Have you ever gone on a vacation where you bring your own food, but when you arrive you’ve forgotten some of the basics, like oil and ketchup? The reason we forget them, is that they’re just always there. Kitchens always have oil, ketchup, a salt shaker, etc.
Art supplies are the same. Sure, from time to time we need to buy canvases and some new brushes. But the majority of the supplies we use we take for granted. Our easel, drawers full of paints, 200 old brushes, mediums, paper towels, even our apron and stool. Most of us don’t go out and buy all of those things at once, they are slowly accumulated and become part of the background of our space and work.
Which is why I hate figuring out how to price my work. Most pricing advice is something like, ‘Factor in your hours, the cost of your supplies, the size of the painting, and current rates from other artists.’ The truth is, I don’t know what percentage of my painting apron gets factored in to my prices. Do I factor in the cost of my wheely stool? Painter’s tape? The nails I rest my canvases on? What about the new light bulbs in my studio, or my favorite 5 year old palette knife? Do I factor all those things into the price?
From a math perspective, adding up the cost of the supplies, makes my head spin.
But from a personal perspective, I really love that my life, work, and studio are combinations of new and old. Used, worn, and also fresh and shiny. I love a new paintbrush, but I also love my old mini-blinds adjusting rod that I use as a mahl.
I like that I’m settled in. I have a space. And in that space, I can create beauty and send it off into the world!
