Pricing and perceived value

People always ask, how do you price your work? It's a tough thing to do actually.

Some artists price by the square inch. That may work if most of your paintings are similar and take about the same amount of time per size. But to me, it just seemed that you were putting artwork in the same category as laminate flooring and wallpaper. You need to take into account the time spent on a piece and assuming that people can see the difference, you should charge accordingly. Not only that, but you have to take into account expenses--show fees, framing, materials, marketing expenses, etc. If you're not charging enough to cover expenses, the more you sell, the more money you lose.

BUT....if you charge too much, the pool of people who like your work and can afford it will shrink. BUT...if you charge too little, some people may think that your work must not be very good because it doesn't carry a hefty price tag. See the problems we have? It all comes down to perceived value. And the only people who determine the perceived value are our potential customers. It's like what real estate agents say--a house is only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it.

I'm sometimes asked if I give discounts. The answer is yes, for multiple purchases. But I'll let you in on a little secret. Almost all artists will give a discount on some work if it is a "Number 43." What's a Number 43? It's a painting that you've dragged around to 43 shows, and quite frankly, you're sick of it! (Thanks Dale for the terminology). Every artist has at least one. It may be a very good painting but for some reason it just hasn't sold and we want it out of here! But we're not going to tell you which one it is. You've got to find it........

Always the last minute

Working like a dog because I have two shows coming up--Wickford and Westport. Of course now that I'm going nutso I wish I hadn't taken it so easy over the winter. A lot of artists are like me, we need a deadline to start working.

Anyway, I am hoping to complete 4 paintings by the end of next week plus a handful of small studies as well. One of the paintings is a large 24 x 36 intimate landscape which happens to be one of the most complicated I've ever attempted. It's called "The Secret Garden" and I'll post pictures when I get further along.

The little studies seem to sell well at shows. They're 5x7 and I sell them unframed for $50. It allows people to purchase some of my work even though they can't afford the larger pieces.

Wickford Art Festival

As I said Wickford is coming up July 7-8. Charming little hamlet of Wickford in North Kingstown, RI. An old seafaring-captain type of town, right on the water. I get to park my car at the town dock which is pretty cool and then you have a longish but very pleasant walk through the town to your assigned area . It is a very large festival, 250 or so tents with maybe 40,000 people coming through. It's usually non-stop crowds all day long.

The roads are very old and caved in and the sidewalks just as bad. If they have a heavy rainstorm, the water may take several days to drain away--and it frequently settles in somebody's tent. (Artists have to set up their booths in the street along the sidewalk) I had that happen to me one year and I was beside myself, with half a foot of water in my tent. Luckily some angel (he was with his girlfriend-artist) had a bilge pump which he hooked up to a marine battery and a hose and he pumped 90% of the water out of my tent. After that episode, I went out and bought a battery-powered bilge pump and I make sure I take it to every show.

Wickford touts itself as the premier art festival in New England. What's great about it is that you're juried in for 3 years. It's nice being able to plan ahead and not having to worry if you're going to be accepted that year. It's an all original show which means no prints, unless you're a photographer. That's a bone of contention among artists, but I'll go into that another time.

I do love seeing all my old artist-friends and their spouses at these festivals. And I do love going Friday and Saturday nights to Duffy's--that great restaurant/bar with the cheap and good seafood--lobsters, clams, etc. And of course the Marguaritas!

All we can hope for is good weather and good sales

Here we go!

Hello all--
I'm an artist, an oil painter actually and I thought people might be interested in what it's like to be an artist. I've been doing the show circuit for 16 years. I'm in the middle of show season right now and I'll keep you all posted about the upcoming shows. The next one is in Wickford, Rhode Island.