Life as an Artist

            It is a common misconception that people who are selling things have money. It usually isn't even a conscious thought – it is just something that is assumed. The result is that shoppers are frequently looking for a better deal on things.

            This idea stems from the existence of huge companies that have CEOs spending millions on summer homes. Unfortunately, it is extended to include everyone who owns a business and, by extension, anyone selling something. This makes life much harder on everyone running a business who isn't a rich CEO – and even harder for an artist.

            So, I’d like to share with the world (at least the portion of it that reads my blog) a bit of what life is like for an artist sitting behind the wheel of a small business.

            The first thing I should mention is that my wife and I work seven days a week. To be fair, we don’t always work the typical eight hour days (sometimes it’s three hours and sometimes it’s fourteen), we set our own hours and we’re usually doing something we enjoy – but work is work and, no matter how much you love doing something, there are times when you just don’t want to do it.

            The last time we took time off and had a vacation was our honeymoon – a year and a half ago.

            If you go to an event we’re at (or our website), you can see some of what that work produces – our various products that we have for sale. You may even notice how much work we've put into displaying our work, or building and maintaining our website.

            As for the having money part, well... we've been officially in business for nearly two years and technically haven’t made a penny. I say technically because it depends on how you count the numbers – as in, if you don’t count all the materials we have to keep in stock so we can keep our products in stock, we've made a little money. If you do count them, we still have significantly less than we started with (this is normal – someone starting a business usually doesn't actually make money for the first five years).

            When we go to shows, we get a variety of responses to our products and prices. A very small handful of people tell us that our prices are far too low and we should raise them (we like those people). A lot of people comment on how reasonable our prices are (these are frequently people who have seen a lot of chainmaille, have made it themselves or truly understand the work that goes into something handmade). Most people seem happy with our prices. Many people think they’re a bit too high (though some of them like what they see so much that they buy it anyway). Others take one look at our prices and run away.

            Every once in a while, someone will ask me for a deal on something. Sometimes I’ll say yes – especially if they’re buying several items, they’re really nice and/or they’re coming to me with the last of their money and really want something that they don’t have quite enough for.

            On the other hand, there are people who make it perfectly clear that they think our prices are gouging them (thinking we are either deaf or blind), then ask for a discount. Needless to say, they don’t get it. At that point, I don’t care if I'm losing the sale – if they can’t see the value of an item, they shouldn't be buying it in the first place, let alone from an artist and/or small business owner.

            To these people, I want to say: Look at what you are holding. It is made by hand. When you buy that item, you are paying for the time spent making it and the materials it is made with. What you are not paying for is the time it took to design it or the years it took to learn the skills and become fast enough to get the price that low. You are not paying for the time we spend standing behind the table serving customers nor the time it takes to set up and take down the display at the beginning and end of the event – you’re not even paying for the space we’re renting to set up our display in. Do you have any idea how much has been invested in this display you aren't paying for? You’re also not paying for the time, gas or vehicle maintenance involved in getting to and from the event (you won’t be paying for our hotel room when the event is too far from home). You don’t pay for the time it takes to clean and polish our products. You don’t pay for the hours upon hours we spend taking pictures and editing them as professionally as we are able so we can keep an up-to-date website. You don’t pay for the web hosting that allows us to have a website. You don’t pay for our marketing. Not only do you not pay for the materials we keep on hand, you don’t even pay for them to be shipped to us.

            All we’re asking you to pay for are the materials in what you are holding and the time it took us to make it. Is that really too much to ask?

            Sadly, saying such things is a bad business practice and frequently a waste of breath. It won’t likely win a sale and it won’t make them understand how hard artists (the not-famous ones) struggle to make a living. I just wish more people knew and understood how much of a good deal they are already getting and complaining about.

            The worst part is that the example of my business is a fortunate one for artists. Most artists don’t even get paid for the time that goes into their art because there just aren't enough people who will pay what it’s worth.

            On the other hand, I would like to thank all of you wonderful people out there who do recognise what artwork is worth – especially the ones who insist on paying more than what we artists ask for our work. Thank you to everyone who supports a small business, even if it means paying a little more, because you are the people who keep us up and running, doing what we love.

            Above all, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read this long and rantish blog post to better understand what it’s like to eke a living by chasing a dream. I hope it was enlightening to those of you who don’t know what it’s like and, for those of you who do, I hope it is encouraging to know that other people do know what you’re going through – and that we care.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.