ORIGINAL SIN
It’s happened again. Someone is trying to break into the craft biz with “original, exciting work”. Everything, that is, except an original idea.
It’s happened to me recently. Someone wants to jury into the same professional group I belong to. With my designs.
There are some craft media that are particularly susceptible to this kind of thing. Beaded jewelry is one, polymer clay is another. Quilting. As long as the projects stay in the realm of hobby, there may be no harm done.
It’s when the unoriginal "artist" get just enough encouragement to leapfrog into a full-fledged business that it gets scary to me.
I’m guessing some people see the success an artist has achieved, and figures there is some “trick” to it. A trick that if THEY could just figure out, THEY could have the same success.
The trick is called “doing the work.” And developing a personal vision for your art.
This reminds me of a new company who recently saw my husband’s high ranking in Google, and e-mailed him breathlessly to ask him his “secret”—as if there were a “trick” involved that could be easily transplanted to anyone else. The “secret”, of course, is that Jon, over 20 years, has built a reputation for himself built on integrity, talent, perseverance, and plain ol’ hard work.
I know we all start somewhere. I just wish more people moved on from this copying stage.
There is something in copying an artist’s piece to discover for yourself what goes into their process (although I contend that piece should then never leave your studio, because that’s what it is—a study piece.) But that’s not a business model for a real artist.
Not everyone is blessed with creative genius, and there is plenty of room in the world for the happy hobbyist, the dilettante, and the weekend crafter. But there are also countless books filled with patterns, designs and projects for those who need inspiration and ideas.
The bottom line is, to be a truly viable business model, one that is capable of sustaining growth and development over the years, you can't simply do something LIKE someone else's work. Or even a little bit better than someone else's work. Real success comes from doing something either a LOT cheaper, a LOT better, or a LOT smarter than what anyone else is doing.
There's no trick, no short cut, no easy way.
I am baffled...BAFFLED...by the people who approach me at a show and ask...no, demand to be told how I make my little horse artifacts. Some tell me they want to make them, too. Some even ask my permission—which I appreciate in that it gives me the opportunity to address the issue upfront.
Last summer, after being inundated with such requests while demonstrating my work, I finally found the perfect response.
I told each person who asked, “I’m delighted you love my little horses. I love them, too. I believe the world needs them and wants me to make them.
I can make all the little horses the world needs. And I don’t need your help to do that.
This work comes out of MY response to THIS cave because of the things that are in MY HEART. I certainly don’t own the cave. But it is MY STORY.
Your job in life is to find the story that is in YOUR HEART, and make the art that comes from that.”
To the person who actually wants to jump into business with a product based entirely on someone else’s aesthetic, I’d add this:
You are going to invest at least the next five years of your life building your name, your reputation, and your work. Shouldn’t you take a little time to find out what it is you want that work to say?
And if you have enough technical skills to approximate the style of a star artist, wouldn’t you rather use those skills to develop your own voice? To be remembered, ultimately, as an artist in your own right? Rather than a sort of competent but not as exciting version of someone else?
And to those who say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I say this: I’d much rather you flatter me by simply buying my work. It would be better for both of us, I assure you. I would have a much-appreciated influx of cash to continue my work. And you would have an original Luann Udell to inspire you every day to find the artist YOU were meant to be.
