On Pricing…
Money matters have always troubled me. Although I’m legendarily never broke ( I credit my astrology chart for that), I’ve always found pricing my work and negotiating money stressful. For this reason pricing my work as an artist was yet again another challenge.
I had an epiphany about my relationship with money a few years ago. I had on my to-do list to send an email to renegotiate my salary, but it kept being pushed back. I found it so stressful to see it still on my to-do list and was getting so upset with myself for not just going through with it. And then I realised. It’s not that I was feeling intimidated, or being shy, or uncertain about how to do it. It was simply not important for me! Of course money is always welcome, but at that point the only reason, the only motivation, I had to ask for a raise was that it was “the right thing to do”, what my friends were telling me, what I felt “I should” be making, etc. I burst into laughing when I realised how pointlessly I’ve been torturing myself. So I turned the whole thing around in my head. Of course I never was unjust to myself or f* up the market - I’ve always made sure I was paid enough- but I decided to negotiate on what I really cared and needed at this point. Flexibility and freedom. Needless to say I had no problem crossing this one off my to-do list right away. And you know what, manifestation worked like a charm. After that turning point people kept offering me raises. They just found it too mind boggling I didn’t care, or they thought I was rich more likely, so they offered more. That’s how rich people end up richer, right? :P
Pricing my work as an artist on the other hand is a whole new game. I read a lot about how other artists approach this topic but once again I decided to go with my gut. So here’s my take. I want to be honest about the value of my art but I also want to be inclusive. I want to hopefully share some of the magic I feel when I create my art - that is why I decided to add prints and smaller original works that can help me have a variety of prices. Will this be my long term game or will I have another epiphany along the way? Only one way to know. Stick around. ;)
