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Nova Scotia,CanadaAfter reading the topic about "molded muzzles" ,I'm in a bit of a panic. I always treat the back of my faux furs with a "fabric glue wash" to make sure there is no stretching. I thought I had read here that I could use spray adhesive and glue light weight cotton or muslin to the bear peices and save myself a great deal of time and mess .Hooray!!
The problem is that now that I have read the other topic,I'm afraid the spray will harm my bear down the road someday. I bought a permenant spray that is meant for paper,wood ,fabric,rubber,metal etc. Please someone ,give me some advice before I continue with this poor bear.Thanks so much!! :hug: :hug:
I use a permanent spray designed for fabric...I really don't think the one you have used will have any more detrimental effect than oil paint or any other thing we use on the fur. I wouldn't worry too much. These faux fur are pretty strong...I bought a faux fur coat made in the 70s which has some kind of spray substance and it is in superb order...I don't think there is any need to worry. If you are in doubt drop the glue makers a line and ask them....they'll know for sure!
Wild Thyme OriginalsBefore we all have a full fledged "glue panic" on our hands.... I think that there are a few things to keep in mind.... First of all...
All substances to degrade over time... cotton, leather, wool, wood, plastic.... human beings!!!! Everything changes over time and is effected by light, humidity, temperature, chemicals in the air.... Chemicals we might add to the surface of a substance. Obviously, we do what we can to slow down the natural aging process!
That being said... with the fairly recent interest in scrapbooking/photo preservation/document preservation, etc.... so many products are specifically made to NOT contribute unduly to the natural aging process of documents, photos, objects and the like. Highly acidic or highly basic chemicals obviously can do damage over time.... how much time? Will it be 5 years, or 50 years, or 500 years? Many glues are "acid free" or pH neutral and should be highly compatible with the overwhelming majority of animal (leather, mohair) or plant (cotton, linen) or chemical (polyester, etc...) based "fabrics." Certainly products designed specifically for fabrics shouldn't have a detrimental effect on the backing of the fabric you are using. Jenny's right, you can call or write or e mail the manufacturer if you wish to reassure ourself that all is well.
Glues have been used for centuries to bind leather books...
To do archival mountings of photographs....
Many of the world's painted masterpieces are painted up on cotton or linen canvas, sized & primed with the forerunner of what we now call "gesso"..... the original substances used were fairly gelatinous, sticky substances made from the hides of rabbits, and the hooves of horses.... it was basically a thin glue!
I think that if you stick to chemicals designed for fabrics, and those which are considered archival, pH neutral.... you should be just fine!
Beary truly yours,
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
http://www.picturetrail.com/bastadolls
Flying Fur StudiosAhh Kim, you really helped ease my mind. Makes perfect sense!!
I will look for products that say there are acid free, but I'm glad to know my teddies won't fall apart on me. LOL
Canna Bear PaintKim, thank you for your response on this! I was getting concerned that it seemed like ALL glues were getting a bad rap lately. I know for my mother and I, we always try to be mindful of how archival the products we are using are. With her history in fine art, this is something she has always been concerned with. She once told me a story of how a few decades ago, painters went through a craze of doing big abstracts with toothpaste on them! They'd smear raised mounds of toothpaste all over the painting for a 3D effect. People paid a fortune for them, tens of thousands of dollars! A year or two later, the toothpaste fell off. The enthusiasm for these works, needless to say, passed.
Anyway. Not all glues are the same. It's not like we're all gluing our bears together, but glue may be the occasional necessity for some portion of the process or accesories. Look for the keywords on a bottle of glue that Kim mentioned before you use it on your projects, words such as pH neutral, acid-free, archival, or non-yellowing. I know I've showed the elaborate ornaments that I make on this board before. My mother made similar ornaments when I was young. She used the same type of glue that I use now, and it is archival. Her ornaments, now 25-30 years old and up, look as good as they did the day she made them. It gives me confidence that my own should last a lifetime.
Hugs,
Kelly
Winneybears and FriendsThis good news for the glues..Shari..your glue does say it is for " fabric". Most glues for fabric are really made up of acrylics ...which do not rot...as it is basically....PLASTIC.
In Lining the faux fur with glued on muslin will hold the muslin on ..then when you stitch the part up the stitching takes over. so you don't need much glue...only to just TACK the muslin on....
