These three topics are rattling around in my skull.
ONE
It rained and hailed rather ferociously while I was painting that indoor oak tree at my church; two days later I took this photo. Check out the first daffodils in bloom, in spite of the recent heavy cold storm.
TWO
The elephant was buried in snow. “Elephant?” That’s the shape that appears on Alta Peak after a snowstorm.
THREE
Stem & Stone* asked if I had any poppy and lupine paintings hanging around for sale. Nope. We discussed sizes and prices, with Stem & Stone suggesting something similar to the popular size 6×18” sequoia paintings. I countered with the fact that sequoia trees are more popular than poppies, thinking that $195 might seem steep for someone here visiting for the purpose of seeing sequoia trees. Stem & Stone suggested a smaller size but the same proportions. I found 2 small canvases in my supplies that fit the bill, both 3×9”. This gave me pause, but I agreed to try.
The cause for my pause is that very small paintings require holding it in my hand while painting and require tighter control, taking a disproportionate amount of time to paint. If I price by size, which is how the buying public makes sense of pricing, after Stem & Stone takes its agreed upon and fair bite out of the price, I am essentially working for less than minimum wage.
I speculated that is the reason many artists choose to paint loose and fast. I could try that method, but then the people who know my work would wonder if I’d been dropped on my head, had tried to paint left-handed, or lost my reading glasses.
Sigh. Sometimes it is really hard to be a professional artist.
HOWEVER, I did a rough sketch for Stem & Stone to see if it fit the vision.
*Stem & Stone is owned by a dear friend whose retail judgement I trust completely.
4 Comments
Lupine, the beautiful, ubiquitous flower in Mineral King! I look forward to see the progress and finished product!
Sharon, the variety of lupine is so fun. We get bush lupine, the kind on a single stalk, a miniature variety, and occasionally some that are more blue than purple with larger white spots that come in drifts across the lake. Those are just the ones in Three Rivers!
I love the elephant! Aren’t mountains cool? I really hadn’t thought about how small art = small price, and yet it’s still quite time consuming and intricate for the artist to make. Do you prefer working big or small?
Michelle, I’m impressed that you could pick out the elephant. Lots of people just can’t see it.
Both small and large have their benefits. It feels good to finish something quickly (small) and it feels good to be able to do excellent tight detail (large). When I took 1/2 a semester of oil painting at the junior college, the teacher said we’d be painting small, and then told us to buy 11×14 or 16×20, which seemed ENORMOUS to my little pencil brain.
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