I got a nice e-mail today from a reader, telling me how much she enjoys my blog, and asking for advice about some craft techniques she admires in a well-known fiber artist.
I don’t know anything about the techniques she’s asking about. But I quickly realized the best advice I could give this person is one I give often. It is a technique I discovered early on in my career as an artist, a skill I had to hone and develop into the powerful research tool it is today.
Ask.
But more importantly, ask the person who would know.
Sounds like a no-brainer, but you would be shocked…SHOCKED…to discover how few times people actually stop to think about who would know the answers to their questions.
I remember well the first time I used this technique successfully. I was talking with some fellow craftspeople, and we were griping about another artist we knew who had recently been featured in a prestigious trade magazine. That artist was not even very good at what they did, we groused. How the heck did they get into that magazine?? We conjectured and posited and hypothesized. Finally I said, “I’m going to call the magazine and ask them.”
And I did. I e-mailed the editor and simply asked how they selected artists to feature in their magazine. And guess what?
SHE TOLD ME.
I believed her and acted on it, and within a year I too was featured in that magazine. The rest of the group didn’t believe it, made their excuses, did not follow up and were probably grousing about ME getting in a year later.
From then on, whenever I needed to know something, or wondered about something, or was simply angry about something I didn’t understand, I would ponder who would know the answer—and ask them. Most of the time, people were delighted to tell me. I learned a lot about how certain decisions were made, what the reasoning was behind some very puzzling policy changes, and how artists could generate publicity for their work. I’ve learned so much, and all because I now ask the people who KNOW instead of sitting on the sidelines guessing and postulating with people who don’t. (You’d be surprised how often people will offer suggestions or complain on and on about something they know absolutely nothing about.) (On second thought, maybe you wouldn’t….)
So my advice to Lynn today is, contact those artists you admire and ask them if they teach workshops on their techniques. Many artists do this, and they'll be delighted you called. You could be even bolder and ask if they share their techniques. Some artists do, and as long as you are not demanding and disrespectful, they might be happy to share. If not, you apologize and ask if they could simply point you in the right direction by suggesting books you could read.
The next time you don’t understand why a show promoter hands out their programs the way they do, or why a policy change has been made, or how anything was decided, simply ask. Politeness goes far, as does an open mind. Rudeness and contention doesn’t get you an answer any faster, or one you’ll like better. But express a genuine interest in the WHY and HOW and most people are delighted to tell you—or at least set the record straight.
