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Niche-picking
Jun. 4th, 2016 08:10 pmIt's one of those conversations.
He lives here in Eugene. He feels the need to reassure me of that, several times. His sister is visiting from South Carolina, so he brought her down to see Saturday Market, though he's never been, himself.
He's really impressed with my work, say it shows real artistic training. I admit to an MFA in Ceramics, but point out that I learned most of what I know about production pottery on the job, throwing for Slippery Bank Pottery in the early 90s, and have no training in sumi-e painting at all. My brushwork, my painting style is all totally improvised, and built upon years of practice on thousands of pots. He doesn't agree, argues with me. Clearly, I am the artist I am today because of my education.
He and his--strangely silent--sister move on, and I'm just wiping my brow in relief when he comes back. He as an idea.
Have I ever painted anything but animals, he asks? I admit I started with floral designs, but early on discovered I did much better painting animals. Well, he has a suggestion for a niche I could exploit. Have I ever painted lighthouses? I could paint them on pots and sell them at the coast. I have, in fact, and didn't do very well with them, but he's on a roll now. I could paint historical buildings, like Fort Vancouver. It would "expand my market." I say that I'd need a background in architectural drawing to do that well, which I don't have. Furthermore, I don't need to "expand my market." I can barely keep up with demand as it is.
He's surprised to hear this, even more surprised when I add that I've been making my living, full-time, as a potter for over 20 years.
He leaves, disappointed that he can't help the poor, desperate artist with his idea. Or, for all I know, assuming that I'm just too benighted to recognize the obvious brilliance of his suggestion. So I don't get to point out that people are already making that sort of thing, using decals, stencils, silkscreening or machine pressing, industrial techniques that allow them to sell much cheaper than I can with hand-painted pots. Not to mention how much longer it would take me to paint a building than, say, a hen and chicks.
Expand my market. Pfeh.
He lives here in Eugene. He feels the need to reassure me of that, several times. His sister is visiting from South Carolina, so he brought her down to see Saturday Market, though he's never been, himself.
He's really impressed with my work, say it shows real artistic training. I admit to an MFA in Ceramics, but point out that I learned most of what I know about production pottery on the job, throwing for Slippery Bank Pottery in the early 90s, and have no training in sumi-e painting at all. My brushwork, my painting style is all totally improvised, and built upon years of practice on thousands of pots. He doesn't agree, argues with me. Clearly, I am the artist I am today because of my education.
He and his--strangely silent--sister move on, and I'm just wiping my brow in relief when he comes back. He as an idea.
Have I ever painted anything but animals, he asks? I admit I started with floral designs, but early on discovered I did much better painting animals. Well, he has a suggestion for a niche I could exploit. Have I ever painted lighthouses? I could paint them on pots and sell them at the coast. I have, in fact, and didn't do very well with them, but he's on a roll now. I could paint historical buildings, like Fort Vancouver. It would "expand my market." I say that I'd need a background in architectural drawing to do that well, which I don't have. Furthermore, I don't need to "expand my market." I can barely keep up with demand as it is.
He's surprised to hear this, even more surprised when I add that I've been making my living, full-time, as a potter for over 20 years.
He leaves, disappointed that he can't help the poor, desperate artist with his idea. Or, for all I know, assuming that I'm just too benighted to recognize the obvious brilliance of his suggestion. So I don't get to point out that people are already making that sort of thing, using decals, stencils, silkscreening or machine pressing, industrial techniques that allow them to sell much cheaper than I can with hand-painted pots. Not to mention how much longer it would take me to paint a building than, say, a hen and chicks.
Expand my market. Pfeh.