We're Worth the Money!

Doctors and lawyers are called professionals, and are paid in sums that, in most cases, guarantee a luxurious lifestyle. The kind of intense education they've undergone, and frequently upgrade, builds a respect for their professions that pays them well. Some put in eighteen hour days and work weekends, and these don't have a lot of time to enjoy their wealth.

Artists should also be called professionals. We start learning as children, and never stop the process of developing our skills during our lifetimes. Expensive travel and workshops. Equipment and supplies. Minds that are always open to new experiences in expanding our talent and inspiration. If we think of ourselves as professionals, it adds an left-brain consciousness to our right-brain creativity.

On paper, so that you'll be able to look at it again during periods of self-doubt, total up the value of the physical necessities for your overhead. Two large easels, one French easel, canvases and masonite, frames, oil paint, watercolors, with brushes for both. Add in your entry fees for shows, and shipping costs to get your art to these shows. Art magazine subscriptions to learn where to enter these shows. If you travel to art fairs and exhibits, add the tent, vertical surfaces for hanging paintings, horizontal surfaces for paperwork and crafts, and seating. Motels, travel expenses and larger vehicles or trailers should go into this list. Learn a word: amortization. Then look at all the equipment you've worn out and replaced, and how often you run through your brushes and paint. The cost of replacement is amortization. (I realize I'm only talking about painting, but you sculptors and crafters make a list, too!)

That's the physical. Now add in the mental part of absorbing new information through your art sources: museum or gallery fees, researching new venues, setting up a web site, and the bravery of approaching respected galleries about representing your art. This is the part I still haven't gotten the guts to do -- after all these years of growing in my art, to be rejected by a gallery would feel deadly.

All of these things, plus the continuing education of attending demonstrations and workshops, reading books by master painters and draftsmen, should all now be applied to the physical costs of materials, equipment and amortization. Add it up as if you're an accountant making up a business plan for someone else -- then apply it to yourself. I'm taking the prices off the paintings on my website. I'm following through on a business plan. My next step is finding a gallery. Rejection happens to everyone. It's just business, and we all will find the right gallery for us.

Remember what your doctor's receipts look like? "Short visit, return visit, lab," etc.? Include everything and remember that you're a professional. Never sell yourself short. That self-respect and knowledge will bring in more people who love your art enough to pay well for it.

We're definitely worth the money.

Nancy
www.nancyparkart.com
paintslinger.blogspot.com