Five finished!

(Above:  Five Windows in various stages of being melted over the same five pieces finally finished!  Click on any image in this blog post for an enlargement.)

My last blog post showed five "Window" series pieces on their stretcher bars and in various stages of having holes melted through the layers of polyester stretch velvet on black, acrylic felt.  I couldn't finish any of them.  Why?  Because the tip of the miniature soldering iron broke.  It was the last one I had.  More were ordered and now ... Ta-da!  They are finished!  Each piece is then stitched to a a piece of Edelweiss linen mat board and put into linen liners and a frame with glass.  Before the framing was complete, I lay the five out in the same order and snapped the other photo.


(Above: Window XCIX, Inventory # 3143.  Framed:  17 3/4" x 15 3/4". $265.)

So ... here these pieces are one-at-a-time.  I'm still a little skirmish about listing the prices but most people say they don't mind.  I'd hate to have anyone think I blog in order to generate sales.  That's just not the case.  I've been blogging much longer than I've been selling art! LOL! 


(Above: Window C. Inventory # 3144.  Framed:  17 3/4" x 15 3/4". $265.)

To see how these pieces look framed, please CLICK HERE and scroll down.  This is my "sales blog".  At least that's what it is supposed to be.  All the "In Box" and "Stained Glass" fiber work currently available at Mouse House (my business) should be pictured.  I have other work in galleries ... for the exact same price.  I'm not the sort of artist who tries to cheat a gallery by selling work for less.  It's just not right.  I've had it happen to me ... had an artist sell work to someone else for less than I paid.  Yup!  I bought a piece from an exhibit in the same building where the artist's studio was located.  The artist sold it to me.  We put the "red dot" on it together.  The next month, after the show came down, she sold everything for less than half the price!  (The commission was only 20%!)  It didn't feel good.  It certainly wasn't professional.  I will absolutely never do anything like that to anyone!  I will also never buy anything else from this artist ever again!


(Above: Window CI. Inventory # 3145.  Framed:  17 3/4" x 15 3/4". $265.)

Once upon a time, my mentor Stephen Chesley told me how the relationship with a gallery ought to be.  He talked about how a gallery should be EARNING their commission through quality, loyal, representation ... knowing who their artists are, what they do, how they do it, and showing the work to the clientele they'd built through years of constant work.  He also said that if an artist couldn't live with the net price after commission, then that artist needed to work on their own quality and craftsmanship.  That's a tall order ... one on which I'm constantly working.  Stephen said that a customer should be able to buy with confidence at any gallery or directly from the artist because the prices should be consistent.  Prices should be based on the quality of the work ... not the time, materials, or commission ... just on the piece itself.  If a piece is worth $265; it should sell for $265.  Period.  What the artist retains of that amount will change with the commission or lack of commission but the price should be consistent.  Mine are.


(Above: Window CII.  Inventory # 3146.  Framed:  17 3/4" x 15 3/4". $265.)

I've already started a new batch of "Stained Glass" pieces.  Since I have plenty of new soldering iron tips, there will be no delay in finishing them.


(Above: Window CIII. Inventory # 3147.  Framed:  17 3/4" x 15 3/4". $265.)