In December of 2009, Artbeads sent me some lovely cubic zirconia beads, and I had a great time incorporating them into my designs. I was a little on the fence about using them, with their relationship to gemstones, which is why I haven’t pursued them since. I did enjoy the unique colors and shapes, plus the hefty weight of the beads.
My favorite design was a bib necklace with soft and fruity seed beads in raspberry and wisteria, with a large honey-colored twisted oval cubic zirconia pendant. The color combination and the pattern of the beadwork were very pleasing. What I didn’t know as I was making it was that this necklace would bring me some very welcome criticism.
About half of the off-blog comments I received on the piece were positive, while the others were not. I was a bit shocked at first, because it’s so rare to hear negative comments in the beading community. We love to encourage and compliment each other. Then I realized it was this break from the norm that made me love the comments so much. It was refreshing! I knew for certain that those who didn't like the piece were really taking the time to form an opinion on it, and that was a different kind of compliment. It's good to have a little salt with your sweet sometimes.
Have you ever received negative comments about your work? How did you feel about the experience?
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I welcome them as long as they are in constructive vein. Then you hopefully learn something from them. Mean and rude comments are just awful and entirely uncalled for. If you don't like the looks of something, then try to find something nice to say too.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, some comments are a little more barbed than they need to be. Although people tend to let loose a little more readily online, sometimes there's an emotional response behind it, too.
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