playing catch-up. always.

I’m still playing catch-up from last week, and this week is bordering on the craptastic as well.  Oh, as they say, well.

 

Part of that catch-up was telling y’all about what it seems like I’m going to be teaching at the Art Garage in the Fall and a couple of thinky-thought questions I’ve been contemplating about how artists achieve success.  <–This one is totally due to the epic search for my certified birth certificate and car title so that I could get my Wisconsin driver’s license and plates for ‘Renn (my car).  *cues epic quest music*

 

I found them and have spend an inordinate amount of The Husband’s money making sure that I am a properly Wisconsin-licensed squid.

 

I have a collar and everything.  I’ve had my shots too.  /facetious

 

Now, I haven’t signed any teaching contracts yet for the Art Garage, but I have been given some tentative dates (which I’m not disclosing until I’ve signed the contracts), but it looks like I’m going to be teaching a story bead class like the one I took with Lisa Kay at Bliss Beads in DeKalb for St. Vincents as well as a book-making workshop in which we’re going to learn Japanese stab-stitch binding with each student contributing a page for the book so that everyone will have part of everyone else.  <–The Art Garage has a art therapy co-operative with St. Vincents.

 

Since these classes are in coordination with St. Vinny’s, they’re going to be more intentionally autobiographical in intent with an expectation that many of the students with be performing trauma writing.

 

I’m also supposed to be teaching a two day book-making workshop that I’m hoping to get people to think about artists books as well as making their own blank books.  The idea is to teaching them a variety of book-forms on the first day in conjunction with an introduction into artist books and non-traditional book-forms and then, on the second day, get the students to start creating artist books.  Or even artist journals since they are inextricably linked.

 

This should be interesting since I’m a very non-traditional-book-form book artist on occasion.  For example, this is a wearable book that I made.

 

 

Pardon the craptastic image.  I just recently found it again, and I haven’t had a chance to re-photograph it.

 

So, *insert segue here* as for a few questions about how artists achieve success.  I ran across an old Chicago Artists’ News (2009, XXXVI.7) that, I think, Lisa Kay gave me.  <–Again, thanks to the epic quest.  The cover story is “Is Art School Worth the Cost?”.  Now, the artists that were interviewed seem to come out to a “it depends” since some think it was amazingly important and others were very meh.  What caught my eye about this article was this quote:

It’s (art school) has been disillusioning.  A brutal wake-up call.  I’ve realized how many jerks are in the art world and how often success is based on connections instead of talent. (p. 1 & 11)

I know a lot of professionally trained artists and a lot of self-taught artists and a few who are both (I know that seems impossible, but mix a discovery-learner with art school and both can happen).  I’m technically one of those discovery-learner-art-school hybrids as is my friend and sometimes collaborator Elain.

 

Art school was important to me more in terms of space, facilities, and other people–not so much connections (though some of that happened), but more people to talk to about what was in my head trying to come out in my work.  This often didn’t go well because of my theory training which dictated a certain respect and negotiation of concept when it comes to audiences (reader-response theory) and that we are each going to approach a work depending on our cultural upbringing and the cultures with which we identify ourselves (autobiographical theory).
 

Ask ‘Lain.  I annoyed people a lot with that.

 

So, the question for y’all is this:  do you think that artist success is a matter of talent, connections, pandering to an audience, something else, or a mix?

 

I always lean towards “mix,” but I hate the idea that connections can over shadow talent and feeding an audience art that is safe and stayed and boring will get an artist further than hard work and skill.  Therefore, I think I’m coming out undecided at the moment.

 

What do y’all think?

art and art-lovers unite!

So, I have been thinking awhile about how artists need community because we have a tendency to be alienated and isolated in our studios (and that’s just soooooooooo Abstract Expressionist and we don’t have to worry about McCarthyism and HUAC locking us up because we’re degenerates and subversives) and that people who love the arts need to be part of that community–since who else are we creating for but those that love art and each other–and I was talking to Miss Carrie at the Art Garage about this very thought.

 

She suggested that I take a look at Artini–Arts Management with a Twist written by the incomparable Ellen Rosewall–who basically is on every board of ever arts-oriented thing in Green Bay–because she had recently been voicing a similar thought.

