Customer requests vs Artistic Integrity

 A possible customer contacted me and wrote  "Hello,
This is a beautiful piece, but if I were to buy it, could the lizard be removed? I would like only the bird in the scene with the flowers.
Thanks very much for your time and reply. You have a large number of some great pieces offered..."  I had to think for a minute about a reply. Was this person asking to redesign my work, my art? Or did she see some potential that I did not? Should my artistic vision be upheld? Silly prideful thoughts for sure. I do make art and yet unlike someone pointing to a spot on one of my canvasses and saying put in a happy little cabin and I will buy it...This request actually improved the piece in my opinion. The texture and fold formed copper looks more inviting than the crowded look with the lizard.

 So instead of a stiff necked posture, I carefully removed the painted lizard.  When I sent the picture this potential customer said she would like to buy it. I hope she does. But her suggestion may have improved the piece quite a bit.

 Here is another recently sold piece that was fun to make and has now found a new home.

 This was just finished yesterday. The center is a raku clay form made from a silicone mold. The glaze colors are picked up in the copper patina of the chain.

This also became real yesterday . Combining different colors of brass,gold,silver, and the bob cat glass eye gives a fresh look. In time the brass will darken to match the ring around the eye.


Remember to keep an open mind, heart, and ears when a possible client asks for change. After all its not like asking  Leonardo da Vinci to put a mustache on the Mona Lisa.