Balancing Confidence and Criticism

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“Mick Jagger 1975/76″ Andy Warhol

Once Wayne Thiebaud, an American Art icon, wrote in a letter of recommendation that I possessed “confidence and inner resources”, I suddenly had more.  Why are these qualities so important?  Because it’s what separates the “men from the boys” in the wild and hypercritical world of art.

Artists often battle their inner critic.  Although criticism is necessary to editing one’s creative expressions, it can also eat you alive, if you let it.  The successful book “The Artist’s Way” brilliantly deals with the subject of the “inner critic.”  Yet there was nothing in my prestigious fine art education that ever helped prepare me to balance confidence and criticism.

An artist client of mine told me a story of her son who was given an art class assignment to go to an art gallery or museum and to write about a painting.  At the last minute her son approached her with his unfinished homework.  There where no museums or galleries open so off they went to an ever-open Thomas Kinkade Gallery.

Her son turned in his completed assignment and his teacher proceeded to tear him in two.   Proclaiming, “this is not art!”  Now I tend to agree, but this is a kid, and he did complete the assignment. He was penalized for the rest of the year and his passion for art completely evaporated.

But would this have happened if it was a math test?  I assert that the answer is no.

Art is so very personal that we often see it as representing ourselves.  So when it’s torn to shreds or even mildly criticized, artists can be devastated, their ego pummeled.

As an artist you have to be open to criticism; there’s no way around it.  And if you’re in business you need to welcome and respond to it.  Particularly if your business is selling your art because your confidence will inspire collectors to purchase.

You also have to maintain perspective.  Not everyone is going to like your work.  Not everyone likes mine and I don’t care.  Because I only need a few select collectors every month to like it enough to buy it.

Do you like every song you hear on the radio or every outfit you see?  No.  It’s a matter of personal preference.

Mic Jagger, the front man for one of the most popular long lasting rock groups of all time, explained to Larry King that he has always listened to the critics.  Jagger stated that the key is discerning between criticism that is really only about a subjective preference and criticism that is actually constructive or insightful.

The Painter of Light files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

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Thomas Kinkade, I loath, and I used to actually admire him.  Artistically, an average professional painter.  Entrepreneurially, ground breaking.  But in my never to be humble opinion, he had it comin‘!.

Let’s start with what I admired.  He clearly defined his market, conservative Christians, and he “delivered” (no pun intended) a unique value proposition, and in a way that they would appreciate.  How?  This particular physiographic is quite literal.  So Thomas Kinkade scattered lots of graphic symbols throughout his paintings to celebrate this group’s values. Little hearts signify the sanctity of marriage and the “Painter of Light”, a not so subtle reference to the light of Christ, used an over abundance of artistic devices to convey light.  The result.  Saccharine sweet paintings that make my teeth hurt.

Where it all went wrong was that he also leveraged the general ignorance of this market.  A market that is not typically a group educated in arts and culture.  By saturating the market with “limited edition” prints of 250,000, or more, he was out of integrity.  In the state of California, Mr. Kinkade’s domicile, only 250 prints are considered “limited”, legally.

His genius? He used the franchise model to build his empire, a la eMyth’s approach to building a business.  That’s right, all those Thomas Kinkade galleries that you see closing are franchises, like McDonalds.  But many of these franchise owners sued him, forcing the company to delist from the New York Stock exchange.

Imagine.  An artist with a company listed on the New York Stock exchange.  I had to know more.  So I actually interviewed one of his CPAs and he shared the basic mechanics and history of Thomas Kinkade’s empire. Horrified and fascinated, I thought, “What if I learned from his success but I applied these lessons in a way that I’m proud of and with integrity?”  Isn’t that what Jesus would do?

Recently an arbitrator awarded franchise owners a $2.1 million judgment.  And on Friday, the “Painter of Light” was arrested and jailed in Monterey  for driving while under the influence.  We’re reminded again that integrity is the cornerstone to any lasting and prosperous enterprise, whether its oil and gas, banking, or art.