I know from talking to other artists that a lot of us find it difficult to price our art. It can feel awkward to put a price on something that feels so personal.

I have recently been out and bought new canvases and materials for the first part of the year - and the bill was so much higher than I’m used to.
So I’m now thinking about my prices for the future.

I decided to go with a more expensive supplier (They make the stretchers and stretch the canvas here in NZ) I want to know that the paintings I sell are the best quality and it’s reassuring to know that if a canvas does warp , I can have the painting taken off the stretcher and we stretched.
I know it’s inevitable that prices need to go up once you move forward and spend more on materials.

Things are very different to when I made my first sale on Instagram selling a painting on paper. It felt amazing that someone I’d never met liked my work enough to pay for it. ( I still get all excited and jump around when a painting sells)

For the last 5 years I’ve developed my painting and slowly increased my pricing slightly each year with an eye on artists at a similar level to me. It has got easier with time. i can now just check my spreadsheet and state the price of a painting.

I know the hours I spend working on my paintings , the time planning researching and refining , as well as the price of brushes and artist grade paint.

But still, I find it hard to feel completely comfortable with pricing - I imagine the voice of someone out there saying “ It’s not worth that!” but really, so what? Not everyone cares that a piece of art for their home is original and unique.

I’m not trying to please everybody. Just the people who feel a connection to my paintings, whether the colour, the shapes or something that makes them feel that excitement you can get from art .

So, I try to be clear these days , I want my pricing to be transparent, to make it easier for people , so I have prices under paintings on my website.
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I know from buying art myself that if I have to ask the price, I don’t usually bother and imagine that it’s so expensive I can’t possibly afford it.

I still think of those photographs I found on an artist’s site that I wanted to buy , of moonlit houses and roads , all moody with potential danger in the shadows . He was a young male photographer somewhere in the southern states of the US - but there were no prices . I wrote an email in drafts to enquire but then didn’t send as I told myself they were going to be thousands over budget and I would be too disappointed.

If you are an artist reading this, someone could be falling in love with your work right now but not know if they could ever afford you.