ENTWINEMENTS

Judy over at Artrepreneur visited this blog and has a different opinion about prices, as do many others.

Is it possible to sell a hand crafted item (for under $25 she means), that reflects the makers "head, hands and heart"? Yes, I believe it is.

One thing I have learned in the last few years, is that it is much easier to make something expensive. Something that has lots of labor and love in it. If I could do nothing but that, it would be utopia. But the last I checked, utopia still doesn't exist. So, the creative challenge is to make something that is relatively inexpensive, but is still something that is unique and wonderful.

And a commenter Molly adds:

I totally agree that you can put your head, hands and heart into a creation and sell it for less than $25.

I also think that occassionally we create something that hits us (the artist) so personally and profoundly that no price tag would ever do. Of course, that amount of *head, heart and hands* is a certian rare jewel that most of us would be very blessed to find.

Prices are a very emotional issue. One is reluctant to sell an item for more than one would want to pay for it. Artists and makers usually live modestly so can't imagine spending that kind of money. But that is not the issue, the issue is how much money do you have to make for such an item to be able to have a self-sustaining business? This is a business question, requiring a understanding of overhead, selling costs and development costs. Not an easy question.

It is hard to imagine all the selling costs before one is fully engaged in the process: photoshoot, printing postcard and mailing them, jury and booth fees, booth, transportation, hotel, food on the road, merchant credit card fees.....

That is why Wendy Rosen has a book (see chapter 5)and her Institute, ABI, has workshops on the subject.

Most things that we can make will not make a successful business, one has to sort thru many items to find one that is unique and special and has value for the customer at a price that still allows me to make a reasonable living.

Posted by Karren at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I'm off to CraftBoston. Hope to see some of you there.

Here is a discount coupon you can print and take to the show.

Posted by Karren at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Over the weekend Yellow Springs had a series of community participation event about envisioning a Yellow Springs Center for the Arts.

Yellow Springs is a village of 3700 people in a state, Ohio, with a population of 11 million. Yet I have seen list of the grants/awards of the Ohio Arts Council that had 7 Yellow Springers out of 21. Obviously we nurture the arts.

This envisioning was very exciting and even included a 12-step program. There is a website and the next phase will take 3 months.

Posted by Karren at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm taking some colorful jackets to Boston with me for the show. All the jackets are the same style but not the same size. The dress form is a size 12 and wears all the jackets.

This colorway is Purple Passion.

This is Red Pop.

And this is Kumquat, a delightful bright orange with olives and browns.

What I like best are solid areas and the arashi shibori areas. I decided to accentuate that in the black/champagne design.

This is my favorite.

The jackets are in a light weight silk noil, a causual fabric. Easy to wear with jeans, slacks or a dress.

Posted by Karren at 04:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ABI and Haywood Community College are sponsoring an event and one of the Workshop is:

Don’t Sell Yourself Short—Pricing your work profitably
Pricing mistakes—selling your product for too much or too little—is the single greatest cause of business failures. Learn the formula to use in order to earn enough money to maintain an acceptable standard of living while accommodating your artistic inclinations. Price your work for profit!

I post this because it is the most difficult part of selling your work and here is some one offering to teach you how to do this. This is from the Rosen group that are supporters of the craft movement.

Posted by Karren at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This Star Scarf comes in a full range of
colors. It is made from a large piece of silk so that pleated it still looks scarf size. It is a nice size to wear around your neck. It is easy to wear; you simply put it around your neck and then fling one side back. Each one costs $130.

The hottest color at this moment is RED POP. (Red pop is drunk by some here in the Midwest -- sorry, I guess it is not a play on words if you have to exlpain it.) I have the star scarf in maybe 25 colorways altogether.

The easiest way to buy a scarf is to come to a show and see, touch and try-on. Nothing can substitute for a try-on. To know when I'm doing a show in your area use the button to the right to get notification. I try to come to a market once each year ( jurys have a different adgenda) so if you sign up for just one market you will only get notification of only one show. NO SPAM, and you can opt out at any moment.

We do sell direct but we need to have a telephone conversation first, mostly about color. The internet is not a reliable way to transmit visual color information. If shows don't work for you, you may call 937.767.8961, 9-5 East Coast Time. We'll do our best to get you a scarf that you like.

Posted by Karren at 02:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In our push to get jackets ready for the last show I did 6 jackets in one batch, with more agitation than in the previous dye baths. The black came out great but the resists were not tight enough for the level of agitation. So when the threads were removed they looked like this:

Needless to say we did not take these to the show. We dyed some in a denim color afterwards and they came out nicely. But the lesson is that just changing one thing can change the result.

Another jacket that did not travel to the tropics, is one that had the hydrangea design:

One tiny hole and the whole jacket is ruined! This usually happens when the stitches are removed.

There was an African woman who attend the International Shibori Symposium in Santiago, Chile who was the best at a technique the involved embroidery stitches on a glazed cotton. The white cloth is embroidered with raffia then dyed, then the embridery stitches are remove. She was the best because she never cut the cloth. Quite a feat!

Here is one piece that has been done with raffia embroidery.

Posted by Karren at 12:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The return from the truely tropical zone is cruel. 25F when I got here.

The most popular jacket was

Which looked like alligator tails to them.

Posted by Karren at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)