Solving Problems With Art
When you think about it most of my art solves a problem for someone. Sometimes the problem is the need and want for a unique gift. I can't tell you how often someone has bought a pot from me then told me that it was the perfect gift for someone who "has everything." Sometimes it's a piece to ad interest to a person's home and sometimes it's very functional like butter dishes and casseroles.
As artists we need to think of our art in terms of fulfilling a need when we are trying to sell it. A friend of mine is a writer who loves music. Music inspires her but she can't listen to music with lyrics while writing. The solution is, of course, that she listens to instrumental music while writing. The hard part is finding radio stations that play only instrumental music, and of the type she likes. To solve the problems she can buy CD's or download music onto her computer or find internet radio stations that fill this need. This is a great example of art solving a problem and artists supporting other artists.
What problems can your art solve?
Other Stuff:
Solving Your Customers' Problems
Basic Sales Skills - Problem Solving
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery
I have a request for a berry bowl. I don't usually do the butter keepers or berry bowls, because I don't like to make what I would no use myself. HOWEVER, this summer, for the first time ever, I have been more aware of when I dip my hand into the regular bowl full of berries, YES, they are quite damp and there is a puddle at the bottom. OK, so maybe I am less reluctant now to make one :)
ReplyDeleteLori - an article speaking to your point: http://ow.ly/6BetL. Great minds...
ReplyDeleteGary - I make a lot of berry bowls too. They are very popular in the spring. Recently I was tasked with making a berry mug which I was happy to do because the idea intrigued me. It also solved the problem for the customer, as she said "sometimes you only want three strawberries."
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - great article, the full url is:
http://www.inc.com/tech-blog/one-simple-question-to-unlock-unbeatable-marketing-clayton-christensen-interview.html for people that don't trust shortened URLs.