For me, a piece like this just gets added to a pile instead of being set aside with the more preferable pieces. I just move on with whatever I learned whether a piece is good or bad, and there's no further thought on it unless I think it can be used in a submission. But I was laughing about a recent article I read in ARTnews magazine about an artist who took all the work he did during specific years, burned it, and put some of the ashes in a small casket and baked the rest into cookies which subsequently went on exhibit like that (laughing)! The article also covered some other artists who had taken some measures to get rid of work they'd done that they were less than pleased about. This is of course a subjective matter. One artist destroyed 60 works estimated at a loss of 655 million dollars. Obviously, just because he himself didn't like it, doesn't mean it didn't have value.
For me, I may be flattered if someone likes a piece I've done and says so. But I don't ask or rely on what other people think about my work unless it's a critique from another professional with equal or more experience, or someone I've submitted work to. Otherwise, it's like a woman asking her man if a dress makes her look fat...a question with no acceptable or right reply. I stay in love with the process of creating, rather than falling in love with individual pieces because it keeps me objective. I also read magazines like ARTnews, and keep my finger on the pulse of the creative art world beyond my own "studio" to help stay objective. Another thing that is sometimes helpful in an objective analysis, is creating a contact sheet, like the one below when an artist is considering a submission. Seeing the work compiled in such a way can bring to a person's attention which pieces should be weeded out, which pieces work well in a collection, and what kind of pieces can be created to add to a collection. It forces you to be objective about the work. The contact sheet below was created to help me in selecting for two collections in progress for two very different venues. I need more pieces for one of those venues, and find I can't work on that goal on demand...having to do some other unrelated pieces as well. With Christmas coming fast, I'm sure to get sidetracked, anyway (sigh)!
Thanks for the visit! Until next time, take care!