 

My response to her post was

It seems like getting people into situations that they are likely to even start speaking to each other would be the first step–like Gallery Night, but Gallery Night has the draw-back of happening so infrequently and being kinda art-touristy. I keep thinking about the writing group that I used to be a member of before I moved to the Green Bay-area; we would get together a couple of times a month and talk about writing, exchange stories, and support each other. It’s not precisely what you’re talking about here, but it seems like we need to get ourselves-as-artists out of this removed, individuated-to-the-point-of-isolation mindset so that we can connect with audiences and help them to become something more than audiences.

I don’t see why an “artists group” should be just artists. Why not have something like these groups where anyone who is interested in art could come to play?

And isn’t this true?  It’s hard for artists to meet other artists and for artists to meet people who are interested in art outside of a Gallery Night  or an art school sorta context, and when you’re terminally shy like me, it’s even harder to meet other artists or, when you meet them, to talk to them.  <–If y’all haven’t realized this, “socially awkward” is my middle name.

 

(Okay, so this is something that might totally exist already around the country where there are huge-upon-huge art scenes, but what about Green Bay?  Couldn’t Green Bay totally use one [or seven] of these?)

 

So, this brings up the age-old questions:  what can we-as-artists and art-lovers do?

 

We can form groups!  Get anyone and everyone we know that has an interest in art and tell them to invite their art-interested friends and meet and talk and drink and just totally BS about life, the universe, and everything.

 

If we all set up groups and met even just once a month, imagine the art communities that we could build!  It could be a place for artists and the art-interested to trade ideas, concepts, and methods as well as receive critique (which is another one of those things that artists miss when we’re all alone in our studios) and form potential art co-operatives and find other artists working in similar concepts and/or materials.

 

It could even be away to bridge that huge gap that exists between the older generation of artists and the younger generation, bring arts to schools via the community, and get people to realize that, hey, you’re never to old or young to start making art; that, like everything, art takes practice and determination and critical thinking and someone to bounce ideas off of occasionally.

 

And booze.  Don’t forget the booze.  <–Okay, art really doesn’t need alcohol involved, but for the adults, it takes some of the sting out of critique.

 

So, artists and art-lovers, for groups!  Even if it’s just to talk about artists that you like or exhibits that you’ve seen.

 

Hey, if writers and poets can do it–why can’t artists?

things and things and other things

So, I’ve been promising and promising to share my studio forms with y’all:  time-sheet, materials, and project (which is basically a combined time-sheet-materials form with a built in cost assessor and place for conceptual notes).  I had been putting it off because WordPress has created a way to share your Google Docs on your blog, and I, honestly, hadn’t gotten around to sussing out how it worked.

 

*is a bad and laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy squid*

 

But!  Now, I have done it!  You all can share my OCD tendencies that have extended into my studio!  *bwahahahahahahaha*

 

Really, only I could be this excited about record keeping stuff.

 

 

The time-sheet is really just a way of keeping track of the amount of time that I’m spending in the studio.  Nothing big, but when you kinda feel mooch-ish (like me), it’s nice to be able to quantify as well as qualify my time.

 

 

The materials sheet helps me to keep track of what materials are being used in the studio and how much they cost.  Really, I use the time-sheets and materials sheets just as much for miscellanious, non-specific activities in my studio–like the box I’m working on to put the masses of buttons I have so that I can sell them at the Art Garage or twin!Sarah’s graduation present.

 

Euclid’s First Solar System

 

 

The project sheets are really the best of both worlds with chocolate (Cadbury Dairy Milk, specifically) on top.  I can break down my time by project, break down materials by project, and keep notes, due dates, and prospective titles all in one place, making the entire pricing of art an easier (if just as frustrating) task.

 

I likes them a lot.

 

In other news, the end of the quarter is coming up at the Art Garage, which means that my wall space is going to be moving (closer to the front of the gallery!) and a new featured studio artist will go up.  This happens on Thursday, so if you were wanting to see my featured studio artist wall in person, make a trip to the Art Garage!

 

 

Okay, off to finish coffee, work on organizing studio stuff and the stuff for the Marathon for Literature (there’s a post coming up on this, especially since I’m in charge of Food Donations and Thank You letters), and framing.

 

So.  Much.  FRAMING! /o\

 

Courage.

too much to ‘splain; let me sum up

*points*  An obligatory Princess Bride reference for y’all.

 

So, this last week has been crazily, fantastically busy; hence why I am currently at home typing this into the blog-o-sphere at my little shadow-darkened desk (have I mentioned that it’s raining like the world’s ending?  with lightening and thunder and dark, dark skies?  the cats are totally in hiding, and I’m worrying about the nascent garden).

