I think you are right on Roxan. Dan and I frequently purchase art from unknowns because we love the artwork. Maybe someday they'll be famous or maybe they already are and we don't know it. The fact remains we buy what calls to us.
Great big hugs for you Roxan! (((( ROXAN )))) You said what I was thinking and couldn't put into words. :) Thank you... I love it when I have friends who help me think and remember.
Harry
My Ebay Auctions are at
Since there was so much controversy about the value of beads and how much one can get for them because of their reputation, I thought this brings up an interesting topic. Pablo Picasso once said that since most people don't really know the difference between great art and mediocre art work, it didn't matter to him to do great work towards the end of his life, all he had to do was put his name on a piece of paper and it would sell for millions. This angered him since he wanted his art to be recognized because he was a great artist not because of his name.
I think the same would apply to jewelry makers and bead artists. If you can get a exorbitant about of money just because you have a good reputation for doing good beads or jewelry, what would inspire you to take the time to continue to do great work if mediocre work would sell at the same price as great work would. My feeling on this is that each art work should be looked at for it's own artist creation not because someone famous make it. If you didn't know the name of the person who made it would you pay the same price because it was great work or would you pass it up for an unknown artist that made equally good work but who doesn't have a well know reputation yet? I know which one I would chose, it would be great art no matter who did it. I know art is in the eye of the beholder which is very subjective, so for me it comes down to what I really love and would appreciate owning no matter who made it. Roxan
Well Harry the great artist takes from the world that which is ordinary or even ugly to others and makes it beautiful. This is why I said to you that the shells you do don't have to be perfectly round or oval but interesting to make it more beautiful when you embellish it with your own creativity. I always know when one on my pieces will sell right away when my dear husband says he doesn't like it. I say great I know it will sell then. He doesn't have a great eye for great art. LOL Roxan
You raise an interesting topic. I submit that even a reputable artist would eventually suffer from that mediocrity because the collectors would stop buying after a time. Yes, I believe they would. The general buying populace might not but they tend to be a fickle mistress at the best of times.
I agree with you to a point. I don't see it as "either/or" but "all the above".
I think you may have misspoken. If it angered Picasso that people were more interested in his signature than his art's quality, I think he must have said, it didn't matter to his *customers* if he did great work toward the end of his life.
Tina
An artist doesn't necessarily make something beautiful, but will make something meaningful. Actually, it is the artisan who is more likely to make something beautiful.
Tina
"roxan"
Even more, I think it would cause suffering to the *artist*. And presumably if the artist is reputable, he won't be so broke that he has to sell inferior work to put bread on the table.
Tina
"Margie" wrote ...
Because that is what would make you a great artist. They don't do it because of the monetary value of their name. They do it because they must.
Becki "In between the moon and you, the angels have a better view of the crumbling difference between wrong and right." -- Counting Crows
Well, hmmmm. My point was never that reputaiton should be the sole contributer to the value of someone's beads. Personally, I don't care what the person's reputation is. I care about quality, technique and whether the art is pleasing to me. But usually (*usually*), if a person has created high quality, technically good and pleasing beads, they will build a good reputation. The two are not mutually exclusive - they can and do often work in tandem.
I tend to buy lampwork which "speaks" to me. I do have some beads by famous lampworkers, but I bought them primarily because I met and liked the beadmaker and wanted to own some of her/his work. I have a lampworked button made by Pati Walton, which I treasure and made into a centerpiece for a necklace. I can't afford her $350.00 beads, but I can afford this. On the other hand, I have met some lampworkers (not a lot, but a few) whose work I would never own (even though I may think it is beautiful), just because of their attitude. I decided a long time ago I wouldn't contribute to anyone's income if I did not like them personally. Just my thoughts, don't throw bricks.
Patti
Assuming getting money for your product doesn't somehow corrupt you -- and I think it corrupts some people but not everyone -- I guess you'd continue doing your best for the same reason that many people do their best even if they aren't getting paid at all.
I do my best at the work I get paid for because I feel more satisfied that way. I also do my best at the work I'm not paid for because I feel more satisfied that way.
I would want to protect my reputation by only putting out my best work
A reputation is like a chain. Only as strong as its weakest link.
Tina
Hmmm. I think "best work" needs defining. I don't sell beads that I think are substandard (or I sell them as seconds) BUT most of the beads I sell I would consider simply "good work", without considering them to be my most challenging pieces, which are what I reserve the praise "best" for. For example; I have a set of black-and-yellow beads sitting on the counter just waiting to be photographed. The techniques I used weren't the most complex or difficult, so the beads are really pretty simple... but they make me happy. I'm really pleased with them. Are they my "best" work? Not the way I define best, no! By my definition, my most challenging ie. best work to date are Shaman's Flowers. (which aren't perfect beads, actually... they are the first of a style, so I will probably produce "better" ones in the future.) They can't ALL be my "best work", or the phrase, for me, becomes meaningless.
They *are* all produced with my best effort at craftsmanship; despite not being my "best work", they are made as well as I can make beads, which is, I think, how you and many others are defining "best". For instance, again, the black-and-yellow set. Though they're simple, they're well-made, and every time I look at them I smile. I hope someone will buy them and feel the same way.
-Kalera
alex wrote:
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