Note to readers, this blog/newsletter is a bit rambling and parts of it were written in January but I felt it was too negative in tone and not what I wanted to say or project to you. Making a living at Art is difficult and requires the wearing of many hats to be successful even if I am not completely proficient at them all, like any micro-business owner. On top of that the guy I work for is a cruel and mean taskmaster, never completely satisfied with my work. This spills over into my writing and I hope my apologies are enough to suffice.

It has been several months since I’ve written a blog or published a newsletter. Blame it on the “winter blues,” the Holidays, Snow Days, Covid-19 or whatever. I struggle personally from November through February. I seem to produce some of my best work during these months, but the shows start drying up at year end and galleries tend to focus on gifts more than art (at least the ones I see locally in my “league”).

 Geist Crossing

I started looking at the reasons why I feel this way and discovered some things that totally debunked my gloomy perception.  In November I was asked if I wanted to do solo show in Plymouth, IN next year. In December I was offered another solo show for 3 months locally and I was recommended for a commission for The Carmel Clay Historical Society. January I applied for several Juried Exhibitions (a Judge can accept or reject entries and make awards) and here at the end of February I see that I have been accepted into eight of these exhibitions and have garnered three awards; three exhibitions are yet to announce their awards, so there well may be more to come.  February also produced inclusion of 19 pieces in a group show at the Hoosier Art Salon Gallery in New Harmony, IN and in May I will be part of a three artist show at Carmel’s Art on Main.  I have also applied to the Brown County Art Guild with those results coming in the next week.

I consider myself an optimist so it is hard to reconcile with my gloominess. I think it’s because awards and sales are such adrenalin rushes but are short lived. Especially when those awards are so small they barely cover material costs or are simply pretty little ribbons and the sales are of minor works that stroke my ego more than pad my wallet. I think it’s like being a consistent home run hitter in a minor league compared to hitting in the big leagues. Being an artist is like playing in one of those minor leagues where you drive yourself to games and you win enough tourneys to pay for the gas. I sell most of my work in the $200-$400 range where it’s affordable to friends, family and people like myself.  I read an article recently that talked about Primary and Secondary art markets and how many wealth or true collectors don’t even look at work in my price range. Back to the baseball analogy, a home run is a home run, bat hits ball, ball goes over the fence.  Is it really just a matter of what fence it goes over or conversely, what price I put on it?

I post my work on Instagram/Facebook; recently had several people comment on a post, which is always welcome but somewhat unusual. I even had one woman ask about the price in her comments and I was excited by this prospect. I gave her my price, the size and some other details in a DM (Direct Message).  I posted a Public reply to her comment that I had sent her the DM. She then publicly replied that my price was “way too high for her budget.”  This came from a woman who lives in a Country Club community in one of more affluent suburbs in Indiana. I am so disheartened by this sort of thing.  I don’t think this woman was trying to be insulting; but, I realize that a complete ignorance exists about living breathing artist’s work: what goes into it, what it costs to make it, and what is a fair price.

 North Towards Avalon

Let me give you a couple of examples of this ignorance and my frustration.  While reading the book accompaniment to the C. Curry Bohm Exhibition that traveled the state in 2020, it discussed many of the awards Bohm won in exhibitions like the Hoosier Art Salon and Indiana Artists Club. These organizations still have their exhibitions, give awards to this day and I have been honored to be in them. Bohm would win a $500.00 prize or two most years, and these were great boosts to his career and annual income. Last year I received 3^rd Place Award in the Indiana Artists Club’s Annual Juried Exhibition, and $1,000.00. Now a thousand dollars is always welcome, but it wasn’t a great boost to my career and annual income. So, these two award amounts got me to thinking why a couple of $500 awards per year were so important to Bohm after WWII compared to what that prize meant to me today.

I did a little research and math, in the late 1940’s and 1950’s the average annual household income was $3,600.00 in Indiana. When I took the percentage that $500 represented and brought it forward to today’s Indiana Household Avg. Income, the same award today would be worth $12,600.00. The light bulb coming on for anyone else? I won two other $500 awards in 2020. Taking $2,000/$500 = 4 x $12,600.00 = $50,400.00 - this would greatly boost my career and annual income! Now before someone points out in defense that the Hoosier Art Salon’s top prize was $10K in 2020, in Bohm’s day it was $1,000.00 – you do the math.  I am NOT criticizing these organizations simply pointing out that prizes have not kept up with inflation and are not what they once were for many reasons, I am sure.

If I use a daily wage of $100 per day (barely above poverty level) x 5 days to complete a painting + $200 for materials and framing; one of my paintings is barely sustentional at $700.00. I believe that creative time and artistic skill is worth more than poverty level wages. I see this ignorance firsthand in Carmel’s Art and Design District where galleries struggle to sell a $200 painting let alone a $700 one, while the passing foot traffic is dropping that for dinner & drinks without a second thought.

When I started this art adventure I had a plan to push my work forward by garnering awards and recognition in order to make up ground for my late start in life. I had no real idea of pricing or what it would take to make a living.  2021 is my fourth year and every plan needs to be reviewed, analyzed and adjusted. Two years ago I would have been thrilled out of my head to have a four month period with the successes noted above –and- this tells me that its time for some adjustments.

Many of my paintings or series of works often resolve themselves in my mind at night in my sleep.  I get an inspiration, maybe I see another artist’s work or I take a picture of something and it bakes in my head, sometimes for weeks or months before the resolution happens like an epiphany and then I can execute it.  I think these winter blues are that baking period and the resolution just isn’t ready yet or maybe it is ready but I am hesitant to execute it.

 Barred Owl

I feel justified in doing this “art thing” when I make a sale, it scares me to raise prices to the level I want when I think it will drive away buyers. It’s the old dilemma of a bird in hand being worth more than two in the bush; but what if the one in hand won’t sustain you? I would much rather sell 10 paintings for $500 each than for $100; but, even that doesn’t get me where I want to be. Would I be better off selling one at $5,000 or two at $2,500 than 100 at $50 each?

Many artists I know have multiple revenue streams and this makes perfect sense for me in many respects. I am just not sure I have the desire to pursue this path. An industry leading publisher I follow closely, preaches advertising in his publications as the way to get in front of those wealth buyers and collectors, but the investment is a steep path.  The encouraging thing here is that there are many paths and other people have navigated them. That knowledge alone is comforting, the anxiety is in deciding which path is going to be best for me.

Keep Baking…

You know I was talking to my friend Desdemona the other day,

She runs this space station and bake shop down near Boomtown.

She told me that human beings are flawed individuals.

That the cosmic Bakers took us out of the oven a little too early.

And that's the reason we're as crazy as we are

And I believe her!

Fruitcakes in the kitchen (Fruitcakes in the kitchen)
Fruitcakes on the street (Fruitcakes on the street)
Struttin' naked through the crosswalk
In the middle of the week
Half-baked cookies in the oven (Cookies in the oven)
Half-baked people on the bus (People on the bus)
There's a little bit of fruitcake left in everyone of us 

~Jimmy Buffett