The best thing to come from this? I am working in many mediums that I haven't for a very long time. From my writing to my painting and even some of my crafting I am doing things that a decade ago I had "given up" for that sake of making money. We have recently in this family had an epiphany: Money sucks. Say what? Money sucks. We need it. Paying the bills without it is very hard, but the way we go about getting it? Yeah it sucks. Even when you are doing something you love, the money part of it sucks. We have made a deal with ourselves to do the things we love, make the art we make and work the jobs we have to work. Money is a necessary evil, but it need not rule our lives. We are always in the process of trying to make our art that thing that brings us that necessary evil. It hurts to make that exchange. We firmly believe that we make things with owners, they just haven't found each other yet. When the two come together and it is money keeping them apart...yeah, money sucks.
We write, paint, photograph, craft, meld copper, create jewelry, sculpt, play instruments, write music, sing, and are slightly insane. Some we do extraordinarily well, some we are still working on. The hardest part? Using the term art to describe what we have made, determining that it is good enough to be sold, and then allowing a price commiserate to the effort and materials we put into it. I use a very simple formula for pricing: 250% of materials in the piece + $10-$25 per hour used to create it. The price per hour varies mostly because our skill level varies in our respective crafts. You want Crimson to play piano at your wedding then you are going to help pay for her equipment, training and her time. Did I just pull these numbers from nowhere? Nope. There is a logic to it. 100% of materials is the cost of the materials you are holding in the piece. The next 100% goes to replace those materials. 50% is in profit-although if the cost of materials has gone up that eats into the profit. Oh and the cost of the trip to the site, yeah that does the same, don't forget about the cost to set up. I think you get the idea. The pay per hour is simply paying the artist for the time they put into a piece. The amount that is paid depends upon the time they have been performing an art and their skill level. Crimson has a Masters in Music, Piano Performance. Her price per hour is actually significantly higher then is listed above. You get what you pay for.
Seeing a piece you have made with the price tag determined by the above variable is both great and scary. You KNOW in your soul that it could have, should have been better; that it isn't worth the tag the price is written on. At the same time you KNOW that it is a stunning example of your work, quite possibly the best thing you have ever done, and way under priced. That is the dichotomy of being an artist. We support each other through that and giggle at the anxiety. We then turn around, a day later (or less), and do it ourselves. There is no relief from the thought that you might not be good enough and the thought you are doing amazing things. They are both in your head doing battle throughout every piece you create. It is calming them down and making them work for you that makes each piece worth it to the new owner.
Pictures of our gorgeous copper and gemstone bonsai on display at an event; because, everybody likes pictures.
Love what I am doing and want to see more? I am now on Patreon.
No comments:
Post a Comment