Lost Aussie on the loose

Art and Money

I recently stumbled upon a thread on Facebook where an artist was bemoaning a plethora of non-paying customers on her Etsy store. One thing lead to another and there ensued a discussion about the pricing of artwork where one gal felt that $48 for a pair of handmade earrings was too steep - she felt that $28 was closer to the mark.

I thought about this for a while and although I appreciate a 'handmade' bargain as well as the rest of you. I put the episode into a current context for myself.

Yesterday I sold a print of artwork off my website.  I exchanged at least 5 emails from the prospective buyer before he eventually settled on the piece of work and size that he wanted.  30 mins work.

Today I printed the artwork - 10"x 13" , cropped, taped and matted it to 16x20" - 30 mins
Added custom notation and signature for the buyer's daughter - minutes
Constructed custom mail package, taped and addressed - 30 mins
Drove to the Post Office, stood in line and mailed package - 30 mins

Already I am at 2 hours of work for the cost of the print, which was $64 including packaging,shipping and insurance, which was $10.27
So I have $54 to justify 2 hours of work, nevermind the amount of time that it took to create the artwork in the beginning.

And while I appreciate that if I did this every day of the week and had a more streamlined system to produce prints then my time and overhead would be somewhat less...there is really not much change left out of $54.

I put this in the context of an artist in Chelsea who is selling 4"x6" reproduction prints for $800 (of grainy watercolor journal pages)

There is no reason that there can't be some sort of middle ground!  But I do get quite upset with people who think that "handmade" necessitates the label of "cheap" and for those people who think that lesser known artists are not as valuable as totally unknown artists of vague and beleaguered material - who just happen to have gallery representation as opposed to a spot on Etsy!....

So please, think a little about what your art is worth to you - nevermind others - and bear in mind that you can earn upwards of $7 an hour serving burgers AND if you are in the buyer's market, perhaps you can consider what value a unique and handmade object holds as well!

Counting Our Blessings

Yesterday we received word that our eldest son Ryan has returned safely from his six month tour in Afghanistan.  To say that we heaved a sigh of relief would be an understatement and I thank God that he has been able to come home with life an limbs all in one piece.  Given that he works with the Ordinance and Explosives Team - this was never a given and unfortunately several of his comrades were not so lucky and did not come home with him. To their family and friends I send my hearfelt sympathies and love.

My thanks go out to ALL my BLOG friends who were kind enough to send Ryan care packages while he was away.  I know he managed to contact some of you, but for those he did not, thank you again.  Your thoughtfulness meant the world to me and I can't thank you enough on his and our behalf.

For those men and women, from all over the world who are still out there serving proudly, our Family thanks you, and we wish you Godspeed home!