Ask and Receive

I mentioned thinking about joining Netflix in yesterday's post and later that day, in the mail, was a 2 week free offer from Netflix. I had heard the service was fast but this is pretty darn incredible.

This post is number 680. Remember, I wanted to reach 1000 by the end of the year? I have to find something, a project or work, to report on daily. Something of extraordinary interest. To me and to you. I bought more beads at Joann's yesterday. They were 90% off. I plan on someday making a bead mosaic. I'm not sure this holds extraordinary interest for you or for me. OR. I could just continue to ramble and rattle on as usual.

I did actually complete all the errands I listed last week. Goodwill, returned dog bone and Christmas gift, bought meat for meatloaf (which was very good as were the mashed potatoes) and took books back to the library. And, I spent 10 minutes in Joann's. Purchased felt. Deborah used it as the middle layer in most of her Twelve by Twelve work and I liked that it kept the work from looking as "flappy". You know. When you hold a quilted piece the top tends to flap over. This is the reason people don't buy quilted work. It's "flappy" and they have no idea how to proceed with it if they do like it and want it and buy it.

I see more and more quilt work attached (by stitch or glue) to gallery wrapped canvas now. I know of one quilt artist who has been successful with leaving the bottom seam of her backing fabric (covers all sins and isn't quilted) open and then sliding a thin piece of sanded plywood inside and sewing the bottom seam closed. Doesn't flap. Can stand alone (lean against something in a display) or be hung on the wall with the sewn in bone rings. Best of all, it's still touchable. Which is what makes fabric better than paint. Running your fingers over all the little pieces and stitches. Wood does leach acid into the fabric. But she already has her $60 for the 6 by 8 inch (or smaller) piece. By now, they may be smaller as people like those little trading card sizes. 2 by 3 inches for $60. And a 3 by 3 inch attached by secret method to stretched canvas for $95.

In the winter of 2008, when I had my one woman show, I had to price my work. I thought the prices were ridiculously high. Why? Because, in order to get the price I wanted, I had to double it for "gallery pricing" meaning the 50% commission. I did sell things, after the show, for my price, not theirs. I know, I know, I undercut my "value". But, I sold things. Rather than retain my "value" in a storage closet.

I don't make work to sell. I make work to amuse and entertain myself. After it's made and I have been amused and entertained, I loose all interest, pack the stuff away and forget it. I have very little, if any, of my work hanging in my home. If you want it, I name some figure. You buy it or you don't. Making stuff and trying to get people to buy it isn't my idea of a "good thing". It turns art into work. Marketing. Publicity. Image. All the kiss of death to amusement and entertainment.

I asked myself if I wanted "fame" which actually is only "name recognition" these days. And the answer was "I don't want to do the work necessary". I don't want to study the trends, the judges preferences, past winners and then use this knowledge to create a "prize winner". I don't want to send out entries to shows all across the nation and world, just to get my name recognized. I am not interested in prizes and ribbons. I don't want to write ridiculous "artist statements"; have professional photographs taken, stored, cataloged; create jpegs, burn disks; develop a "persona"; market myself ; create, order and send hundreds of postcards to everyone I ever said "hello" to; and then, try and find time to amuse and entertain myself. Oh, and do the work. Which by now is tedious, back breaking and WORK. With deadlines. Why? For the money. Yes, it all comes down to MONEY. Product. Sales. Money.

Nothing wrong with that. Making things and selling them for money is what makes the world go round. I was raised to make what I wanted. Not buy it. So, I never learned to buy. Buying, is the last resort. See, now we both know why I haven't purchased a new refrigerator.