Cheesy/Artist...

...? I am giving serious consideration to using one of my pieces as a gift to a close family member and it has got me in a bit of a quandary. Do I take myself that seriously as an 'artist' that people will want to be given a piece of my work. I 'commissioned ' it myself and it is a one off. I will 'retire' the picture after giving it so it will always remain unique. As it happens (I feel) it is one of the best pictures I have taken yet but all the same... Is there a point at which you decide that your work has such presence or commercial value or artistic quality that you deem it suitable for external scrutiny. I guess all artists/creatives go through this period - not just photographers.

I am fortunate (from a pride point of view) that the recipient will probably be grateful and quite touched by the gesture. I am unfortunate in the sense that it will probably not garner the level of critical scrutiny that will deem it a valuable exercise in terms of feedback. I am making arrangements for it to be professionally printed on archive quality paper and then professionally framed.

Will I be happy with the end result? I am sure I will find imperfections, things I could have done differently. Will the recipient enjoy it? I sincerely hope so but it is a big ask to expect them to like something so personal and heaping even more expectation on them to display it with pride on the dining room wall or wherever it will end up.

Or am I thinking too deeply about it and is it just a nice thing to do by creating something personal and unique as a gift. Hmmmn...