I use a roll up office glue to tack my muslin parts onto real fur skins...mainly because it is easy to use, works,is clean... and it isn't WET. You must never wet real skins on the front or the back . For faux furs I use dots of fabric glue like Alieens Tacky Glue right from the bottle...little dots here and there..it easy and works and its OK for fabric.......Winney
Nova Scotia,CanadaThank-you so much girls for answering my concerns so quickly. I so love the way you girls support and love one another here on this board.Now if you would just please all pack up your stuff (families and lives) and move here to Scotsburn, I will be one happy camper!! :hug: :hug:
I have just received a reply from the company that make Hi-tack...the glue I use and they say their tests do not indicate any negative effects on fabric long-term, but that this would require a long testing period to be conclusive. They do assure me that the glue should not in any way have a damaging effect on synthetic, wool or cotton fabric.
I am still waiting for the spray -glue people to reply....but I don't think it will be detrimental to fabric in the long-run.
Hope that helps!!!!!
Jenny, thanks for going the extra mile. You're a peach! 
Nova Scotia,CanadaThank-you so much Jenny for easing my mind on this issue. I'm dealing with a very stressful " personal " issue right now and just could not think of anything other than calling on you ladies for help in regards to the glue. You all came through for me just like I knew you would.Big appreciative,sloppy hugs!!
Winneybears and FriendsJenny...I just visited your site and your bears are so cute and huggable...I just love your doggies...what a bunch of darlings ..how ever do you get anything done.?.Id be playing with them all the time...lol
That bunny is to die for...where is your squirrll? I wanted to see him . He is so special.... Winney
Fuzzbutt BearsI've got a faux-fur question -- is it better to line with muslin or felt? I bought some lovely silky faux fur that has more stretch than I thought, so I'm going to have to try lining for the first time. At least I know that the glue is okay . . .
Hi Erika...the main reason I wouldn't line it with felt is that it would make the fabric very bulky to work with!! Apart from that I can't think of another reason not to.
Winney, I am saving the squirrel for my next fair in April....I have to keep something back and this is a 'show special'
If you care to come to my house right now and listen to the 'darlings' barking full volume at the postman...or anyone else that comes near the front door today for soem reason...they may lose their appeal!!! I do love them really!!
Ooh, Jenny, I love your new avatar!!!
Winneybears and FriendsYes..Jenny he is a doll !...LOl on the doggies...that goes with them...lol...Winney
BlondheartThis good news for the glues..Shari..your glue does say it is for " fabric". Most glues for fabric are really made up of acrylics ...which do not rot...as it is basically....PLASTIC.
Well first of all I wouldn't use any plastic products in the creation of my work, no eyes, noses or joints. But on to the larger issue, it's not an whether the glue rots, it's the fact that it will eventually break down the backing of the fabric, and it doesn't take 500 years to do it. 500 years from now all that will remain is the glue. It's more likely to break down a natural fiber faster than a synthetic one, but eventually this too will break down. Oil paint will break down your backing eventually too, why would you use oils on a bear? *Utterly mystified* I am rather horrified to find out that so many of you are using glue in the bear making process, why? WHY? Back in the good old days no one used glue directly on the bear for anything, and I still don't EVER put glue on mohair in any capacity. Nor would I ever buy a bear that I knew had glue directly used on it. Do you think Steiff used glue? Please understand that fabric glues were created with sweatshirts and fabric covered bandboxes in mind, not higher quality projects meant to last a long time. Although I don't use synthetics anymore, I've used plenty of them in the past and never found a need for glue there either. If you can't keep control of the stretch factor of your synthetics you need to upgrade to a better piece of fabric, because that one isn't bear worthy to begin with and you are going to create a shoddy product that doesn't have staying power. Using glue or other cheap tricks can be a crutch, you want to refine your skills. Anyone can make a bear, many people can make a cute or even a snazzy looking bear, few can make a bear that's cute or snazzy lookin that will last through the generations because of quality. THAT is what makes us the artists, so please be one of those few people. It's not just about making a buck, it's about quality of product and reputation as well. You need to think about the products you're turning out, where they go, and their life after they leave you. It's wonderful to think that people treat them like fine art and put them in glass cases with temperature and humidity control, but the truth is most don't. At some point the bears are going to be handled and maybe even played with. What happens if the bear is in an incredibly humid climate that reconstitutes the glue? Nothin like a sticky bear. *Shudders* I got a post card once from a collector that took my bear to Peru in a back pack, can you imagine if it started fallin apart in some way on the trip? I know my bears can withstand a whole lot of torture because they are built to last. When in doubt, a good rule of thumb is if you couldn't put it on human hair, don't use it on a bear.