 

The good thing about being at home?  Chai, no-shoes, and fuzzy kitties when they come out from beneath the furniture.

 

But, I digress (as I often do).  Last week.  Yeah.  Too much going on, particularly on Saturday.

 

There was working in my studio at the Art Garage.  There was Gallery Night replete with insta-book demos for one and all (which went over really, really well and was like magic for people that tried it).  And, Saturday–oh, Saturday!–there was the Shawano Farmers’ Market (we also had the Rhubarb Festival and the Jumpin’ June Jamboree and Car Show, but I didn’t get to those), Faerie Fest at Thistledown Greenhouse outside of Bonduel, and a fundraiser for the Art Garage at the Green Bay Barnes and Noble.

 

While I got a ton accomplished in my tAG studio, that really wasn’t the highlight of the week, so I’ll spare y’all pictures of the last-week’s progress until next week’s post.  The highlight wasn’t even Gallery Night–although it was awesome, there were tons of people, and people were really digging my work in addition to the demo and book forms I brought with me.  The highlight was Faerie Fest, all of the lovely faerie folk, and the lovely vendors (about half of which were part of Kara Counard‘s 101 Women Project that is on display at the Art Garage until the end of June).

 

Faerie Fest took place at the Thistledown Greenhouse (which is moving to California?!? *turbo-pouts*).  So, yeah, there’s totally a greenhouse there, but what really caught my attention was their beautiful old Victorian house (there are a lot of old Victorians up here for some reason).

 

It’s like the Wisconsin-version of the house from Practical Magic without the tower.

 

They also have a bunch of feathered friends patrolling the grounds.

 

 

There was also a peacock, but I didn’t manage to get a picture of him.

 

So, there were a bunch of different vendors, but I’m going to, as usual, tell you about my favorites–’cause I can!  bwahahahahaha

 

There was Aurora’s Apothecary, Herb Shop, and Apothecary Museum (go like it on Facebook!) run by the lovely Miss Melissa.  Her shop is located in Greenleaf (Morrison), WI.  She carries culinary herbs and other kitchen ephemera, teas, make-your-own potpourri, home and garden decor, plants and seeds for gardening, body and health products, and fairy and magical accoutrement as well as housing an apothecary museum and teaching classes.

 

 

This is Melissa and her lovely gentleman friend surrounded by her amazing products (I like that she reads as an urban faerie due to the raver-esque hairfalls, and he’s steampunk-ish; they’re so cute!).  In addition to Melissa and friend being beautifully costumed (unlike me in my Dr. Seuss shirt),  she totally has a gardening gift in addition to the herbalism knowledge; I could smell her catnip from 8 feet away.  Totally, amazingly potent.

 

I bought a bottle of her Relief for Sore Muscles and Joints (which, anyone who knows me in RL knows that I’m pretty much in constant pain, so this product is a potential life-saver).

 

 

It contains essential oils of wintergreen, blackpepper, rosemary, juniper, fir, ginger, lavender, nutmeg, cajeput, clove, eucalyptus, cinnamon, lemon, safflower, aloe, apricot, almond, jojoba, VE, evening primrose, rosehip, and neem. All suspended in an amazingly light massage oil base (I have yet to feel like a ancient Greek wrestler after any application).

 

Okay, honestly, I hate wintergreen with a passion.  I used to have this really good muscle/joint stuff that I could never use because the smell of wintergreen made me crazy, made my head hurt, and made me sick to my stomach.  Sooooooo not fun.  But Aurora’s Apothecary?  The wintergreen isn’t noticeable and nothing in here is making my allergies act up–which is a miracle on the order of loaves and fishes cause there’s at least three things in there with which I habitually have problems.  Nothing.  Nada.  \o/

 

Mostly, I’m smelling the primrose and the lavender, which I’m liking.  Your mileage may vary.

 

Okay, personal testimonial time.

 

It’s totally not a cure-all, but it is definitely helping me out.  Hot shower (okay, I par-boil myself), application of Relief, ‘jamies, and snuggly blankets.  I might not be right as rain (which, what is so right about rain anyway?), but the muscles feel a bit looser, I’m sleeping a bit better, and my mental-state is a bit less “suck the world into a hell dimension.”  <–I’m reading Buffy fic again.  Can you tell?

