Art: What's in a Price?

How do artists price their work? Different artists use different formulas that take into account the cost of raw materials, a percentage of the cost of tools and equipment or framing, and an hourly wage. But it’s often difficult for the art consumer to understand how artists arrive at the prices on their work.

When starting out, artists look at other artists working in the same media and with work in similar venues (galleries, shows, shops). By factoring in such variables as how long the artist has been working, reputation, and quality of work, he or she can set a base price relative to the size of the work and then add in the cost of framing (in the case of two-dimensional work). Many artists increase the price of their work by a set percentage each year.

Artists such as jewelers may use a formula based more on materials cost plus an hourly wage for the time needed to create the work. Raw materials, especially the price of precious metals, can fluctuate wildly, and pieces of similar size may differ in complexity and the time needed to create and fabricate them.

Artists strive to keep their pricing consistent from venue to venue. This helps the work retain its value for both the artist and the collector.

The art buyer sometimes assumes that if he or she purchases directly from an artist, the price should be lower than that of work in a gallery, where the artist may pay as much as a 50 percent commission. What the buyer doesn’t understand is that the artist is doing all the things that he or she would pay the gallery to do via the commission: marketing, display, transportation, sales, bookkeeping, and the like.

Maintaining consistency in pricing is also the main reason artists are reluctant to discount sales. Artists survive and thrive by cultivating collectors and maintaining relationships. A collector would be displeased to find that someone else purchased a similar work for a discounted price.

Quality work will retain its value over time. If you’re concerned about value, look at prices that are consistent and in line with similar work in the area. Above all, purchase work because you like it. That value will never change.

Hillsborough Gallery Group Show, Finding Light, Opens with Reception January 27th

The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts opens the New Year with new work that reflects the artists’ interpretation of finding light in the depths of winter. The show’s opening reception is January 27^th from 6-9 p.m.

In her new work for the show, Painter Chris Graebner explores a new medium – oil paint mixed with cold wax. “I love the translucency this medium imparts and the ability to layer and to remove and reveal - and then layer some more,” Graebner says.

The gallery’s newest member, Pam Isner, creates complex mosaic pieces. “Since I work with glass,” she says, “light plays a primary role in what I do. Those of us who work with glass learn to use light as a creative partner, knowing that both reflection and refraction can serve to our advantage. Since light changes throughout the day, it continues to transform each piece, often revealing surprises.”

Painter Linda Carmel says of her piece: “My painting, Magical Moment, captures a sunbeam falling through the forest canopy, creating an enchanted spot ahead on the path. My intention is both physical and metaphorical. Each day, there are moments when we can choose to stop and take in the beauty around us. We can step forward into the light, a metaphor for the unknown; it is a painting about recognizing choices.”

Similarly, Ellie Reinhold’s piece, Ancestral Guide, is a metaphor about light as knowledge. “My piece is about shedding light on the connection between past family and the present generation. This piece is, in part, about the death of my father and, more recently, my uncle. When those close to us join the ranks of ancestors, it reminds us of our own mortality; it won't be long before I am an ancestor.”

Painter Kim Wheaton says she looks for everyday scenes where the light is fleeting – “where you may glance up and notice the particular way sunlight is hitting the stairs or a cabinet. You look away and back and the light has already changed. I also enjoy juxtaposing warm and cool colors to play up the contrast between warm sunny whites and cool blue shadows.”

Lynn Wartski, who creates sculptural figures in copper, has recycled a piece for Finding Light.
“I originally created the female tree figure for collaboration with another artist, she says. “I transformed and repositioned her to be a forest tree basking in the sun.”

Lolette Guthrie, who paints both abstract and representational pieces, says her paintings are always about light and atmosphere. “For the Finding Light show,” she says, “I concentrated on moonlight. Moonlit I and Moonlit II are abstract explorations of ephemeral light.”

