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Learning to Let Go: a cautionary tale

© Amy E. Badurina

This was so hilarious and heartening that I just had to share with a feature article instead of just a plain ol' discussion:

One of the members of the artistamp community recently had a baffling honor placed on his head by a member of the unenlightened masses. Dennis Jordan, who produces beautiful editions, found out through a mailing list post that his work is being sold on Ebay.

At first glance, this would seem like a great thing for any artist, and for the genre in general. After all, here are artistamps, being sold for REAL MONEY in the non-Art world (Art being capitalized to imply the hoity-toity fine arts community).

However, at closer glance, this person seems to know next to nothing about artistamps. His ad read:

I must personally liquidate some item's and this is a VERY, VERY, RARE FIND. ONLY 10 Sheet's were Produced, And only 9 of them were offered at auction to the public, And this is #3 of 10!!! That's Right, *#3*. I may regret this some day but...... Any way, Here's what it is. In the early part of this year, Just after the Accident,(Mid-March) I purchased this "Commemorative" Artist Stamp Print at auction. It was Designed and Handsigned by America's leading artist working within Genre of Artistamps, Dennis Jordan. Mr. Jordan has won numerous award's and had the destinked honor to produce this VERY Limited Edition. They are with out a doubt THE MOST LIMITED EDITION of "ANY" Dale Earnhardt Stamp Sheet Existing! This Sheet is "MINT" and has been framed in a 8" by 10" frame since the purchase. I have no idea what this Art Work is worth, But I have set a Reserve Price at what it is worth to me, And again, I may regret it some day if it does meet the reserve. There is no other Dale Earnhardt production, Diecast Car, Card, or any other Artist Print, Especially a Stamp Sheet with #'s this LOW! Not Hundred's and Thousand's made, Just *10* World Wide!!! Winner pay's $12.00 S/H/and Insurance. Good Luck to all and there can only be One LUCKY Winner of the #3 of 10. Thank You.

Personally, I think we all should hire this guy to sell our art. He certainly has the charisma of a circus barker. If his spelling was better, I'd hire him. (Destinked? Like a skunk?)

If nothing else, this brings up a good point to remember. As artists, when we send our work out into the world, we let go of it. Not everyone will value it (or value it for the right reasons). And some will value it a little too highly. Once we've let go of it, there is no control that we can exert over its use, unless we very carefully word our purchase agreement forms -- which most artistamp artists don't even use, since we're giving our work away.