07/27/2024
"Why does it cost so much?"
Today at the Farmer's Market where my family farm usually sets up our alpaca products I also put on display my current needle felted sculptures that are available for sale. Prices range by size, some are $250- Some are $400 with other prices in-between.
This question stings. It burries itself deep into my heart ❤️🩹 like the very same barbed needles I use to repeatedly stab the fiber an untold countless times.
Truth be told my prices are cheap, compared to other pieces of similar style, size and quality. Truth be told all art is undervalued and underappreciated.
My one of a kind- nothing will ever be the same as this unique sculpture that was most likely custom made, 1 of 1 piece of human made art "costs so much" because:
⭐️I have a BFA.
⭐️I spend literally hundreds of hours on my sculptures.
⭐️I hand paint eyes.
⭐️I sculpt, bake, and paint hooves, noses, claws, teeth, horns, antlers and beaks.
⭐️My fiber doesn't just materialize, it is harvested, processed, bought and individually picked for your specific project.
⭐️Needles dull and break, and must be purchased and replaced.
⭐️involved in the process includes scissors, flat iron, wire, wire cutters, paint, paintbrushes, acrylic markers, glass cabochons, clay, glue, horse hair, core wool, alpaca fiber, felting needles, modpoge, wax, wax melter, hair brushes, trimmers, rulers, foam mat... all of which need to be bought, replaced and techniques applied to be mastered.
⭐️My time and effort are more valuable than minimum wage- I am an expert in my field with a BFA, I have mastered a rare and unique skill which in itself holds value.
Artists are uniquely tormented by a cycle of needing to create art as part of our very being, pouring our lives, experiences, essence - countless hours of trail and error- into a piece of art... then offering that piece of ourselves that we have somehow manifested into physical form to be sold and appreciated by others, for them to then say... "but why would I pay money for that?" Or "why does it cost so much?" Or "can you do it as a favor?" " How about for exposure?" I could do that if I just practiced and learned."
Meanwhile the felted sculptures, the beautiful creations that represent shards of my own reflection are sitting there completely valueless in their eyes.
"$200 I thought it should be $20.".... if that 40 hour sculpture was $20, then I'm only worth less than $2/hour to you because you also have to factor in material costs.
Some of my patrons happily see the value, some of them have commissioned me multiple times and for them the price was exactly right. Some few wonderful people even say that I should charge more and that heals my often aching, defeated and broken artists heart. I understand that not everyone can afford it, that's why there are payment plans and custom ways I work with my wonderful clients.
If I can instil something in you from this discussion and my experience it would be this:
When you find yourself at an event, or gallery, or market and someone is selling their art...before you think (or say rather thoughtlessly) it's "too expensive," please consider the things you can't see behind the work- like the blood, sweat and tears, the irreplaceable hours of that artists life they spent failing, trying, perfecting their skills and the bit of their life that sits reflected in the work.
All art is priceless, but the artist must make a living so they try their hardest to assign a value to it that seems acceptable.
Even then, some confuse priceless with valueless.
Thank you to my friends, followers, patrons, and my family for supporting me. ❤️
Support human art because art makes us human.
*photos from the market today and some behind the scenes process photos that might not have been shared on this page before.
