As it has turned out, I absolutely made the right decision when I thought I should go to the beach for a short afternoon of stone gathering, because it was going to become stormy and rainy for a few days.
Boy, has it ever become stormy and rainy!
Just completed... just needs to dry and get a finish coat
My primary worry has gone from being one of whether I could gather rocks on the beach to being one of whether the winds and falling trees are going to take out the power lines and I'm going to be sitting in darkness!
But on the plus side, this is being a really good weekend to sit inside and get some work done. Thankfully my workspace is in a corner of the house that has natural light from two sides so even if the power does go out, at least I would have reasonable daylight to work with for some hours.
Yes, There is Planning!
So I printed out an inventory chart — yes, I actually do such a thing — and have been looking at my show bins to see what is available and in what quantities.
When I think about planning for outside shows and having enough merchandise on hand to sell, the primary thing I have to focus on are all the little impulse items.
This large stone ended up being a commission for someone who had "seen on like it," but that one had sold already.
I could get into a long philosophical discussion about that "not being what I want to do as an artist" but part of the idea (when you're a production artist) is that you have to focus at least 50% of the time on creating work that you are pretty sure will actually sell, and then you can spend the rest of your time doing the work you actually want to do.
The underlying theory is that as time goes by and people get more and more used to seeing your work and as you establish a bit of a reputation your price point gradually moves up.
In my case that has largely held true and there are many people who started by buying a small handful of gifts from me — that might have been only $10 rocks — who have later come back to me and said "you know what, people really like those and I'm going to have one for myself now, and I'm going to buy a nice one for my mother."
Slight maritime influence, here
You might find yourself wondering who would pay more than a few dollars for a painted rock but that is the interesting thing about bridging this strange gap between "fun hobby" and "serious art." Whereas it is true that I sell a lot of little things that are less than $20, I've actually sold quite a few of my stones that were over $100 and up to as much as $275.
And yes there are a few art appreciators out there who are fascinated enough by the work that they will spend that much money.
Would I love to reach a point where all I did was paint the larger more complex and challening stones?
You bet I would! But the reality of life is that I need to continue making these smaller stones and putting them out there in numbers and promoting them as "promotional giveaways and gifts" for people's yoga retreats and self-development retreats and so forth because that's how the word get spread.
Another recently finished
As an ongoing effort to crack that difficult nut of trying to increase online sales I figure the more work I can actually get into people's hands with the knowledge that they have access to more online... then if they have one they can actually look at, they're more likely to buy additional ones online because they have a tangible representative idea of what they're about to spend money on.
And now, I must get back to work!
I appreciate you coming to visit and please do leave a comment if you feel so inclined!
Thank You!
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
Because I am trying to make some semblance of income — a part time living, even — I now add this footer to all my posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to take a further look at my work, and perhaps consider supporting independent art.
Thank you, in advance, for your consideration and support!
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2024.10.20 AS-TXT-286/256