Selling Before You've reached Your Prime

[Patricia Joyce]

Hi Natalie,
Try not to lose too much sleep over this, it is universal. I walk into some of my clients' homes and cringe inside to see what I drew back in 2005 - what was I thinking????? But I keep my mouth shut, because my clients are still happy customers.

A couple weeks ago I went to a client's home to do a photo shoot of their children for a portrait. Hanging proudly in the living room, on the "best" wall was a sanguine drawing of the eldest daughter. The mom could not wait to show me because it was done by an artist in New York! It was down right awful, really bad. But mom loved it!

Hopefully we will always be growing and getting better each year. Keep filling the funnel with potential clients and let them be the judge of your work.

Good luck!

[Karine Monaco]

Hi Natalie,

Here is what I feel about this.

Our artworks always evolve. That's the way things are. That is also how collectors can differentiate your first artworks from your recent ones.

This is natural. No shame about this. I feel weird too, though, when I see what I previously painted.

You will still evolve from now. You just cannot stop painting until your work doesn't evolve any more... That's purely impossible ;-)

Plus, that is what makes it interesting for people following what you do: they can see by themselves how an artist grows.

I would also add that what people bought back then was a work of art that they liked. How can you be sure that repainting them would make these works more attractive to their clients? Buying a work of art is part of a love story between the artwork and the client. If you change it, then, the story changes too...

Greetings