One of the hard-learned lessons I have worked my way through over the years is the inconsistency of people who (allegedly) purport of be admirers of art.
Maybe this is a particular dilemma that most artists end up facing at one point or another, and it often casts a shadow on the validity of our creativity.
What I am talking about is the situation in which somebody — either purposefully or simply by accident — looks at our work and rants on about how "amazing" it is, and then holds fast to that particular perspective until the moment they discover that the art is not free... at which point they lose all interest.
Maybe this is a little more likely to happen when you're doing something like I do —painting on rocks — than it might be for, say, a glass blower who has to invest thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars in equipment and specialized furnaces in order to even get started.
Many years ago when I had an art gallery in Austin Texas, one of the things we gradually learned about the art buying market was that regardless of how good a piece of art might be the more likely it was seemed that somebody might "be able to make it at home" the less likely it was that the person was willing to pay money for it.
An experiment from the early days.
We always did extremely well with handmade art glass, and not so well but pottery (because everybody's taken a night class pottery class), and even less well with watercolors because who can't come up with a piece of paper, some colors and some brushes?
Hate to sound so cynical, but it played out repeatedly.
Of course, there are a lot of people who are simply on a "fishing expedition" when they start flattering you about how wonderful your work is. Their accolades are purely put forth for the purpose of hoping that an artist will say "oh well, since you like it so much why don't you just HAVE this one!"
The problem with this kind of strange dichotomy — which seems to be more common than we normally would give it credit for — is said it tends to undermine and cast into doubt the validity of what we're doing, as creatives.
Good luck, making one of these at home!
Of course, people don't actually go home and make the art they see; it's merely a justification for not spending any money.
"So you're saying my art is only really good if I'm going to GIVE it to you for free, but if you're expected to spend money on it it's not actually worth the money?"
I'll be the first to admit that art has always been a hard sell, primarily from the perspective that it is definitely a non-necessity in a world where people often don't have very much to budget with with non-necessities.
I find myself penning these thoughts as we continue to restructure the Alchemy Stones online presence, by gradually focusing all efforts on the Etsy shop.
Nothing WRONG with it, but it's headed for the "Show Specials" basket.
The process also means that some of the oldest and least viewed items will be permanently removed and put in what have now dubbed the "Show Special Basket" and only brought out when we are in a face-to-face selling situation.
Undoubtedly, there will be those who read the sign that it's a "clearance" of older designs... and will ask if they "can have one for free, for their kid," or something similar.
I guess... such is life.
Thank You!
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
Because I am trying to make some semblance of income — a part time living, even — I now add this footer to all my posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to take a further look at my work, and perhaps consider supporting independent art.
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2025.08.13 AS-TXT-341/311