Post #2509451

Thinking back to that time I had someone who likely was at least low level economically rich... who saw me doing origami, said I was "really talented & could do that as a business she'd help me with" then after at her urging I made something nice that could be used as a "Christmas ornament", (which I almost never did) and that took me about 5-7 hours to make, and then when I did as she asked to include my time & materials costs gave her their logical $50-150 price point, she laughed & said that anything over about $15 would be completely ridiculous, that $5 would be far more sensible, and that as this came with her exposure I should be happy to accept $2.... I gave her the 1 -3 pieces for no money & never spoke to her again. Granted that was about 22 years ago & it wasn't the last time (nor first) I at least gave my artwork a try in "earning money" but overall it definitely taught me a great deal & none of said knowledge is really about art. (I just looked it up, someone is now selling similar, they're making these with about 1/2 the modules I did & using lower paper grades. They're asking for and getting aparently $40 regularly for it.) The first time was a specialty project, a contact of a parent of mine wanted an origami boat to float their departed loved ones ashes out into a lake or ocean, that worked well in part because the model possibilities- I knew 3 that'd be decent, I could make each in under 20 minutes well & in part because the money offer was about $25-30 (and this was at least 3 years before the later mess)--- so even with my practices & I think even giving them 2 in the end - my time & materials were solidly covered. The last one was my basically cleaning out old models, I lost money over listing fees, but was glad they at least got to nice people. My abilities I think are starting to fade a little in the origami realm now from what they once were, especially in my speed (so that ball of an ornament would likely take me 7-12 hours) but at the same time, if I do post offers to sell anything (on bonanza or similar) it's going to have to really be specialty things and at prices that won't loose me money direct or pay me under the current hourly adult abled minimum wage for my area for my time in making said piece. I might do them as "stand alone", incorporate them into woodworking pieces or put them into glass housings but I'm not sure yet... especially as I'll likely combine this storefront with paper making eventually....but I know I want to keep having my art evolve & at least sometimes try sharing it. If that sharing is selling it or posting photos of it or having exhibits of it at nearby public libraries -- I'm not sure how much I care on which, because overall in as much as theoretically I'd love to "make a real job from my art" that's not it's value to me, and it never has been.