fanciful devices: Quick note re: pricing

A Stone Is Nobody's

A man ambushed a stone. Caught it.
Made it a prisoner.
Put it in a dark room and stood guard over it for the rest of his life.

His mother asked why.

He said, because it's held captive, because it is captured.

Look, the stone is asleep, she said, it does not know whether it's in a garden or not. Eternity and the stone
are mother and daughter; it is you who are getting old. The stone is only sleeping.

But I caught it, mother, it is mine by conquest, he said.

A stone is nobody's, not even its own. It is you who are conquered; you are minding the prisoner, which is yourself,
because you are afraid to go out, she said.

Yes yes, I am afraid, because you have never loved me, he said.

Which is true, because you have always been to me as the stone is to you, she said.

Russell Edson

FAQs

1. Are you a Southeast Asian dancing girl from the 1800s?

No, sorry to disappoint. My avatar and banner images are from an ancient book I found in the depths of my grandmother's cabinets. More on that here.

2. How do you make everything look so old?

First, you need a good oxidizer to brush on every bit of metal you can reach. I'll tell you all about it here.

Then there's this wax. I first mentioned it here. You'll have to scroll down a lot.

3. How can you be so productive?

I'm insanely obsessed and I have no offspring. I do nothing else- I don't have a day job, I don't clean my house or cook, I spend all day in pjs, often completely abandoning personal hygiene... I only interact with other humans when I walk my dog. And I like people! But I prefer dogs.

And I'm sloppy- but I make that sloppiness work for me.

4. Any tips you'd like to share?

No! Except for these 16 posts about techniques and this one about how to find your aesthetic.

5. Would you be offended if I took some inspiration from your designs?

Well, I'd be happier if you outright copied them.

No really, imitation is how we learn. I have enough ideas to go around. And even if I don't- please. No one's going to do this obsessively enough to threaten my business. (Probably.) I learned by copying others and I've seen others copy me as a step toward developing their own voice. So feel free. (I'd love if you tossed me a link in my comments, so I can feel like a proud momma.)

6. What do you look like?

Why, what have you heard? Really? Wow.

1/10/11

Quick note re: pricing

Yeah, it's upsetting to think that the higher prices means only rich people can buy your stuff. I find that really hard to wrap my head around. But if I'm putting the time into not just making but photographing/editing/writing interesting 'descriptions' and wrapping/sending... that just takes a lot of time, even if the making of the piece itself doesnt really feel like work. And I do think that jewelry is a luxury, its not an essential everyone has a right to. And everyone makes sacrifices for the one or 2 luxuries they truly love in life. Sigh.
The point for me is- what's the right price to charge that will get me an average of 1 sale a day? One sale means I'm not overwhelmed time-wise wrapping and sending out things. But then 1 sale also has to cover rent and food. So yeah, as a buyer we tend to take it... personally, like someone's trying to take our money from us? But as a seller I have to pay rent/food/clothes/bills/dogfood/*SUPPLIES*. And all that without my family stressing me out that I should dedicate my time to a normal job. Which, considering they are a doctor, a scientist, a computer engineer and a high school teacher, their daily incomes are considerably higher than mine. (Proly any non-artist reading this, your daily income is, too.)
Ok, but most of all. WHO ARE YOU ANONYMOUS? Its driving me crazy!

And now, eye candy:

N890- encapsulated II - RESERVED for Airslide

Gorgeous work from Experimental's jaw-dropping sold section. I order you to go to her flickr. (Especially to see these, which make me wanna cry.)

8 comments:

riv said...: You and experimetal are two of my biggest jewelry idols right now!; 1/10/11, 12:19 PM
stregata said...: That is some really serious eye candy!
So - guess you will have to start regarding making jewelry as your 'normal' job - and then price your pieces so that it works. That way, your family can no longer stress you... (but - I bet you have more fun doing what you do, than your professional family members have at their jobs).; 1/10/11, 12:21 PM
Anonymous said...: I think charging $150 for one of your necklaces is reasonable. Anyone can see the work that goes into them is above and beyond just stringing beads or hanging things on a chain. Your pieces are one-of-a-kind works of art, and you shouldn't feel bad about charging more. Would you be able to handle maybe selling two pieces a day instead of one? You would have a pretty decent income if you could do that. Also, maybe you could cut back on the time you spend packaging your items? I know you put a lot of work into making them look special, but if time is an issue, maybe you could think of a simpler yet still interesting way to package. Those are my thoughts...; 1/10/11, 1:23 PM
Anonymous said...: lol, sorry fanci, my short term memory is horrible, so I can never remember my login info, so I'm anonymous. I'm dherrera6 on etsy.; 1/10/11, 3:20 PM
Beadbug said...: I make and sell jewelry for a living myself and just over a year into it. I have had my own business before and know what goes into making it work. I believe the hardest thing any artist has to deal with is pricing their work. Many of my friends are artists and they often help me price items. Do you have any artist friends who you can bounce prices off???; 1/10/11, 7:44 PM
carol said...: i'm going to be a bit bold but...

any work is what people are willing to pay for it.

i'd like to complain that your too expensive because i'm greedy and would love to buy more of your stuff.
but..
the bottom line is..

people do buy your jewellery .. (me included).. by the bucket loads..

so.. packing and pricing and time aside.. art work (be that jewellery, paintings, jimmy chu shoes etc..) demands what it achieves.

thats the real world...; 1/10/11, 8:13 PM
Penelope said...: Yeah, experimetal makes me want to cry as well. There are so many good jewelsmiths (I made that up!) out there that I should probably do a blog post on it.; 1/12/11, 7:53 AM
Anonymous said...: Considering the quality of your work, its artisan craftmanship, and the unique materials used, I do not think that you are overpriced in the least! Of course pricing should be relative to what the item is, but what really ticks me off is so many people selling their jewelry for nothing. That shows a lack of respect for one's self and other artisans in my opinion.; 1/12/11, 5:46 PM