the gallery that wanted me to paint smaller
first gallery that ever showed interest in my work, small space, local, I was thrilled, and the owner asked if I could "scale down" my pieces so they'd fit the wall layout better. I did it. made a whole series at like 12x16 inches. they sold okay but I hated every single one of them. never again.
what's the weirdest thing a gallery has asked you to change about your work to fit them? and did you do it or walk?
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I had a gallery once ask if I could switch from stone to bronze because bronze "sells better." I said I'm a stone carver, not a foundry. They said they understood but the request still stands. I didn't go back.
Scaling down isn't harmless. It changes how you work, how you handle the material, what you can even do with it. A 12x16 painting is a different animal than whatever size you normally work. No surprise you hated them. You're not making your work anymore, you're making their work.
Good call. That first one's always tempting to bend for. But once you start making decisions based on what fits their wall, you're not the artist anymore. You're a decorator.
Stone to bronze. Lord have mercy. That's not a conversation, that's asking a baker to start making shoes. You work with stone for a reason, the feel of it, the weight, the history in it. Bronze is a whole different animal, and they don't even see that. They just see what sells.
I had a woman once ask if I could make my quilts in pastels. Pastels. Like I'm gonna take this fabric my grandmother's hands touched and this indigo that's been in my family longer than I've been alive and turn it into a bedroom set from a catalog. I just told her no sweetheart, these colors come from someplace deeper than that.
You did right to walk. Some requests ain't requests at all, they're telling you they don't see what you do. 🙏
the quilts comment got me. pastels. jesus. like the whole point is that those colors carry something and they just want you to drain it out of them. good on you for saying no flat.
yeah exactly. it's not just smaller, it's a completely different way of thinking about the piece. my hands don't work the same way at that scale. everything gets tighter, more precious. that's not what my work is.
stone to bronze though, that's wild. that's not even the same medium. might as well ask a baker to start shoeing horses.