I have to say; that I haven’t really been looking forward to writing this blog, but it’s something that has to be done I’m afraid. It is, as the title says, a question of price, or should I say, a question of increasing the price of my work.
Ever since starting to work professionally back in 2009, I’ve tried to keep my prices at a level that matched my then newly emerged status as an artist ….in other words, a little on the low side .
Of course, what you can ask for and what you can get for a painting, may not match and so at the time, it seemed best to be realistic ……people had to find my work, and, as it is rather different from so much Scottish landscape painting ……they not only had to like it, they also had to get used to it and gain confidence in it. I have over these last almost 7 years, worked very hard to increase the quality of the paintings I create and I’ve also put almost as much effort into promoting both myself and my work, in as professional a manner as possible. This all takes a huge amount of time and time, as they say, is money.
As you know, I have a severe visual impairment and this doesn’t help when it comes to running an efficient small business. Everything I do including the actual painting, takes much longer to do than if I was fully sighted. As such I can not only produce less paintings but I have to spend much longer promoting them and so I tend to spend money paying others to do this side of the work for me. In short, my business expenses are quite high and my production levels are quite low.
I was however, fortunate enough back in 2009 to have my work win the prestigious £20,000 Jolomo Award for Scottish Landscape Painting. I’ve used the award money very carefully to cover some of the increased costs I incur. It has also allowed me to continue developing my very distinctive style of work rather than be tempted to try and produce more “sellable”, more traditional Scottish paintings. This has been great for me as an artist and it has been great for my work.
Now, 6 years on from the award and from my first steps into self employment, my work is being recognized and its quality and individuality appreciated and sought after, both in Scotland, the rest of the UK, and to an increasing level, internationally too. My prices however, do not reflect this and sadly despite all the hard work and time that I put into it, I am still not able to make a living or even a wage from it at present. I either need to produce a lot more paintings ….which I can’t do, due to my very poor sight, or I have to increase my prices considerably. This is good of course for those of you who have already purchased paintings, but not so good for those who haven’t! I am therefore going to give six months notice of a general price increase so that people have an opportunity to purchase work at the 2014 level. Any work commissioned in this period will also be at the current levels regardless of when the commission is completed. So;
I will be increasing my prices by 40% as from 1st September 2015. I tend to work in standard sizes and so below you will find both the current and post 1st September 2015 prices:
Size Current price Price from1st Sept 2015
210 x 148mm £325 £455
30 x 30 cm £485 £679
76 x 23 cm £720 £1008
80 x 80 cm £1250 £1750
During the six months between now and 1st September, I will be holding exhibitions and showing work at the following locations. My work can also be obtained at the same prices directly from my studio or website.
April 24, 25, 26th 2015 Glasgow Art Fair
May / June 2015 Wild Space, John Muir Trust, Pitlochry
August 2015 “the gallery on the corner”, Edinburgh
I am also in negotiations to show work in two further locations in Ayrshire during this period. Watch this space for more details.
Right then, that’s it. I hope this hasn’t been too much of a shock and that you understand my reasons for this price increase. I do however genuinely feel that the new post 1st September 2015 prices, still offer very good value in today’s art market.
I am also looking into introducing a larger range of prints in the future and will announce news on this front later this year.
After all is said and done, do remember that my studio is always open when I’m working and it doesn’t cost anything to come in and just look at the paintings and have a chat ….everyone is welcome.
With one thing and another, it’s been a strange last few months. The last walk we did was way back on September 21st when we walked Beinn Odhar in beautifully hazy autumn weather. Then we had the annual Open Studios Weekend while at the same time we were madly negotiating to go down to Brazil. A few days later on the 9th October we flew down to Sao Paulo and had five very hectic days working in the heat. Following that, I became unwell and had a strange and rather alarming 11 days in hospital while Nita kept everything going for me in the way of preparations for the Harbour Arts Centre exhibition and the big Glen Rosa drawing project. Dan Thornton and Cindy Apple came over from Seattle to film the start of the project and I got straight into it still far from recovered from the illness. I finished the big drawing after 17 days , (ahead of schedule) and this allowed me to start work on the Brazil commissions. Between the end of the big drawing and the start of the New Year I worked on several preliminary pastel drawings and a whole number of small line sketches, ready to start the four paintings. Christmas came and went especially as Nita was working Christmas Eve and Day and so I just followed suit ….. strangely it was very pleasant being down the studio on Christmas Day. Finally started the Brazil paintings on 31st December 2014 and have been working on them ever since, with days off to dismantle the HAC exhibition work and the big drawing …..after of course we’d had the “End view” of the exhibition on January 8th.
