Bead Pile Up

These are all of the beads I've made for the 21 Day Bead Boot Camp so far.  Not in this pile are the beads that I've rejected for just not being up to snuff.

I don't really sell a lot of beads these days.  I used to, though.  This project has largely been about getting my skills back up to where they used to be, since I'd done very little with the glass over the last few years.

I spread these beads out on the table a few minutes ago and thought about pricing.  At my former price levels (which may now be a bit low, actually), this would represent about $350 of beads.  The small seed beads are worth about 20 cents each and the large complex eye beads are in the $10 range, with all the other beads somewhere in between.

It may seem like a lot of money, but that's why the whole "starving artist" stereotype exists.  People want to get things cheaply.  I'm no different.  But when an object represents not only the time spent making it, but the years spent learning how to make it, the failed efforts that are never shown in the photos, the research, the thought, the time and effort of marketing, and still the person who created it has to compete with a mindset of "why should I pay you so much for a bead when I can go to the craft shop and get one from China for half that price?"

So the artist charges as little as will still pay the bills.  And lives cheaply.  One of the more versatile artists I know make everything from cast bronze chess sets to hand-sewn medieval turn shoes.  She told me once she works in IT because she doesn't like the "starving" part of being an artist.

I dunno.  It is hard to make money making things.

I once read a story about why we should never negotiate on the price of services.  That's telling the person an hour of his life is worth less than he thinks it is.  I extend this to include all hand work.  If you buy a bead, you may feel like you are buying the little ball of glass, but you are really buying the time of the artist.  The glass in it is relatively cheap (averages around $15 a pound, plus shipping, generally - some as high as $40), but the time of the artist is what you are paying for.

If we didn't have to work and were free to pursue our individual muses, to create, to spread beauty instead of having to go to jobs that we often wouldn't choose if we didn't need the money, what sorts of amazing and wonderful things would we come up with?

I make things because I have a need within me to create.  I suspect a lot of us have that.  It is part of what makes us human.

When is the last time you created something simply for the joy of doing it?