artist to artist.

while involved in our last market i thought a lot about the art of helping + lifting other artists. i had previously had a conversation [are you beginning to notice a pattern to my writing here? it is all sparked by conversation!] with a fellow artist about another admired artist friend who has had a lot of success in the last year. she mentioned however that this specific artist was cool about it, meaning she was very generous with her success and wanted to help others succeed too. we talked about the difference of attitude between artists who want to share the love and those who don't.

i continued to think about this topic and the outcome of being that successful "cool" one. of course it seems natural that your group of friends, admirers, teachers, students, customers, clients etc. would grow through kindness and willingness to share. that doesn't mean you have to spill every little secret or detail about your ways but it seems that your business would blossom in a bright way through sharing what i'm sure at least one person shared with you along your path.

a couple of weeks ago i received a phone call from a family member who is interested in opening up shop and after we hung up, i thought, wow i just shared all of the details that we have worked so hard for and had to learn over months & months of trial and error. i felt a little ping like i shouldn't have given out all my secrets! but then i also felt a bit of achievement and gratitude as i realized that, wow, i'm now one of those people who can share those secrets and who can tell the ins and outs because of hard work and because of the people who have mentored me.

it even comes right down to picking up a dropped table item at a local market. every time we are involved in a boutique or market and i am making one of my many visits to the show; without fail someone's table looks a little messy or houses a wrong item or there is something on the ground.  i feel that it's my responsibility as a friend to these fellow artists to simply fix it up a bit. it's a quiet comradery which is one of my favorite aspects about being involved in markets.

and then even in day to day life, like yesterday, i received a lengthy email in response to a question i had sent. i so appreciated that person taking the time to write out their success and their how-to's teaching me and giving me more to learn and think about.

it seems so natural that we would want to share, artist to artist right? but it's not always the case. remember where you started and where you are now, and all the people and helps that got you there.