get to add to your contact list for the area in which the show was held?
Answering and measuring from that perspective can take a show with low sales numbers and turn it into a success that can built upon at a later event.
The surveys also don't address these possibilities either: If you teach in your medium, did you get new students? Were there any commissions or custom orders placed for your work?
Another avenue for success: Did you make a connection with another exhibitor or a visitor that may lead to another income stream, exhibition possibility or further recognition for your work?
And finally, one of my favorite ways to measure the success of a show: Was it fun and did I get to meet other artists and exchange ideas?
The Art Market in Fredericton was a raging success for me on a lot of fronts. There were sales and a couple of commissions. Lots of compliments and conversation. Plenty of cards and brochures out there now. No new names on my list, I'm really bad at that part yet. Met a lot of the other artists and had some great conversation with them. Got some new ideas for business too and may have snagged a couple of new students. Not bad for a rainy weekend in Freddy Beach.
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Very rarely now do I feel that a show has been a failure. It has to be a real bad one in a lot of ways to get that designation.
This weekend's Art Market in Fredericton was no exception. All the attending artists were asked to complete a survey with various questions measuring the success of the venue. Did we hear/see advertising for the event? What went right, what went wrong? What else could have been done? And the clincher of most events that have some amount of municipal, provincial or federal funding: Circle the number that represents your sales for the show.
The problem with evaluating the success of a show/sale totally in terms of actual sales at the event is that it never takes into consideration the other things that make it a personal success.
There is the amount of personal promotional effort that a person puts in. How many business cards and brochures were distributed? How many conversations did you have with people who have never seen your work before? How many people are seeing you again and are now getting interested in what you do? How many people were complimentary or just plain curious? How many names did you get to add to your contact list for the area in which the show was held?
Answering and measuring from that perspective can take a show with low sales numbers and turn it into a success that can built upon at a later event.
The surveys also don't address these possibilities either: If you teach in your medium, did you get new students? Were there any commissions or custom orders placed for your work?
Another avenue for success: Did you make a connection with another exhibitor or a visitor that may lead to another income stream, exhibition possibility or further recognition for your work?
And finally, one of my favorite ways to measure the success of a show: Was it fun and did I get to meet other artists and exchange ideas?
The Art Market in Fredericton was a raging success for me on a lot of fronts. There were sales and a couple of commissions. Lots of compliments and conversation. Plenty of cards and brochures out there now. No new names on my list, I'm really bad at that part yet. Met a lot of the other artists and had some great conversation with them. Got some new ideas for business too and may have snagged a couple of new students. Not bad for a rainy weekend in Freddy Beach.
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Friday, April 24, 2009
Fire the Customer
Last year a jewellery colleague and I were speaking about custom work.
I suspect that most of us have encountered the problem of being asked to produce an item that we have agreed to make and then find ourselves completely without inspiration or ability to meet the request. “What to do?” becomes the question.
You will recognize that you have fallen victim to this when you know that it will fail to meet the client’s expectations as well as your own.
This conundrum occurs most often when have already produced impressive work and receive numerous compliments from the client. They will go on at length about how wonderful the pieces are, how talented you are and how much they think that you are the answer to solving their problem of producing the work that they have in mind. Inevitably, this ego boost from their praise will lull us into a belief that we really can do what they want. Reality hits later back in the studio and we begin to procrastinate on the project.
First, we are unable to come up with a design in our own head, let alone produce a basic drawing of the proposed design, based on the notes and quick sketches made during conversation with them. Secondly, as the deadline looms we start to panic and wonder why we are not able to do this. Thirdly, we start to look for a reason to escape the work; we start to defer it in favor of other projects, even the mundane of domesticity.
This should give you a clue that you are attempting to make something that is beyond your ability.
There is nothing wrong with knowing your limits. Perhaps the request involves a skill set that you have not mastered to your own satisfaction or perhaps not even tried yet. The issue becomes trying to do this new thing with a lack of confidence in your own ability. Do you really want the custom work to be your first foray into the new?
Probably not. So the reasonable solution may well be to fire the customer instead of staying stuck in the problem. Staying stuck in the problem is self-defeating, your other work is not being done, nor are you building your own confidence and ability at this time. It is wasting your creative effort.
Firing the customer is only difficult because of the guilt that you may feel because you have “let the customer down” but your honesty may well win you some respect too.
Explain to the client the efforts that you did take to complete the work, let them know that you do not have the skills necessary to undertake the work at this time. If you plain to master the skills later, let them know when you think you will have done that. Suggest another colleague that you know can complete the job and allow the client the option to pursue the work elsewhere in the near future, or come back to you later when you have learned more.
There is no shame in indicating that you need to learn more and intend to do just that.
The ultimate reward of firing the customer is that you will have restored your own equilibrium and relieved yourself of a job that has been holding you back from pursuing other tasks that will reward you. The sense of relief is palpable for most of us.
My colleague fired her customer after we talked about this block. She felt a lot better after the firing and indicated that it was a real relief to her to not have this ‘scary’ project pending. She did indicate that her other work had suffered as a result of procrastinating on the custom work too.
