Sold a painting at the spring fair, and the part that got me wasn't the money
Small thing but it's sitting with me. I had a booth at the spring fair Saturday, the one at the community center with the bad lighting, and I sold the little 8x10 marsh piece. The one with the dead tree. I almost didn't bring it because the water in the foreground never totally worked and I figured someone would notice.
Woman bought it for her dad, said it looked like the view from his dock. She didn't say anything about the water.
Money was $65 which basically covers the canvas and half a tank of gas. But she texted me a photo Sunday of it hanging in his kitchen next to a calendar and a bowl of keys. I keep looking at that photo.
Anyway. I've had a run of pieces that fought me and this was the first one in months that someone just wanted. If you've got a piece you're ashamed of, bring it anyway.
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The water never working is always the thing nobody sees, they just see their dad's dock. I've had that with a sketch of a house here, spent ages on the windows, and the person bought it because of the gate. You stop being the judge of your own work the second it leaves the room.
And the photo in the kitchen is the real sale. That's the part you keep, na?
Na, exactly. And it's a good thing, mostly. If I stayed the judge of my own work I'd never let a single panel out the studio door. I've had people fall in love with the one corner I was ready to smash. You learn to stop arguing with them.
Only bit I'd push back on: the water not working still works for you to know. Keep that eye. Just don't let it be the only vote in the room.
That's a fair pushback and I'll take it. I don't want to stop seeing it, I just don't want it to be the thing that decides whether the painting leaves the house. There's a difference between knowing and vetoing I guess.
Though I'll be honest, I'm not sure I'll ever fully trust a buyer's eye over my own either. Half the time I think they're being nice!
The gate! Of course it was the gate. And yes, that's exactly it, I spent a week fussing over that water and she looked right past it to her dad's dock. Honestly a relief.
And yeah, the photo is the part I keep. I've got it saved on my phone and I've probably looked at it more than she has. $65 doesn't stick around but that does.
The "ready to smash" corner thing made me laugh. Mine was a shadow under the tree I redid four times. Nobody has ever mentioned a shadow in their life.