This reply came after I sent an E-news letter. The subject was how progress in ones' work makes one happy(See teapots below). I liked it so much I thought others should read it. Her note was a reminder that artists in all media struggle to attain the next plateau. Greer is a nature writer that lives in Springdale, Utah, near the entrance to Zion National Park. It's always a pleasure for me when our paths cross.
"I also meant to say, “congratulations” on progressing. Sometimes I feel as if I am permanently stuck, and then, somehow, things shift as slowing, unconsciously, and momentously as the movement of tectonic plates underlying my life, and new words appear on the page. This can be a challenge too, for our clients, fans, supporters, whatever they are. “But I liked your OLD work!” they lament. How dare you change! I look for the change expectantly, almost dying of boredom and routine waiting for the earthquake, the tremor, whatever it is that sets it in motion. It is so organic, so unseen, and unfelt, that I don’t even know its happened until something new emerges. So congrats on your newest lovely teapot! And on all the new things to come."
"I loved your newsletter, and as a fellow artist, couldn't agree more. You aren't too expensive, your friend is just financially and esthetically challenged! No, that's not right. Clearly she has her aesthetics straight: she knows good work when she sees it. But rather than saying you are too expensive, the proper wording would have been, "And alas, I am so poor." There are plenty of artists who's work I love: there are a couple at The Walking Stick, clearly some of your pieces, Kate Starling, Jim Jones, etc. that I would swoon to own. But I just go visit the pieces every now and then, drool a bit, and lament my inability to work a real job and make real money so I can buy real art. But that, as you say, is my choice. Poor me! "
Greer Chesher
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