I had to fire a customer early last year because the praise went to my head too. It was not easy to do, and it felt like a failing at the time, but it was a relief to me too, and the customer was glad to have her stones back and a reference to another jeweler in the region. I still have not taken the time to learn a very particular skill in creating soldered sterling brooches and I am not sure that I ever will, since it still does not interest me, but at least I know my limits in this regard now.
Moral: Know your limits and respect them but do not let that stop from trying new work when you are ready and willing to encounter the issues that relate to the learning curve; and sometimes we have to make decisions that we don’t like.
I suspect that most of us have encountered the problem of being asked to produce an item that we have agreed to make and then find ourselves completely without inspiration or ability to meet the request. “What to do?” becomes the question.
You will recognize that you have fallen victim to this when you know that it will fail to meet the client’s expectations as well as your own.
This conundrum occurs most often when have already produced impressive work and receive numerous compliments from the client. They will go on at length about how wonderful the pieces are, how talented you are and how much they think that you are the answer to solving their problem of producing the work that they have in mind. Inevitably, this ego boost from their praise will lull us into a belief that we really can do what they want. Reality hits later back in the studio and we begin to procrastinate on the project.
First, we are unable to come up with a design in our own head, let alone produce a basic drawing of the proposed design, based on the notes and quick sketches made during conversation with them. Secondly, as the deadline looms we start to panic and wonder why we are not able to do this. Thirdly, we start to look for a reason to escape the work; we start to defer it in favor of other projects, even the mundane of domesticity.
This should give you a clue that you are attempting to make something that is beyond your ability.
There is nothing wrong with knowing your limits. Perhaps the request involves a skill set that you have not mastered to your own satisfaction or perhaps not even tried yet. The issue becomes trying to do this new thing with a lack of confidence in your own ability. Do you really want the custom work to be your first foray into the new?
Probably not. So the reasonable solution may well be to fire the customer instead of staying stuck in the problem. Staying stuck in the problem is self-defeating, your other work is not being done, nor are you building your own confidence and ability at this time. It is wasting your creative effort.
Firing the customer is only difficult because of the guilt that you may feel because you have “let the customer down” but your honesty may well win you some respect too.
Explain to the client the efforts that you did take to complete the work, let them know that you do not have the skills necessary to undertake the work at this time. If you plain to master the skills later, let them know when you think you will have done that. Suggest another colleague that you know can complete the job and allow the client the option to pursue the work elsewhere in the near future, or come back to you later when you have learned more.
There is no shame in indicating that you need to learn more and intend to do just that.
The ultimate reward of firing the customer is that you will have restored your own equilibrium and relieved yourself of a job that has been holding you back from pursuing other tasks that will reward you. The sense of relief is palpable for most of us.
My colleague fired her customer after we talked about this block. She felt a lot better after the firing and indicated that it was a real relief to her to not have this ‘scary’ project pending. She did indicate that her other work had suffered as a result of procrastinating on the custom work too.
I had to fire a customer early last year because the praise went to my head too. It was not easy to do, and it felt like a failing at the time, but it was a relief to me too, and the customer was glad to have her stones back and a reference to another jeweler in the region. I still have not taken the time to learn a very particular skill in creating soldered sterling brooches and I am not sure that I ever will, since it still does not interest me, but at least I know my limits in this regard now.
Moral: Know your limits and respect them but do not let that stop from trying new work when you are ready and willing to encounter the issues that relate to the learning curve; and sometimes we have to make decisions that we don’t like.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Art lessons...
... are paying off.
A long time friend of mine, Carole Forbes, teaches her own pen & ink drawing method. She just returned from out west a few months ago and since I have been finally getting braver about my own art, I decided to treat myself to some lessons. Been enjoying it immensely.
Here is the result, an original no less:
A long time friend of mine, Carole Forbes, teaches her own pen & ink drawing method. She just returned from out west a few months ago and since I have been finally getting braver about my own art, I decided to treat myself to some lessons. Been enjoying it immensely.
Here is the result, an original no less:
Another friend shot a pic of this tree last summer while out on a road trip. I really liked the gnarly old pine, so I used it as the basis for this drawing, changed a few things, "artistic license" after all, but the result is not too bad after only 5 weeks.
Enjoy!
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Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Jewellery Lessons
I have finally committed to teaching some jewellery lessons after being asked by numerous folks for quite some time. The Nashwaaksis United Church has generously opened their doors to us for this.
Classes will start on the 1st of October with the option to take 1 or both parts of any particular class as well as whether they are taken in the same week on Tuesday and Wednesday or on subsequent weeks Tuesday to Tuesday or Wednesday to Wednesday.
Class descriptions and prices can be found here on our web: http://www.mboot.net/Lessons.html
Call if you have questions and especially of you want to book a class as space is limited to 8 students per class.
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Classes will start on the 1st of October with the option to take 1 or both parts of any particular class as well as whether they are taken in the same week on Tuesday and Wednesday or on subsequent weeks Tuesday to Tuesday or Wednesday to Wednesday.
Class descriptions and prices can be found here on our web: http://www.mboot.net/Lessons.html
Call if you have questions and especially of you want to book a class as space is limited to 8 students per class.
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