Assembling Information

Here's a photo of that zinc plate I worked on in class on Thursday. I had downloaded it to my computer and then couldn't find it to upload here. Now here it is. In this photo, it still has the asphaltum ground on it. But you can see also that there are a great deal of etched lines and open spaces as well. I'll try printing it again when I go back to class on Tuesday, try it with a stiffer ink and maybe changing the setting on the press to create more pressure. Also, I'll try a relief print.

Today I spent the day inside my studio, but I did have some customers. On weekends, I always try to sit outside, but today it sprinkled a little around noontime and I was afraid to bring my display outside. Besides the fabric cloth I put on my table, my displays are velvet covered, and if they were outside when it began to rain, they would get spots on them. I wanted to avoid that.

I spent the day doing some more organizing. I started to work on a necklace after organizing my worktable enough to find the tools and findings that I needed. But after awhile, I was attracted to the assemblage that I've been working on and I switched gears. That's what happens at times. I work on one thing until my eye is caught by something else and I am distracted. I suppose that's one advantage of working outside on weekends. I don't have so much extra visual stimulation and distraction.

A woman came in my studio this afternoon. She spent a long time looking at the jewelry and then as she was leaving, she said, "oh, you paint too?" I explained that what she was looking at was an etching. She had already said she loved my jewelry. Then she spotted the enameled copper basket, and she asked me how much it was. I didn't know what to say. I told her I had just started making them, and I would have to look at the pieces in the enamel guild and see what they charge for their pieces that are similar.

I admit that's what I hate about being an artist. I never know what price to put on things. I have to ask someone else's advice. I charge for my jewelry based on the cost of the materials plus my time, so it's pretty cut and dried. When it comes to my etchings, I charge by the size of the piece, except in several cases. I have one that's mor because it's actually four plates printed together and the plates have been altered. There's only one copy of that print. And there's another print for which I no longer have the plate. Unfortunately that's my "best seller."

But when it comes to an individual piece like the basket, I don't have any clue. I suppose I could try to remember how much time I spent on it and figure it that way. But some artists would argue that's not a valid way to figure the cost. I could say it took me eight hours plus 40 years. I should have asked my ename teacher when he came by today, but I didn't think to. I did show him my copper and brass basket. He said there is enamel that's specifically made for brass. That answers that question. But he says he doesn't have any.