 

I think that’s the most I can ask of anything as far as pain-management goes, so yeah, make a sojourn to Aurora’s Apothecary (or any of the many events that she frequents like the Door County Renaissance Fantasy Faire or the Green Bay Farmers’ Market on Broadway).

 

Then, there was book bones (Etsy shop) whose motto is “new life for old books” and describes her work as

 

 

My handmade jewelry and accessories are all made using old books in some form or another. No worries, though, most of the books are library discards. This means they could no longer be used due to the condition of the pages or outdated content. It warms my heart to take an unwanted book and turn it in to something beautiful and fun. I hope you enjoy them!

 

And she is totally not kidding.  She makes handbags out of book covers and jewelry out of altered pages.  They’re very altered book mets haute couture all out of upcycled materials.  Who could ask for more?  This is the piece that I bought (re:  Husband bought) on Saturday.  I made a specific beaded chain for it so that it wasn’t just on the temporary black cord.  I think they go well together.

 

 

There was also Sage Hollow (Facebook page), which is located in Denmark, WI.  <–They have a blog over——->here!

 

Aren’t they lovely faeries?

 

I bought some tea for my Wisconsin-edition Mother-In-Law (again, Husband bought) and tried to not sniff their wears too pornographically.  I sense a road trip in my future very, very soon.

 

The last of the vendors that I want to talk about is Gracie Designs.

 

 

Kelley of Gracie Designs make beautifully cute, hip accessories (that I totally want a bunch of, but I, since I am totally kept at the moment, I didn’t have any money).  She has an Etsy and a Facebook, so buy and like as appropriate!

 

She also frequents the Farmers Market on Broadway, so y’all can see her and Aurora’s Apothecary at the Market 3-8 on Wednesdays through the summer!

 

In addition to all of the fantastic vendors, there were so many wonderfully dressed faeries that I took kinda sneaky-shots from a distance so that people couldn’t be recognized since I hadn’t asked first.

 

 

This was the Cernnunos/Green Man of the day.  I got a little obsessed with this one, but I think that had more to do with me creating my own version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in my head.

 

 

In my head, these two became Oberon and Titania, which on the Shakespearean stage were played by the same actors that played Theseus and Hippolyta so that they were shadow-selves of the King and Queen of Athens.  *is a total Shakespeare geek*

 

 

And, for me, this was Oberon speaking with Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow).

 

After all of the fun at the Faerie Fest, I went to a fundraiser at Barnes and Noble for the Art Garage, and I signed up for a reading-slot for their Marathon for Literacy in September (as did Husband–he’s going to read something by Lovecraft, and I’m going to read “The Thing in the Forest”  from The Little Black Book of Stories by A.S. Byatt).

 

 

Okay, so this has become the longest, most picture-heavy post in the history of the universe, and I’m going to go now.

 

Courage.

Tuesday blog preview

Tuesday’s post is going to be about Faerie Fest in Bonduel, the Art Garage fundraiser at Barnes and Noble, and Gallery Night.

I might even manage to put up the project sheets! Oh, the humanity!

loads to talk about

So, after last week’s lack-lustre post, this last week (and up-coming week) has been all sorts of full with craziness:  there was Kara Cournard‘s 101 Women Project opening at the Art Garage, there’s Gallery Night coming up on Thursday (have I mentioned that I’m demoing insta-books at the shindig?), there were Seattle Edition in-law visits, there’s an Art Garage fundraiser at Barnes and Noble Saturday as well as the Faerie Festival at Thistledown Greenhouse and the first day of the Shawano Farmer’s Market.

 

Wow, can I have a few more links in there?  *considers*  I could, but I’ll save y’all’s eyes.  Just this once.

 

The 101 Women Project was fantastic and rowdy and loud and all-and-all nifty.  I met a whole bunch of people from the Green Bay Art Scene (I still think that we need to have some sort of monthly get-together in order to be drunken and talk about art), and they are a nice bunch of people.  There’s even a lovely Green Bay Council Person who attended the shindig and is endeavoring to preserve and help to grow the Green Bay Art Scene.

 

I had a really good time even though I was technically doing that faux-work thing and was having the “I’m so painfully shy that I think I’ll just hide beneath the counter for the evening.  Thanks.” day.  Towards the end, I managed to chat and network a bit and be a charming squid.

 

Also, as y’all might or might not know, I now have a studio at the Art Garage, but I’m the Art Garage’s Featured Studio Artist for June (so I had a third wall to fill in addition to my gallery wall and my studio wall–there were a lot of inventory sheets to fill out).