The opening of Finding Light will be held on Friday, January 27th from 6-9 p.m. The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts is located in the Mercantile Building at 121 North Churton Street, in Hillsborough, NC. For more information, visit the gallery Website at http://www.hillsboroughgallery.com.

Hillsborough Gallery Artists Roll Out Holiday Show, the Art of Giving, on November 25th

The Hillsborough Gallery will open its holiday show, the Art of Giving, with a reception on Friday, November 25th from 6-9 p.m. and will celebrate its fifth anniversary, complete with birthday cake, at the same time.

The new show went up Monday, the 14th, so stop by any time before the opening reception to see the new work in its holiday setting.

The gallery's 22 members work in a variety of media, providing a wide array of art and fine craft for gallery goers and holiday shoppers. Offerings in glass include hand-blown vases and vessels, ornaments and paperweights; fused glass panels and jewelry; and glass mosaic pieces for windows and walls. Fiber art includes framed quilted art pieces; hand-knit shawls and scarves; and fabric handbags. Jewelry offerings cover a variety of styles and techniques in silversmithing, from copper and bronze to sterling and fine silver necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings, some with gold accents and stones, to hand-crocheted sterling and copper pieces. Visitors will also find metal sculpture, pottery, turned wood, fine wood furniture and enameling on wood. Fine art photography, oil and acrylic painting, watercolor, and mixed media work round out the gallery's visual feast.

Preview the Orange County Studio Tour at HGA

The Hillsborough Gallery is the place to be Friday, October 28th, if you want to preview the art that will be part of the Orange County Open Studio Tour. The Friday reception provides an opportunity to nosh and meet the artists as well as have a sneak peek at examples of their work, which will be for sale at HGA as well as on the studio tour

A number of HGA members are part of the tour and will be on hand to talk about their work. The preview exhibition will be living at HGA for two weeks, from October 25- November 13, so if you have to miss the opening reception, you can still see representative work of all the participating Orange County artists by stopping in at HGA.

The 17th Annual Orange County Open Studio Tour takes place on two weekends: November 5-6 and 12-13.

Celebrating Five Years

Welcome to the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts' (HGA) new blog. The HGA comprises 23 established local artists who own and operate the gallery ourselves, so when you buy art or fine crafts from our gallery, you are buying local and direct from us, the artists who live and create our work in your community. Many of us have work in galleries across the country and have won recognition through awards and one-person shows.

About our history: In 2006, a small group of Triangle area artists got together to create a gallery with a range of fine art and fine crafts and to make the work as affordable as possible. Despite the recession and closing of many galleries, the HGA has thrived, bringing in more revenue each year and more loyal customers. And we have grown as a gallery, expanding into storefront space in the historic Hillsborough Mercantile building and, through a juried process, adding new members with exceptional work.

This September marked our fifth anniversary, and we'll be celebrating with a party in late November. We're proud to be marking five years of success in a challenging economic climate. Our history is wrapped up with community and how Hillsborough and other area communities have embraced and supported us.

With the arts being cut from school curricula, it's even more important to have galleries like the HGA thrive. One of our artists is always on duty and ready to talk about his or her work, as well as the work of the other artists.

We also have created a game for children that has them looking at the art in the gallery to identify and check off items found in the paintings, sculpture, stained glass and jewelry. The kids love it, and it teaches them to look carefully and observe what's in the art and what it's about.

We welcome browsers who come in each month just to see what new art has been installed - and we have monthly featured artists, or group shows on a special theme, one of which, last spring, was "Walkable Hillsborough," with legs and feet as well as Hillsborough scenes being depicted in unique ways, such as a copper sneaker sculpture with the sneaker in full stride. (That item sold during the first week of the show.)

The HGA is many things to many people - a place to buy art, a place to learn about art, a gathering place, a place to lift your spirits, and a showcase for many talented local artists.

We'll be using this blog to tell you more about the artists and the gallery, what new directions some of us may be taking in our creative work, upcoming shows and other gallery events.