Thursday, November 6, 2008

High Fiber, sales and fresh eyes!

This is the front of the announcement card for the High fiber show at the San Jose Museum for Textiles. Below is the back:

I have five pieces in the sale - everything is under $500, and much of it significantly under!
You can see pictures of the pieces I have in the sale on this blog.
Those quilts that don't sell on the first night will be available at the museum for another month.
I'm hoping to buy a new sewing machine - so please go!! You don't have to buy (though that would be very nice) as long as you make loud comments: "Oh, I'd really love to have this piece - it's so wonderful!! let me just go and get my credit card!!" "Make sure no one else buys it!"
If the work comes back to me, I'll have it for sale on the blog, of course.

Talking of sales, all the quilts on my website if not marked "sold", or in some specific show, are available for sale. If they are in a gallery, I provide a link to that gallery. I can't pull a piece out of a gallery - but am happy for the gallery to sell it!! Most galleries take 50% of the asking price, but I feel they really to earn it. Their overheads are high, and they're out there working for me every day. I don't put the prices on the website for I see it more as a showcase. But I'm happy to answer any queries, and as a guide - if you calculate the square footage of a piece and multiply by $150-200, you'll have a good idea of the price. The lesser prices are for older or simpler work, the higher ones are more recent work, or work with a great deal of hand stitching on.

This year has not been good for quilt sales, everyone is so worried about the economy - while I can't blame them, a little bit of art definitely cheers you up!! We have bought a lot of paintings over the years and now have too many to hang them all at once. However I've discovered that it's really great to move them around at least once a year - you see them all over again. It's almost like getting a new piece. So it's actually a good thing to have too many pieces to hang them all at once!! If something is in the same place year in and year out, you habituate and just don't see it any more.

It is so important to look at work, or scenery or work in progress with "fresh eyes" - I rarely work on one quilt at once. At present I have 3 "on the go" - a new series of Industrial images...it's very helpful to me, to put a piece away for a few days - or drape a cloth over it...I mustn't look!!! I have to leave it long enough to be able to view it afresh! That way I can tell which bits are awkward, which bits are flat, and which sections really have some impact.

and, if you have been, thanks for reading!! and don't forget your fiber!!

1 comment:

Nina Marie said...

This must be the year for earning $$ for new machines. I have an account started just for that reason and I tell everyone contributions are always welcome. E - your work is well worth the $$ and I'm sure it will sell!!