I am sorry you are going through a personal crisis, and I know you want support but sometimes support doesn't involve just telling you what you want to hear. You need to know the truth about what you are doing, and what the long term effects of it will be. Also remember that stress does not equal a good product. It's better to deal with your issues then go back to working on your bears. The harsh reality is that the consumer doesn't care one bit about your personal problems, they care that they saved up X amount of their disposable income to give to YOU for something they want and they are going to expect it to be good. I don't want to sound like a royal witch but I don't want to sugar coat this either. Think about it, when you go to Wendy's you don't stop to think about how sad it must make Dave Thomas's family to pass by them because they miss him, you think gee do I get a salad or a cheeseburger. You need to realize the gravity of what you're doing, the consequences of the product you're creating, that it will be used and subjected to things you can't even conceive of, and the people buying those products.
Wild Thyme OriginalsI am sorry you are going through a personal crisis, and I know you want support but sometimes support doesn't involve just telling you what you want to hear. You need to know the truth about what you are doing, and what the long term effects of it will be. Also remember that stress does not equal a good product. It's better to deal with your issues then go back to working on your bears. The harsh reality is that the consumer doesn't care one bit about your personal problems, they care that they saved up X amount of their disposable income to give to YOU for something they want and they are going to expect it to be good.
Oh goodness! I am a very non-argumentative person by nature, (thus my major shift in careers!) so I will leave the initial portion of your response untouched.... I'd be happy to discuss the merits and pitfalls of any specific art product with you personally, if you'd care to e Mail me.... but the paragraph I have directly quoted from you above just screams out from the computer screen for some sort of a response Kelly.
Every single human being in this crazy, mixed up world deals with tragedy and crisis, with personal illness, with the illnesses of those they love, with deaths and births, marriages and divorces....with a whole range of life altering events, often completely beyond our control....... I think you will find that more than a few of the folks on this board have turned to bear making as a relief from some of that personal strife.... and many view bear making, whether its pursued as a hobby or a career, as a form of stress relief.
Plenty of the folks you refer to as "consumers" care oh so much about personal problems. I know that I have developed fairly deep, personal friendships with many of the people who purchase my bears. I know when their kids are going to start Kindergarten, I know what illnesses their elderly parents have.... they know that my three year old son simply refuses to use the potty... and they actually care! Not each and every person who buys one of my teddies is someone I KNOW like that, but I am happy to say that the overwhelming majority are! I think that's one of the biggest appeals of what we call "artist bears".... they are made by a person, who thinks & feels, who laughs & cries. I think there is an emormously big "consumer" group out there that would agree with me 100% on that.
There is obviously a huge range of quality out there.... and a huge range of price tags attached to these little souls. I think there are collectors, as well as makers who view teddies simply as art objects... a wonderfully designed and constructed thing of beauty... and that's great.... personally, I'd be HAPPY to know that the joints on my bears were getting a wee bit looser because some one was playing with them, hugging them, loving them... I'd be simply thrilled! I think I'd be doing my "job" just fine!!!!! Every single material that we use in constructing a bear has it's downfalls... metal rusts, paints wear off, cotton degrades, wool gets eaten by moths... (mohair too!!!!) plastic can get brittle and crack or crumble, glass is really a very slow flowing liquid.... I truly do strive to create the most well made bears I can... I use the best quality materials that I can afford and what I think will give me the best results for what I am trying to accomplish. I'm quite sure that what I make doesn't appeal to everyone. I'm quite sure that a more highly skilled bear artist could point out "flaws." Maybe I've read The Velveteen Rabbit a few too many times... but truly, I BELIEVE with all my heart and soul that when a pile of fabric, fur, glass and thread is loved ... when it's created with emotion, and cherished by it's owner, when it makes them think of the simplicity of their childhood, or a fond memory, when it puts a great big smile on their face.... when it soaks up their tears after a truly stressful and crappy day.... it becomes REAL. Flat out. My childhood teddy bear was a shoddily made synthetic, unjointed, "plain old thing" of a bear that my parents bought for $2.50 at a card shop in 1972. What time and love did to that little guy..... well, it's truly beautiful! I still have him... well, most of him! Truly... he's falling apart.... but hey, he's mine, he's loved, he's real, and he's worth a heck of a lot more than $2.50 in this woman's heart! I wouldn't change him for the WORLD!