 

 

 

*POINTS*  See!  That’s me!  In the front gallery and everything!  It’s very exciting.  Additionally, I have a section of wall in the main gallery that I currently have my most recent color field diptych up on.

 

 

 
I’ve been having a color field thing since moving to Wisconsin; I think it has something to do with color saturation here. It’s really phenomenal.

 

This particular color field piece is on display at the Art Garage in Green Bay at the moment. The idea for it came from a tv series I used to watch in the 90s called Beyond Reality. In this episode, an artist keeps painting bits and pieces of a monster that lives in his mind and that is attempting to come into being. In this diptych, I have portrayed a calmer, less demonic creature in an abstracted form with only an “eye” really recognizable as anything, possibly.

 

And my tAG studio is wonderfully cracktastic.  Full-to-bursting, quixotic, and whimsical–just like me.

 

 

 

So, yeah, that’s what’s been going on in my crazy artist life, and an explanation as to why I haven’t gotten the Project Sheets up to share.  *hands*

 

Remember, if y’all are in the Green Bay area on Thursday, come on down to the Art Garage for Gallery Night, and watch me confuse people with insta-books!

 

Courage.

fiber porn at the whitefish bay farm gallery’s shepard’s market

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My step-mother-in-law’s birthday was last Friday, so over the weekend, the Husband, the In-Laws Wisconsin Edition, and I schlepped up to Door County to check out the Whitefish Bay Farm Gallery and the annual Shepard’s Market.

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There’s a complete list of this year’s vendors, so go take a look.  It’ll be well worth the time, especially if you’re fiber-inclined or think you’d like to learn to spin.  *is resolute about not learning to spin*  Oh, who am I kidding?  I’m so going to end up learning to card, spin, weave, and cause general mayhem with wool.  *sigh*

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But, as you might have guessed, Door County is fabulously beautiful (if full of cherry trees, which, I discovered last year in Baltimore, I’m really allergic to when they’re blooming), and the Whitefish Bay Farm Gallery is no exception.

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It’s situated on a farm a bit outside of Whitefish Bay (which is a super-cute little town), so it’s a bit of a trek to get there.  Yet it’s completely worth it.  There were noisy/nosey guard sheep that I’m sure alerted the entire county that there were people–strange, maniacal people hell-bent on shearing them of their lovely fluffiness–within a field’s breadth of them.  But they were so cute!  And there was something brilliantly tranquil about the greenest-greens with little (re:  freaking huge) dirty white and chocolate sheep nibbling away the day.

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Needless to say, there were a lot of sheep-derived products for sale (okay, really they were just yarns and stuff like that), but there were some things that really caught my attention that I thought y’all might like to hear about.

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Here are my absolute favorites in a huge pile of awesome.

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One of my favorites were these accent yarns by the incomparable  Bonnie Paruch of Icelandic Lamb and Wool.  The neat thing is–Bonnie’s a plein aire oil and pastel artist whose studio is located in Sister Bay, Wisconsin.  The beautiful accent yarns that she makes and sells are, as she phrased it, a hobby.

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I don’t know about y’all, but I really love that idea:  that artists can have hobbies, can have something in their lives other than just their art, than teaching, than activism.  That we are not limited to one realm of experience and expression or one gleaming interest.  That we are no more singular in dimension than anyone else–even thought artists of all types always seem to be classified as such when there’s really very little evidence to support that kind of imposed self.

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Really, though, her yarn is art in and of itself.  Each batch is hand-dyed with acid dyes in small batches and hand-spun.  Yes, these yarns are intended to be used as a raw material, but what could be better than a skein wound lazily into a loose ball in a perfectly clear glass bowl or vase?  If it weren’t that I was a kept-artist, there would have sooooooooooo been yarn bought.  As it is, I’ll have to wait until next year or see if she sells her yarn somewhere online. <–I have, however, not found any inclination that they are for sale somewhere.  *is sad*  But, maybe, that is a forthcoming endeavor?

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A person who I was excited about seeing was Barbara Heike of Wildflower Studio Arts, who is a Green Bay area artist that I know from The Art Garage. Incidentally, she’s the person that told me about the Shepard’s Market at Whitefish Bay Farm Gallery.  Talk about kismet, yeah?

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Doesn’t she look lovely and confident?

