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I'm back. Back from the edge. It's goofy, out there on the edge.
...
Seriously it was nice to hook up with friends again. I know some really neat, wonderful people and they totally satisfied my craving for entertaining adult companionship. Also, many of them are artists so I had the conversations about creativity and "the muse" and inspiration and the problems with being an artist and also a business person...it was very stimulating!
Also enlightening, since I've come to a realization about myself and my goals and my work.
AND! The Cherry Blossom Dragon kicked ass. :-) Everyone loved her. She's a she, by the way. Those floopy loopy bits on her face and legs and tail? Those represent feathers! Feathers for girl dragons, lightening bolts for boys. So she was a girl. Which seems just right to me. I got an order for another dragon because of her, and I have an idea for a new design as well. Cherry blossoms = Spring, but waves = Summer! Who knew? So I drew an idea for a Summer dragon in Japanese-looking waves. Natsu-no-nami. I'll scan it soon and show you what I mean. It's going to be stunning.
Oh man...I have SO many orders to fill and I'm going to be just as busy as I was before I went away. Still it's good to be home.
...
Seriously it was nice to hook up with friends again. I know some really neat, wonderful people and they totally satisfied my craving for entertaining adult companionship. Also, many of them are artists so I had the conversations about creativity and "the muse" and inspiration and the problems with being an artist and also a business person...it was very stimulating!
Also enlightening, since I've come to a realization about myself and my goals and my work.
I've had it with the niche I'm in. I'm a leather artist, true, but that doesn't mean I like making utilitarian things. I have so many BIG ideas and I know I can create them, but I'm so busy paying the bills that I keep doing the utilitarian crap and it's really starting to bug me.
There's only so much I can charge for a belt (even a really cool carved one) or a barette or something of that nature, because people will only pay so much for a utilitarian item. Even if it's pretty and artistic and unique, there's a price point limit.
Art objects, on the other hand...those have no limit. The pricing limit is "what will the market bear and how badly do people want it? How unique is it?" That can be pretty high.
I made a piece once that I slapped a 500.00 price tag on. At the Virginia Beach Boardwalk Art Festival I sold it one half-hour after I put it up. On a rainy day. In a sparse crowd. First day of the show. I did it 'cause the year before I came close to winning a BIG award (with one of my dragon plaques) and the judges all told me "work BIG, do a large piece and you're a shoe-in next year". So I did and I sold it before the judges even had a chance to see it. With NO effort.
Here's the thing: That big piece? It took the same amount of time to make that 6 belts would have taken...or a dozen barrettes...or (you get the idea). Yet I got SO much more money for the wall sculpture than I could have gotten for those items. Why? Because art has a higher percieved value than utilitarian objects.
So, I'm asking myself WHY I'm knocking myself out doing little crap. All it does is drag down the percieved value of my really cool work. Sure it's a sale and it'll pay the bills...but just barely. People will always have money (even in hard times sailboat manufacturers don't go out of business) and all I need to do is find the market.
I mean, I'm not a plumber. I'm not a factory worker or an accountant or ANYONE who gets paid by the hour. I'm an artist, and I have mastered (really I have. NO ONE does what I do with leather) my medium. So why do I treat myself like someone who should get paid an hourly wage? It physically beats up my hands to make this stuff. If I have a finite amount of work I can make with these hands in my lifetime, I ought to really make my mark and make it count.
Which brings me to my point, which is I need an art agent. I met one this week. She sounds like she knows what she's doing. I think I'm going to get myself a rep (hopefully this woman) and step things up a notch. Get some exclusive showings. Command gallery prices. Break into the art-object market. I'm really REALLY ready.
There's only so much I can charge for a belt (even a really cool carved one) or a barette or something of that nature, because people will only pay so much for a utilitarian item. Even if it's pretty and artistic and unique, there's a price point limit.
Art objects, on the other hand...those have no limit. The pricing limit is "what will the market bear and how badly do people want it? How unique is it?" That can be pretty high.
I made a piece once that I slapped a 500.00 price tag on. At the Virginia Beach Boardwalk Art Festival I sold it one half-hour after I put it up. On a rainy day. In a sparse crowd. First day of the show. I did it 'cause the year before I came close to winning a BIG award (with one of my dragon plaques) and the judges all told me "work BIG, do a large piece and you're a shoe-in next year". So I did and I sold it before the judges even had a chance to see it. With NO effort.
Here's the thing: That big piece? It took the same amount of time to make that 6 belts would have taken...or a dozen barrettes...or (you get the idea). Yet I got SO much more money for the wall sculpture than I could have gotten for those items. Why? Because art has a higher percieved value than utilitarian objects.
So, I'm asking myself WHY I'm knocking myself out doing little crap. All it does is drag down the percieved value of my really cool work. Sure it's a sale and it'll pay the bills...but just barely. People will always have money (even in hard times sailboat manufacturers don't go out of business) and all I need to do is find the market.
I mean, I'm not a plumber. I'm not a factory worker or an accountant or ANYONE who gets paid by the hour. I'm an artist, and I have mastered (really I have. NO ONE does what I do with leather) my medium. So why do I treat myself like someone who should get paid an hourly wage? It physically beats up my hands to make this stuff. If I have a finite amount of work I can make with these hands in my lifetime, I ought to really make my mark and make it count.
Which brings me to my point, which is I need an art agent. I met one this week. She sounds like she knows what she's doing. I think I'm going to get myself a rep (hopefully this woman) and step things up a notch. Get some exclusive showings. Command gallery prices. Break into the art-object market. I'm really REALLY ready.
AND! The Cherry Blossom Dragon kicked ass. :-) Everyone loved her. She's a she, by the way. Those floopy loopy bits on her face and legs and tail? Those represent feathers! Feathers for girl dragons, lightening bolts for boys. So she was a girl. Which seems just right to me. I got an order for another dragon because of her, and I have an idea for a new design as well. Cherry blossoms = Spring, but waves = Summer! Who knew? So I drew an idea for a Summer dragon in Japanese-looking waves. Natsu-no-nami. I'll scan it soon and show you what I mean. It's going to be stunning.
Oh man...I have SO many orders to fill and I'm going to be just as busy as I was before I went away. Still it's good to be home.
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Yeah I noticed LJ has been kind of quiet! Maybe we're all outside enjoying the nice weather. It's been so nice! More likely, all the college-age people are busy moving back into the dorms and getting ready for the fall semester. Damn, I miss college sometimes.