If you enjoy doing something like making bears, whether you are making tons of money from it, or whether you can't sell a single thing you create... you should do it! If it takes you two hours or two years to make a bear, you should do it! If it provides your family with a needed source of income... great. If it unwinds you at the end of a day filled with stressful human existance... please do it! We should all be so lucky and blessed to have something as a hobby or a career that makes us feel good and that has the potential to make others feel good too.
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Kim-Bee BearsI would like to say that bear making IS my stress reliever... I work in a lawfirm which is a VERY stressful environment. Before I started making bears, I didnt know how to cope with all the stress... a lot of times I would come home and cry, not out of being sad but being so frustrated and not having a way to let it all out... Bear making has become much more than just a "hobby".... sure, maybe there are customers that dont care one way or another who you are, what you do or where you come from... for the most part, my customers have become people that I talk to, and really like to get to know... I have bought bears from artist who won't even say thank you when your purchase a bear and there are people who I have bought from that I stay in constant contact with. And being a collector well before an artist, I don't know that I would buy bears off of some of the people who won't interact with a customer, I dont mean to carry on a longtime friendship with but someone that if you email them and tell them that you like the bear and maybe a comment or two, they should at least respond back to say thank you... That is just good customer service... I was in retail for YEARS when I was in college, you learn a lot about people in a setting like that... If I get bad customer service, it really helps me determine whether or not to continue giving that store business...
I just thought you might find this interesting...I don't necessarily believe that the cotton backing of mohair rots because of glue, in fact it's the opposite for paint canvas, without some form of primer the cotton will rot over time...as do all organic things.
This is a paragraph from a website about preserving canvas admittedly, but you can apply the same to any cotton or linen.
"POLY VINYL ACETATE (PVA) SIZE
Diluted with distilled water, PVA size is a contemporary size for fabric support. Conservation scientists recommend painters use neutral pH PVA size on linen and canvas instead of rabbit skin glue. PVA provides a good size layer that seals the fabric but does not re-absorb atmospheric moisture, swell and shrink like rabbit skin glue does. There are hundreds of different formulae of PVA. We acknowledge and appreciate the research of the Canadian Conservation Institute that helps painters and conservators identify the best PVA to use. Gamblin PVA Size is made from PVA that has a neutral pH and does not yellow. It also retains its flexibility and does not emit harmful volatiles.
MSDS"
I am not a scientist..and I don't purport to know much but I do know that forms of glue have been used to good effect down the ages, the Roman used a form of glue for their boats, the Egyptians used it to bind their mummies. Doll makers use it. Hairdressers use it every day in the form of hair spray.
I don't feel that following our noses where our creativity takes us leads us to create 'shoddy' bears...or infers a lack of skill and a need to hone up our abilities, the mere fact the we have enquiring, creative minds and are not happy with just being content with traditional methods means that we are always searching for new ways of doing things , new fabrics, fresh ideas.
As far as customers go, I agree that for the most part our personal lives don't matter to them, but we matter to each other on Teddy Talk ...our associates/friends/fellow bear-makers...and it's not about telling people what they want to hear...it's about giving support.
scott's bearsHello !!! Oh my we have gotten off track a bit LOL The bottom line to all the threads is NO GLUE !!! I owned a Bear store for many years and showed bears from hundreds of bear makers in the country!!! NO GLUE!!! let me say it again NO GLUE! I don't care what type of glue its is I don't care what the company says I don't care what the lady down the street tell you !!!! NO GLUE!!!! I can not tell you how many times I have had to repair, replace, redo ,retouch bears that have a skill that the artist has used GLUE !!! NO GLUE Find a way USING your needle to get the look that your are trying to achieve hence needle ARTS.. Is what we do !!
PS JUST A SHORT STORY ..Famous bearmaker makes a set of bears boy&girl dressed kind of theme one of the skills she uses is completed using GLUE she packs it and sends it to the customer using FEDEX the customer get the work and make a very big deal out of opening the box inviting the staff and the patrons to open the box and place the work on display...open box lift out the work AND !!!! THE FACE FALLS RIGHT OFF THE BEAR!!! The folks on the other end were totaly put off and the owner of this VERY pricy work was imbaressed that such a big deal was made of getting this work BECAUSE as the owner of the three most famous TeddyBear museums in the world he had a reputation to up hold YES it was the owner of the museums in JAPAN ...This story was told by the artist at a bear convention just after it happened and the story was very simple the shipping of fedex in the UNHEATED BELLY OF THE AIRPLANE messed with the GLUE used and the work broke down and lead to the most embarrassing moment in the artist life....CAN I SAY again NO GLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We're talking about lining fabric with cotton muslin which is then stitched into place.