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Barbara does Viking Knitting which she describes as

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Before the advent of chainmail, and as early as 850 AD, the Vikings used a knitting technique in making armor.  Today, the ancient art form of Viking Knitting can be used to fashion fine silver wire into bracelets, necklaces, and other beautiful jewelry.

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I can attest; they’re really awesome.  They make my little SCA-heart go pitter-pat.

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She teaches classes at The Art Garage on Viking Knitting as well as demos at conferences and such.  She was the big surprise at the Shepard’s Market since, while she’s weaving, she’s also working with metal.  And, for anyone who hasn’t tried to weave or crochet with metal wire, it is a job of work.

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One of my other favorite vendors was Apple Hollow Fiber Arts.  I was draw to them because of their amazing baskets.  But!  They also have magnificently beautiful spinning wheels and looms!  Unfortunately, the lovely baskets that I feel in love with are not currently listed on their site but hopefully will be soon.  So.  Pretty!

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I am particularly fond of the pink one.  *hands*

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And, to round out this exclusive about a (mostly) off-season event, more pictures!  Okay, I admit that I kinda lost track of who the vendors were for some of these, but seriously, check out the vendors and check their sites (where available)!

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This lovely scarf was make by Karin Hoagland of Quiet Creek Ranch.

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All in all, a fantastic adventure and amazing event that I’m going to go back for next year and, hopefully, have a ton of money with which to purchase pretty, pretty sheep-products.

Here we are. In insomia-land again.

And, of course, I’m going to Door County with The Husband and The In-Laws Wisconsin Edition.  We leave in 5 hours.  *headdesk*

So, since I’m awake and it doesn’t really matter if y’all are awake ’cause you can read this later, there are questions to pose.  Namely–what an I going to display (and sell) at The Art Garage?

While the obvious answer is everything, I’m thinking I’d like something a bit more specific, so I’m taking suggestions.

*goes off to catch up on email*

at The Attic–

So, I’m at The Attic, which is a coffeehouse/used bookstore near The Art Garage and is just off of Main Street.  I’m sitting beneath their art wall and thinking thinky-thoughts and killing time before I go volunteer at The Art Garage at noon.  <–See, this is me totally plugging the places I like to go.

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The opening at The Art Garage was nice.  My sculptures totally did not look like anyone else’s work, but I’m not entirely certain that not looking like anyone else’s work is a good thing.  The In-Laws the Wisconsin Edition say that it’s good.  The Husband say that it’s good.  Me?  I’m not so easily convinced.  Maybe my art is too different to be successful in this area?

I’m totally the only person who could be stressed out by this, but I always seem to need something to stress out about.  Why not stress about this, right?  At least, it’s important to me.

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But, something that I noticed at the opening that kinda worried me was that my pieces were so much more expensive than other artists’ work (mine were also far larger than anyone else’s)–and it wasn’t just because my sculptures were so much larger either.  I think that it may be the classic instance of artists under-pricing themselves.

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Now, as any artist knows, pricing one’s work is the most torturous endeavor ever.  Critics, professors, fellow artists, openings, grant writing–all of these things pail in comparison to self-pricing.  And, a lot of it seems to stem from none of use ever being told a formula for pricing.  Anything our art school mentors tells us seems to be vague and unclear.  I think the clearest I had ever heard was something along the lines of “figure how much it cost to make and multiple that by seven” (*potentially a very bad paraphrase).

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Mind you, this was not told to me.  It was told to ‘Lainy.

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‘Lain’s fair-going parents (they’re Feywood) told her something similar about pricing, but it was more like “figure out materials and time and then tack an extra 50% on it.”  Again, I potentially really misheard this.  ‘Lain, please feel free to chime in with a clarification.

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The most consistent–and probably fairest–pricing formula that I have found has been on Etsy by daniellexo with a complimentary article about discomfort in pricing by Tara Gentile of Scoutie Girl on Oh my!  Handmade Goodness, and it comes out to something like this:

Cost Price (Labor + Materials Cost) x 2 = Your Wholesale Price

Wholesale Price x 2 = Retail Price

So, basically, the price of materials and labor–how much an hour do we make as artists?  I’ve read it’s best to think in terms of $10-15/hr.  I don’t think this is terribly unreasonable since, as artists, we are highly skilled and trained practitioners.–multiplied by two equals your wholesale price, i.e., the price that people would pay if they were buying a large stock of your pieces to sell in their stores.  Multiple the wholesale price by two again and that’s the retail price, or as I like to think about it since I don’t make a whole lot of multiples (yet), the price for an individual, unique piece of art.  There was another pricing formula that I had that said that the formula should look like this:

