Taking advice and criticism

I have been thinking about writing this blog for a while but thought I would strike while the iron is hot. Yesterday there was a post to the Textile Artist Facebook group asking people for their advice on how to be a full time fibre artist and to share tips.

For the most part there was some good responses but then there were also absolutely terrible comments. 

Some examples of terrible advice were:

"It's pure luck"
"Successfull artists have money to begin with"
"Give the consumer what they want not what you think they should have"
"Become a social media influencer instead" 

I guarantee all of these people giving their ‘advice’ aren't full time creatives otherwise they would have had some positive information that wasn't steeped in limiting beliefs. 

Here's a big lesson I have learnt over the past 4 years:

Don't take criticism from people you wouldnt take advice from.  

I'll tell you about when this penny dropped for me: 

I was catching up with a sustainability consultant and she told me "you'll never make decent money being a fibre artist". For half a second I was a bit devastated but right after I could feel rebellion rising inside of me. I thought to myself "I'll prove you wrong". I immediately thought of all the world renowned and successful fibre artists who's work I love that hang in prestigious galleries and I knew that it was possible. If they can do it, why can't I?! After all, when there's people who have come before you and accomplished your dreams it just paves the way making it a bit easier for you to do the same - its not uncharted territory. 

This person must have seen the change in my face, they soon after apologised and said "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have projected limitations on to you". I thanked them for that and still do because what if I hadn't been so quick to be stubborn and believe in myself? What if I HAD adopted their limiting beliefs? 

I still have a lot of respect for this person and believe they can teach me a lot about sustainability, running a business, being an educator, how to engage community. But they aren’t a fibre artist. Why would I take their advice about art?

When I was working in my last hospitality job years ago I was upgrading my car because I had just started teaching workshops and doing more markets. I told a lady I worked with that I was looking forward to upsizing and getting a van. She told me "All you need is something small and zippy to get around in." I told her that she didn't know my needs. She had no clue of my needs and still gave me advice. Terrible advice. 

I think we should be critical about who we receive advice and criticism from. 

Don't take advice from people who aren't occupying the spaces where you want to be. 

Don't take criticism or advice from people who have no knowledge in your field. 

If you wanted plumbing advice would you call your dentist? No way. 

A few years ago I received 2 comments that were meant to be insulting but I just found them funny -

"You make dirty rags"
"It looks like a tree threw up" 

Well my dirty tree vomit rags have given me lots of personal success and the people who said these comments weren't even artists so what do I care? 

Not everything is for everyone and that's okay. Being artists or makers we are always going to be exposed to the good and bad comments but remember to be critical of critics. 

Thank you for reading and I will leave you with some advice from my own experience:

Get yourself in to the rooms you need to be in. Connect yourself in to a network. You will start to be surrounded by people who's advice and critiques matter, you will see growth.

Was this helpful at all?
Let me know, I can always be contacted through Instagram for a chat

Norton