If my face was glued on it would probably fall off too...
Kelly... since you're *Utterly mystified*, about why someone would put oil paint on a bear, I must conclude you haven't tried this technique for yourself. I hope to soothe your puzzlement and apparent horror!, with the following.
:)
Those bearmakers, such as myself, who use oil paints to lightly and subtly shade their bears, are using an EXTREMELY dry-brush technique, and only pick up the smallest, thinnest amount of paint when loading a brush -- after which, almost every last bit of pigment is then wiped off the brush and onto a paper towel, before brush ever touches its teddy "canvas."
In my own work, most times, any shading I might do never reaches the backing of the mohair, as it does the job well enough when brushed through only the mohair itself. Personally, after shading, I always use a second, and sometimes even a third, clean, stiff brush, to comb through shaded areas AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN... and therefore ensure as smooth and soft a finish as possible, with no crunchy, "painted-on" residue. This step also, by necessity, removes and smooths and thins any paint applied, even further.
I think we're all aware that oil paints contain acids and resins that have eroded famous artworks over time when their canvases were improperly prepped and gessoed (or the old time equivalent.) But we're not talking about ten tubes of oil paint slapped directly onto a woven fabric, as was the case with those old paintings; we're talking about the barest whisper of a smudge of oil paint, applied with an extremely dry -- and I do mean DRY -- brush, which is then usually brushed OFF. I feel pretty confident this will not negatively impact the longevity of my bears... and that's why I do it. If I felt otherwise, I would have chosen a different shading media, because it's of enormous importance to me to produce a high quality, lasting, product.
I am relatively new to this industry but as I have developed my skillset and experience level, I have done a lot of reading on the internet about bears, paints, fabrics, and archival-quality techniques and media, since I want to present my collectors with a high quality product that will quite literally last a lifetime. And do note I said "a lifetime" -- not forever and ever.
I looked and looked everywhere when I first thought to put oil paint onto mohair... and found absolutely nothing on the subject of drybrushing with oils... or using only miniscule amounts on a protein fiber (mohair), as opposed to a plant fiber (woven backing.) Yes, I readily admit; if you slap a half inch thick layer of oil paint onto untreated fabric, deterioration over time is guaranteed. But that's not remotely what we're talking about here.
I also have an extensive home library on the subject of teddy bears, both contemporary AND vintage/antique. And from what I've read, it seems that exposure to insects, pollution, dust, moisture, friction, heat, cold, pressure, and time, are the major contributors to teddy deterioration, and the reason most restorers stay in business. I have never read anywhere that a dye, colorant, paint, or shading technique -- or any chemical treatment of fabric, stuffing, or mohair, at all, for that matter -- has been fingered as the culprit in a particular case of deterioration.
If anyone has different information on the subject, however, and can refer me to it on the internet, or at a library, I would be exceedingly grateful to know about, and promise to read it with interest. I looked and looked for such information, and asked on more than one message board and hobby group, and simply got nothing at all, in response.
Kelly, I appreciate your willingness to openly and honestly share your perspective on what makes a bear a "good, quality" bear. And I appreciate your earnest wish for all bear makers to produce a quality, lasting product.
However, in asking this question about glue in the first place, and in the discussion that followed, it looks to me like that's PRECISELY what this group of bearmakers is trying to do. Namely, create a quality, lasting product, by gathering as much information as possible about what it takes to achieve just that goal.
Thanks for your sharing.
Donna's Duin BruinsI may be going off in another direction for you all here but when you do real fur bears you need to line them so that if the leather splits or something you have your muslin to be able to stablize the leather. When I tried my first fur bear I was told to mix glue and water. I found it very hard to sew after the glue dried. Then I think it was thanks to Nancy Tilburg that I learned about using a glue stix to hold the muslin to the the leather. Now, thanks to Susie Stong, I have moved onto Leather weld. Very soft and flexable bond, yet strong. Those who work in real fur might want to check it out. Would not the glue stix or the Leather Weld not work on the synthetic? You want just enough glue to hold it in place while you get your seams sewn. My interpretation of lining the synthetic is so that the muslin or cotton holds the shape and prevents the bear from becoming distorted, just like in the fur bears the muslin is taking the abuse of stuffing rather than the leather. For a long time I sewed the muslin to the leather but worried about the extra holes from that much more stitching. You could just tack the muslin to the synthetic if you are worried about the glue.
