I struggled with my motivation and drive to work on creative pursuits this summer, but eventually was able to find a good-ish groove towards the latter part of the season. I’ve been slowly gearing up for the art market I have signed up for in October, and have created a few new embroidery pieces for that. I plan to also bring some of my older beaded jewelry to the market, and may end up adding a few new designs (or new takes on old designs).
If you will excuse the tangent, let’s talk a little bit about the business side of things; it’s something I don’t enjoy and rarely talk about, but probably something I should spend more time thinking about when events like this are on the agenda. As I haven’t done any other markets this year, it’s hard to know what will sell and what won’t; I am focusing on embroidery hoops because I will be the only vendor in that category. I am also cognizant of current economic realities, and I wonder how that impacts the art/craft market and how I should account for it in my pricing. The cost of my materials has gone up, of course (and, for a while, there was a shortage of embroidery floss, of all things!). I want to find a balance between creating art that is financially accessible and getting fair compensation for my work … and it’s not as easy as it might seem. If you are also a creator grappling with these issues, I would love to hear your thoughts.
Okay, let’s have a look at what I’ve been making:
I decided to revisit an old favourite theme — the “evil” eye motif — and create a series of three smaller hoops based on a design I created a few years ago. I made a blue eye, a green eye, and a brown eye, each with a unique rainbow array of colours I felt would be most complementary:
I also decided to give Picasso-esque portraits another try, and created 2 new designs:
Last but not least, I did something a little bit different (and a little bit the same) by upcycling a fabric tote I thrifted using a handmade beaded applique of, what else, an evil eye:
Depending how the rest of this month goes, I may have one more hoop to add to my market line-up — something abstract and floral, I think. After the market, it will be time to regroup and see where the inspiration strikes next. With winter in the not-too-distant future, I will be spending more time indoors and may be ready to tackle some more ambitious creative projects.
I work at an handmade shoe company in the US (Softstar Shoes) so I pay close attention to what crafters/makers/artists charge for their goods. And I think most people undercharge for their time (especially woman). It takes the fun out of it, but have you even tracked how many hours you put into a piece? Then figured out how much you are making per hour?
Of course if you are making/selling for the pure joy of it you might not care, but it’s an interesting formula to think about.
I hope I can buy a piece of yours online!
It’s tough because hand embroidery and beading are SO time-consuming (and not scalable in any practical way) so using the hourly rate approach isn’t really feasible. Even a smaller hoop like the eye one takes 10+ hours to make. I am hoping to charge something like $50 for those, which means I’d be making $5/hr without even accounting for the material costs (probably another $10-15). For context, minimum wage here is around $15/hr.
The reality is that, while some people might be willing to pay $100+ for a small painting (which, still, would likely take less time to paint than to embroider), they probably wouldn’t feel the same about textile art. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that embroidery is considered a “craft” — not “real art” — by virtue of being a traditionally female occupation.
You bring up a good point about custom-made pieces (even shoes and clothing) — I think the market demand/forces people to undercharge because consumers are used to the cost of fast fashion/mass-market goods and expect the same economics to apply to artisans. Which ignores the reality that the only way fast fashion can be so cheap is by devaluing and exploiting the labour of people in other countries. It’s a very sh*tty paradigm.
Your work is absolutely exquisite. The number of French knots you had to execute for the Picasso pieces is next level!
Thank you!! It helps a bit that it’s a smaller hoop than the last one. I love the look and texture of French knots but they are timing consuming for sure.
I could totally imagine that evil eye applique as a brooch in lots of different colors, too! These are all so cool, I hope you have great sales at the market!
Thank you so much!