Laura Boswell ARE – Printmaker

Sticks and Stones

As an artist I have had to learn that there needs to be a separation between the highly personal process of making my prints and not taking personally any comments made about them by their viewers. I quickly realised that I was going to get very hurt and upset if I took every passing comment, and there have been some stunners, to heart.

Part of being a working artist is putting work in front of people. I do a lot of demonstrations and fairs and spend a great deal of my time talking to strangers about my art. Early on I made a decision that I had to impose a filter on comments. The first thing I remember is that my work is not me: it’s a product of my thoughts and skills and it is my choice that it is up for examination. Anything said about it is not a personal attack. The second thing I remember is that viewers are not, on the whole, experts in my field of printmaking and almost certainly not on the works of Laura Boswell: their perspective is fresh and shouldn’t be judged by my standards of insight.

I am selling a product, the viewers are my clients and I endeavour to treat everyone with care and respect. However, I will only take seriously adverse criticism that comes with a decent back up argument. ‘That’s rubbish’, ‘Why?’, ‘Because it is’ is the sort of circular argument best saved to have with a small child at bedtime and deserves about as much attention. Serious criticism is very different, if disagreeable, and I learn a great deal from people prepared to share their views intelligently. Then there’s the foolish passing comments made by the thoughtless and let’s agree now, anyone who hasn’t bothered to think that the artist standing beside them could be hurt by their words, hasn’t thought at all. Should we then care what they say? Better to have a giggle over ‘she should be doing something more grown up than lino’ than weep (I eat out on that one, my personal favourite so far).

The flip side of this is that I try to do exactly the same with praise, but in a far less serious way. People are on the whole very kind and accordingly say kind things about my work. I try never to get too pleased with myself over the general comments. It’s the specifics I treasure because they come from people who, like the serious critics, have really looked and thought about my work. It is very easy to bask and I try to moderate my basking tendencies just as I try to toughen my skin. I’m not perfect on either count, but I’m a lot better for having given it all some thought.

Author: Laura

Laura Boswell is a printmaker working exclusively with linocut and traditional Japanese woodblock printing. She has a degree in Art History/Visual Art from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and has been elected to the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers.

3 thoughts on “Sticks and Stones”

  1. Doing something more grown up than lino?

    I don’t get that. That must’ve been one ignorant person…I feel kind of sorry for them.

    My favourite so far has been, You mean you can make a living from this stuff?

    Er, yeah. Maybe not the high life, but it’s the life I’ll take!

  2. Brian was once told by his bank manager to ‘go and get himself a proper job’.
    We thought about this and realised that at the time Brian was earning about twice what the bank manager was taking home. We just spent it all and he didn’t.

    You need a hide like leather and a great sense of humour. When you think later about what people have said, it’s not cruel; it’s just ignorance. What I feel you do when you demonstrate is educate the ignorant. Maybe they go home and look at what they have on their walls and think that perhaps you are right.

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