The thank-you note I wrote for the person who bought my piece
I finally mailed the thank-you note to the woman who bought the piece last month. Took me three weeks to write it. Not because I didn't want to, just because every draft sounded like I was pitching her something else. "Thank you for giving it a home" made me cringe. "It means more than you know" felt like a lie and a truth at the same time.
Ended up just saying the piece was made out of my brother's old shirt and I felt nervous letting it go, and that I hoped it was okay that some of the charcoal dust still smells faintly like him. She didn't need to know any of that. But I think she did need to know some of it.
She sent back a really short email. Just one line about how her father used to wear the same shade of blue. That's all. Made the whole three weeks of drafting worth it.
It's weird how selling something can feel like introducing a person to someone who might actually get them.
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the charcoal dust thing got me ngl. that's not pitching, that's just... handing her the actual thing. three weeks to figure out the obvious is pretty on brand for us though lmao
i think the instinct to pitch is the problem with all of it honestly. every artist i know including me turns everything into a transaction because otherwise what are we even doing, just making things and feeling feelings?? unacceptable. but the notes people actually keep are the ones where you just said the true weird thing and let them sit with it. she's gonna remember that shirt longer than she remembers the painting, and that's not a bad thing
"three weeks to figure out the obvious", yeah that's basically the whole artistic process, just with more expensive supplies.
you're right though about the pitch instinct. it's like we're all terrified someone's gonna say "ok, but why should i care" and we pre-empt it by making everything a sales pitch. i've sold maybe four pieces ever and i still write every note like i'm in a real estate cold call. this one was just me admitting i was nervous and it took like two sentences. embarrassing that it's harder than the actual making.