The link wasn’t working but I am interested in listening to it

"I have to admit that this has the appearance of just another marketing strategy: I find out what clients want and value, and then make what they want so I can make sales, rather than producing what comes from my heart and soul, and having those who are attracted to it become my clients."

Yes, I can understand how you might feel that way. And I am not saying we should abandon our hearts' desires, look for vulnerabilities in the consumer psyche, and exploit those for money.

This reminds me of a conversation I had once with a client who is a physical trainer. She wanted to invest in some workout clothes but was stuck on what to buy. "I know my shapeless old sweats aren't professional," she said, "but I don't see why I should have to wear a thong, either."

"Well," I remarked. "There's quite a lot of choices that are neither shapeless sweats nor thongs."

In other words, sometimes we become so sensitized to an issue: body image or money, for example, that we only see the extremes. The quite rich and varied middle ground is practically invisible until we learn to look with different eyes.

My point is that no one owes me a living. At the same time, one look at my checkered career and you'll see I'm not attached to conventional lifestyles or definitions of success. So it's not about reducing art to the level of consumer-baiting.

I do feel that the marketplace, far from being an evil place, can be the crossroads where goods and services–including the arts–can be exchanged and both parties enriched in the process. I feel it is my responsibility to demonstrate or make apparent the value of my work if I want to earn a living from it.

To go back to the example of my wearable art. It could have been a viable business if I had been willing (and courageous enough) to slow down a bit, to take more time with fitting and experimentation prior to committing to a piece. I'm not knocking myself for not having done that; and it seems reasonable that racing from idea to idea was not a good business plan.

I don't think we need to sacrifice art on the altar of commerce. But to be good stewards of art in the commercial world, I do think we need to be willing to communicate in the marketplace. That means not just selling but listening to what people value.

Like Carol, I wonder about the difference or the line between creating what your clients want and creating freely and where they overlap.

And I'm also loving your necklace, Tammy!

Molly, you say you just "wanted to make what I wanted to make" but weren't "interested in finding out what my clients wanted and valued." You connect this with not being "committed to serving anyone with my work" and ask, "Why, then, should anyone pay me?"

I have to admit that this has the appearance of just another marketing strategy: I find out what clients want and value, and then make what they want so I can make sales, rather than producing what comes from my heart and soul, and having those who are attracted to it become my clients.

I don't think I am alone with my lingering "sell out" fears. Having spent a lot of time exploring "what I have to say," I am reticent about working to please others (women, especially, have done so much of this that many get to a point of "losing themselves"). On the other hand, I very much appreciate and am energized and encouraged by responses to my art that indicate it has spoken to someone in some way that moved him or her. And, I certainly want to please clients as far as my artistry, workmanship, and professional approach to making sales and delivering them is concerned.

I want to get at the difference between serving versus pleasing, or catering to, and would appreciate your thoughts on this.

Thanks, Tammy. You are always getting to the heart of things, one way or another! (And the necklace is stunning. I also love the new profile pic: you have a very wise and penetrating look in your eyes. A 'don't mess with me' look.)