A subject came up on a discussion forum, about the quality of portfolio reviews. I'm talking about when you bring images or samples of your work, your marketing materials, your price list, etc. for someone to look over and offer feedback. It can be as informal as a fellow artist coming to your booth and offering comments. It can be as formal as a peer jury session for admittance to a professional guild. And everything in between.
As an artist, I know I expect a LOT when someone reviews my portfolio.
Of course, I hope they tell me the work and support materials are fabulous and perfect just the way they are. And, of course, real life doesn't usually work that way.
In fact, sometimes the things people say about my work baffle me.
Occasionally someone will cringe at the color of a bead I use in a pair of earrings. One person hated turquoise (which I love and use a lot of.) One person hated the blue in an antique trade bead. One person hated the shade of green I used as an accent in a wall hanging. And when I say "hate", I mean "hate". Their reactions were visceral.
Color choice is very personal, and it's obvious that one person will love what someone else hates.
But when it comes to someone critiqueing our marketing approach, our designs, our packaging, our pricing, we should be able to expect some consistency and congruency, right?
Wrong.
Just for fun, here's a selection of things buyers have said about my work in the past--sometimes at the same show!: http://jonudell.net/radio-luann/2006/11/22.html
For your sanity, you must remember that every person who comments or judges your work is still the opinion of just one person. And ten people, or one hundred people, or a thousand people may still have ten different, one hundred different, even a thousand different thoughts on whether it's good or not.
Just as everyone has their own internal color wheel, we also have our own view of the "right way" to create, market and sell art. And you will hear a lot of different opinions on what they think YOU should do.
(Okay, there are SOME things I've seen almost all of us would agree are stinky and crappy. Just roll with me here, okay?)
As an ABI faculty member, I've been on the giving end of a few rounds of portfolio reviews. It was intimidating at first--making observations about someone else's work is pretty powerful stuff!--but I grew to like it.
It's important to remember that there is no single right answer on what direction an artist should go in. When we would look over the overall display of samples brought in by the artists before review time, I would check in with Alisha Vincent, Bruce Baker & whoever else was on board at that booking. "What would YOU say to this artist?" I'd ask.
And we would all have very different opinions about what we would tell that person.
How on earth could I tell if what I told someone was useful, if it was so different from what other professionals would say??
I quickly found a way to think about the process.
It almost always boils down to what THE ARTIST wants to do with their work, where they want to go with it, and what they are willing to do to get there. THEN I have a better idea of how to advise them about their portfolio.
It makes a huge difference if a person wants to make a little extra money or pay the mortgage; if they can devote all their time and energy to their craft or only a few hours a week; if they want to do retail shows or not, if they want to wholesale or not. A portfolio can look perfectly adequate, but if it is NOT aligned with the artist's stated goals, then that's a problem.
One craftsperson brought in work that, frankly, was pure crap. The sewing was sloppy and the materials were cheap and unattractive.
She SAID she loved sewing and making beautiful things. But she lived in an economically-depressed area. She felt she had to sew faster and use inexpensive materials so she could compete with the cheap imported goods found at discounters like T.J. Maxx and Marshall's.
I asked her if she enjoyed making these items, and if they were selling. She said no to both. I then asked her how much money she needed to make. It turns out she didn't need much to supplement her income, she would be satisfied with even X amount coming in.
I told her the work did not reflect her love of sewing, and that trying to compete with imports was a bottomless pit--There is no limit to how low you can go in price and quality, someone else will find a way to sell it cheaper. She needed to find venues and customers where it wasn't just about PRICE. I suggested she make BEAUTIFUL work, with good-quality materials. She could look further afield for a very few stores that sold good quality handcrafts. Even one sale a month to ONE of them would net her the money she needed.
Someone else needed more income, but had very limited production time due to health reasons. We thought of ways to have her designs made more quickly and cheaply, but still leaving room to raise her too-low prices, and ways to target the kinds of stores that could carry her work.
Sometimes, too, the artist just can't hear what you're saying. Occasionally I would give what I thought was a strong review, and the artist would complain later that I hadn't said anything useful.
I gave one woman valuable advice that would save her time, money and and a possible lawsuit down the road. I told her that she had picked the exact same name as another woman doing very similar work who already had a national market. (They even shared the same first name, and very similar last names--spooky!!) By changing her name now, early on, she would avoid investing thousands of dollars and thousands of hours promoting a company name she would eventually have to drop.
Another time, I really WAS exhausted and wasn't sure I'd said anything helpful. THAT person said my insights had inspired her greatly.
"Who can say?" to quote a character on AbFab....
I've also learned to limit my comments to two or three things about the work (or booth, if someone asks me to critique their booth.) More than that, and most people just cannot absorb the information. Besides, too much negative feedback is bad for ANYONE. We just shut down, hunker down and shuffle off to contemplate suicide.
And it's just as important to pick out two or three things the artist is doing RIGHT.
So the next time you have a portfolio review or a jury session, come prepared.
Think ahead about what your artistic and professional goals are. Think about how much time, energy and money you are able/willing to invest in your business. Have an idea of where you'd like to go with your work, a vision of what you would like to happen.
That way, even if you feel you're not getting great feedback, you can help the reviewer refocus on the big picture, and the real answer to the most important questions:
1) Are all the aspects of my venture--my work, its quality, my prices, my marketing efforts, my goals--in alignment?
2) Is there any aspect that contradicts or negates another?
3) Can you tell me three things I'm doing right?
4) And can you tell me three things I could do better?
