10 things...

This is my very first year showing my work (fine art and modern art re-imaginations on furniture) and overall has been pretty successful. Sure, there are great shows and then there are the disasters. After one particularly bad show, a friend of mine sent me this:

 

Sometimes people, even well-meaning people, say just the wrong thing to artists and crafters, especially at shows and festivals. So we asked our Facebook followers to tell us the top things not to say to an artist or crafter, and we got some great responses!

10 Things Not to Say to an Artist or Crafter

10. “I’ll just get my friend to make me one of those.”

9. “You know what you should make . . . ”

8. “Do I get a price break if I buy two?”

7. “I can make that myself.”

6. “Why does it cost so much?”

5. “How do you make this?”

4. “Will you donate your artwork to our event? We can’t pay you, but it will be great exposure.”

3. “My nine-year-old makes this kind of stuff too.”

2. “Kids, this is what happens if you don’t go to college.”

1. “I can buy that at Walmart for $3.99.”

I can't even tell you how hard I laughed... mostly because I have heard at least 9 of these over the year. I hope you get a chuckle out if it as well!

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  • Opps,Don't remember that!!!!!!:))))))))

  • Oh no, I've done that in your booth, Linda! 

  • I've heard them all,I'm a knitter so any other who knits has to come in and examine everything. Some times they come in a group and there is a "head" knitter,she will stand right in front of me and explain to her group exactly how I made the knit piece,after she is finished I will look at her right in the eye and say,I didn't do it that way,even if she is absolutely right. Don't have much tolerance for rudeness at this stage of my life....:))))))))))))))

  • Let me add # 11-last...but definitely not least- "How long did it take you to make that?"  

    Hate this with a purple passion!

  •  Okay Guys this weekend a woman looks at my work and comments that on a price tag I wrote 70$ instead of $70, she notes "I have seen other artists get this wrong too". I had customers there and trying to be gracious I said a lot of creative people have a bit of dyslexia --- she then asks me loudly "can you read?".......  That was a new one.

  • yea...that beats them all.....

  • James Boxerman ...

    hahaha .... best one I've heard

  • I do leather and the best one I got from a customer was, "prisoners do this, have you been in prison"

  • I have absolutely no trouble with number 4, as long as they are looking for high-end items for a silent auction or the like, and know the value of the work. I do a lot of volunteer work with animal organizations, and donating a piece for a fundraiser is no different from donating my time. I have done it on a number of occasions. Although to be honest, most of the time I offer before I am asked.

  • Back when I had a corporate job, albeit a creative one, I kept a group of file folders on my desk. One was marked "Ideas." Whenever someone came into my office to tell me a great idea they had, I'd ask them to write it down. When they did, I popped it into my IDEA file, and told them "Thanks! If I ever run out of ideas, I'll look in here."

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