I am pretty sure it is Lisa Pay that tells you in all of her patterns to mix glue and water and brush that onto the backing of even mohair. She thinks it makes the fabric more managable. My feeling is, there are as many ways of doing it as there are people making bears. There is no one right or wrong way of making a bear. I do stick to my own personal rule of no hot glue on a bear! Besides, if you don't try new and different things how will you know if they work or not? I can't imagine that in the beginning, Steiff didn't have a few bears that had some problems to work out. Just keep using those bears for therapy for both the bear maker and the new owner.
Donna
BlondheartOk I think some of you misunderstood what I have said. I did NOT say I don't support her or care, I said the AVERAGE CONSUMER. Support on here is vastly different than having customers at a show who don't know you at all caring about your problems. I didn't say the artist would not interact with the customer, I am saying the customer doesn't care what our personal lives involve. There is a huge difference. Of course I care about my customers!!!!! I didn't say making bears weren't good therapy. Beauty is born of sadness, but those are the bears you give to your neighbors or your grandkids because stress doesn't induce high quality. You're distracted at that time in your life so it's not uncommon to miss simple details, if you don't believe me compare later when you're in a better place. You all ASKED me about the glue in the other thread, I told you why I and many other seasoned artists have never used it. If Romans used it on boats or the Egyptians used it on their dead.......great......neither one is a bear.
Kelly, again I appreciate your willingness to share your opinion; one borne of experience and tenure in this industry. Obviously, you have carefully considered positions on these issues and are solid on where you stand. And obviously, you make fine and beautiful bears, given careful attention to workmanship, materials, and detail! This isn't mere butt-kissing; it's who you clearly are. I respect that!
You wrote:
stress doesn't induce high quality
... and I understand and respect that this is what you believe.
Playing Devil's Advocate for a moment, however... let me offer the following.
If memory serves, painter Vincent Van Gogh was quite literally insane -- about as stressed as a person can be. Syphilis, schizophrenia, and Menière's syndrome have been proposed; most likely he suffered from a combination of endogenous depression and psychomotor epilepsy caused by temporal-lobe dysfunction (and no, I'm not an art history scholar; I got that, and the figures and titles, below, at: http://www.providencephoenix.com/archiv … GOGH.html)
At least partially due to that stressful condition, Van Gogh cut off his own ear. Kinda... extreme.
Thereafter, he went on to paint a self-portrait of his earless visage.... among other paintings. One of those paintings, the Portrait of Doctor Gachet (1890), was bought by the late Daishowa Paper Company chairman Ryoei Saito for $82.5 million in May of 1990.
Thus, stressed and crazy or otherwise, Van Gogh's post-ear-chop work was so valued as "art" of the highest quality and fineness, that it demanded just such a price, and nothing less.
Sooo... what's my point?
Well, it's that, usually, what seems to work best in group discussions and brainstorming, Q&A type sessions, is to make suggestions to the group while owning them as one's OPINION... and not as rock-solid, irrefutable fact. When it comes to "art," whatever THAT means -- can we just not go there??? -- there are so many ways to skin a cat, and who's to say, really, what's the "right" way, and what's the "wrong" way? There is just... what works for YOU... and for ME... and for HIM... and for HER. And then, happily, there are also places like this, where we can convene and say... Gee, I didn't think of that. Or... Hey, thanks for letting me know; I won't do that anymore.
What's best not said, though, are things that degrade or belittle or mock or judge, or that imply or state overtly that they are the be-all, end-all, "right" and "only" way to get things accomplished.
Kelly, I understand that you believe stress interferes with the production of a quality product. And I'd be willing to bet, given your certainty and conviction!, that this is absolutely true... FOR YOU.
But I would be equally willing to bet that Mr. Ryoei Saito, and his cheerfully spent $82.5 million, believe just the opposite. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that, when it comes to art, Mr. Ryoei Saito believes stress PRODUCES high quality.
And ya know what? You'd both be absolutely, 100%, correct.
Hugs to you,