Cost Price (Labor + Materials Cost) + 10-15% of cost price (to cover utilities used like electricity) x 2 = Your Wholesale Price

Wholesale Price x 2 = Retail Price

That 10-15% covers any utilities that you used like electricity or water–things that a lot of us take for granted in the art-making process.  I can’t really bring myself to use this second formula yet.  I barely can get myself to use the first formula, and I still end up short changing myself because I’m not used to keeping track of the amount of time or the cost of the supplies used to complete a piece.  I’m getting better, but it’s still really hard.

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The problem is that under-valuing your own art doesn’t just hurt you, but it hurts other artists because potential buyers end up with a skewed notion of what art should sell for.  And, really, accessibly art for all:  isn’t that why we all have smaller, less expensive pieces or prints?

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The formulas take a long time to get used to, and if you’re anything like me, you’re totally going to experience severe sticker-shock and thing “how can my pieces be worth this much and who in their right mind is going to buy them?”  I’m still thinking like that.

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Also, remembering that if you show at a gallery, they take a percentage of your sale to support themselves, so you’ll likely have to accept the loss from your pocketbook or you’re going to have to tack on that percentage to the existing price.  <–I haven’t been able to make myself do this yet.

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According to formula one, unnamed friends:  narwhal should cost $1200 (really, it was higher, but I knocked it down a little).  Most of that happens because it is completely hand-sewn, and that takes forever.

Please excuse the blurry photos.  The Father-In-Law took them.  *sigh*

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According to formula one, unnamed friends:  from the 100 acre wood should be $1400.  Similar reasons apply.

Yes, this is me mugging for the camera.  To give y’all an idea of scale, I’m just under 5 foot (a little more than 5 foot in the shoes I was wearing).  *refrains from blurring me out of the photo*

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So, I feel like they are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over-priced, but I also wonder if that’s just me being insecure and small.

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I do think I need a time-clock.  A really big one that goes kachunk and ticktickticks and dings.  Make myself clock-out of the studio.

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What do y’all think my little artist-y friends?  Do you think that these formulas will help you?  Do you feel like you’re work is totally under/over-priced based upon them?

World Water Day=snowpacalypse

It’s kinda ironic, if you think about it.  Not that the now isn’t beautiful (and I have totally been taking night photos of the snow storm–they are forth-coming).

 

So, last week, I told y’all about the two pieces that I submitted for “The Voice of Water” competition at College of Menominee Nation‘s Sustainability Institute.

 

Both of my pieces placed!  The photograph placed third, and the painting placed second.  Honestly, the third place means more to me because there was more competition for it, but both of the pieces placing is very exciting since neither medium is my preferred medium.  <–Although, the painting is kinda sculptural due to the use of modeling paste medium.

 

What I didn’t remember to tell y’all is that “The Voice of Water” prompt was for World Water Day (I’m not sure I actually knew it at the time I entered).  I went to the little showing at CMN because I totally wanted to see the Best of Show (it was an art quilt; it was awesome).  I also wanted to see the little kids interpretations of water.  They were looking really good.  Loads of potential.

 

Also, today–because World Water Day and a snow storm just wasn’t enough–I did my guest lecture thing for the Husband’s Humanities class.  There were a whole four people, but it seemed to go well.  Since an hour-and-ten-minutes really isn’t enough time to do more than a cursory drive by of the 20th (and 21st) century, I did a more “let’s talk about how we perceive and define art and how that has changed through the 20th century” thing.  The kiddos talked (*shock* *awe*), and there was even a bit of contention between students about what constituted art.  I did a drive-by of ontology and a reminder of semiotics, and I got the chance to show them some of my favorite artists.

 

It was shiny.  Probably in my top ten teaching experiences.  And!  There wasn’t all the normal pressure of teaching since I was just a guest!

 

Later this week, there will likely be another blog.  I wanna show y’all the night photography I’ve been doing (got a new tripod, thanks to the Husband), I can tell y’all about the fabulous coffee and cheese prizes I got for my art placing, and I can tell y’all about Gallery Night at The Art Garage.

 

*points*  If you’re going to be in Green Bay Thursday night, come to the Gallery Night!