The working artist
Everyone has an opinion on your art and learning how to accept them gracefully is useful, says our columnist LAURA BOSWELL
People genuinely believe they are helping… Like the woman who urged me to add penguins to my prints
Unsolicited advice: so easy to give and, mostly, hard to take. I’m sure you will have experienced the generosity of others keen to share their brilliant ideas for your artistic improvement, regardless of your desire to be informed or their understanding of your craft and experience. To quote my neighbour, “I don’t want to give you advice, but…” Here are a couple of ways to field unsolicited advice with grace.
I’m often told what I should do when I’m at shows. Even if you don’t exhibit, I’m willing to bet you have someone in your life who thinks they know better than you about how you should be making your artwork. The important thing to remember is that people believe they are helping. Sometimes they are entirely wrong, like the woman who urged me to add penguins to my prints to boost sales. Sometimes the advice has a germ of sense. While I don’t love the idea of abandoning my handheld tools for power tools – often I’m informed this would be a great improvement – there is potential for experiment as an add-on to my cutting.
Problem solving is core to being human, as is leaping to share the solution. It’s only natural, but there is a big difference between sharing an idea as a question and telling people what to do. I have a couple of stock responses for the latter approach. “Talk me through how that would work?” is a useful one. It’s respectful and tends to divide the sheep from the goats. In my experience the less useful the advice, the flimsier the explanation and many give up almost immediately. Those that persevere have given their idea more thought and I follow up with, “Have you run tests?” A fair question as I always run tests myself. If the advisor hasn’t, ask them to let you know how they get on when they do. Just occasionally they will, which is always impressive and sometimes rewarding.
Then there are those who fear for your wellbeing, your use of time or your physical safety. Sometimes they will be a genuine expert with a valuable point, but usually this says more about the advice giver’s concerns than it does you. I find a smile and a simple “Thank you for your concern” is a neat and kind way of acknowledging their comment while avoiding the need for further discussion. Acting with grace avoids any potential awkwardness. lauraboswell.co.uk