There has been a flurry of activity in the EtsyBeadweavers (EBW team)Yahoo group lately. Some has been about people who would like to scam artists out of their artwork and money by sending seemingly authentic cashier's checks/money orders which end up being bogus. This, of course, is only found out AFTER the artwork has been sent to it's new owner... er, I mean, thief. This is a blatant form of robbery (as is copyright infringement, but that's a subject for another day!!), but I think artists are victim to another, less obvious, form of robbery, too.
After 8 hours and 10 minutes:
And finally, after I had to rip out some work because I didn't like it, after 9 hours and 10 minutes:
Even if I only want to make $10 an hour for my beadwork - in time alone I'm up to a little over $91. That doesn't include materials and I'm not even close to being halfway finished. How much is your time worth?
The other regards the making of certain types of alchemy requests on Etsy - these are special requests for custom pieces - aka. commissions. Now, I am not talking about EVERY customer who makes an alchemy request - just a few. These prospective buyers submit alchemy requests for elaborate pieces of freeform beadwork or bead embroidery and they want the job done for ridiculous - downright insulting - prices! To add to it, photos have been sent to along as well. These are photos of beadwork by... well... FAMOUS beaders (at least in my humble opinion) - Tatiana Van Iten, Beverly Ash Gilbert, etc. - asking the beader to copy these pieces. So, at this point, not only have you been insulted by the asking price, you have also been asked to do something quite heinous - to copy another's artwork (aka. copyright infringement). Forgive me for being a bit put out about all this!! OK, I realize that in this Wal-Mart world, people just don't understand what it means to truly make something with their own hands, the hours spent designing and executing a piece of artwork. I REALLY don't think they have any idea how labor-intensive beadweaving and bead embroidery is. To devalue a person's artwork, I think, is another form of stealing. It steals the artist's feeling of self-worth, it steals time and materials and it lessens the value of the artform itself.
This second example of thievery has encouraged me to do a little experiment:
I have never actually timed how long it takes to design and make a particular piece of beadwork, so I decided to give it a try. Following are some photos of a bead embroidered necklace, in progress. I am keeping track of how much time has been spent in the actual process of beading. This does not include time needed for resting the eyes, making lunch, doing laundry, or any other activity which might take me away from the actual act of beading. It does include time spent fixing a mistake or changing gears in the design since I think of these as integral parts of the process. I am not the fastest beader in the world but I am an experienced beader - this is a process I have gone through many times before.
These times include 1 hour which was spent picking out the beads and components I wanted to use. Here's how much I had done after 4 1/2 hours:
After 6 hours and 10 minutes:
After 8 hours and 10 minutes:And finally, after I had to rip out some work because I didn't like it, after 9 hours and 10 minutes:Even if I only want to make $10 an hour for my beadwork - in time alone I'm up to a little over $91. That doesn't include materials and I'm not even close to being halfway finished. How much is your time worth? 
I love this post. It brings up a good point about how much an artist's time is worth. It amazes me that people are asking for work at such horribly low prices. If a person were asked to do his or her (typical) job for 1/3 the salary usually paid, that person would be mortified. Why is it any different for an artist?
ReplyDeleteThank you for the visual demonstration. ;-) I think it's going to be a lovely necklace.
This is a great post and I think it really sums up what they've been talking about in our yahoo group! I love the visual demonstration of just how long something like this takes - I have a rough idea of how long my works takes - and I've never tried anything that intense yet because I'm a bit daunted by the time investment!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for doing a post of this caliber. It is so true, people don't understand the amount of time that is put into one of our beadwoven or bead embroidered pieces. Bravo!!
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else, I have been amazed at how undervalued artists' time is. Even a relatively small work of bead weaving takes a significant amount of time. I am now committed to educating the public on the value of art of all kinds (not mere knock-offs from box stores) and the time and dedication of us artists. It will take, however, more than our clamoring for recognition. Rather we need to convince people that not only do they need real art, but they want it as well; that there are definite (and many) benefits for them as well as for us.
ReplyDeletePatricia
http:/vener-art.com/beadblog/
At last! I didn't get rejected trying to follow the blog! Thank you so much for writing this blog, especially for those of us that are still new to beading and tend to get beat into feeling like we over price our work. The hours that go into the works alone should merit the price, let alone the materials. Heads up folks, let's leave no room for these 'wicked' scammers to make us feel our work is less worthy than it actually is. Yes we love beading, but it is still hard work and time consuming.
ReplyDeleteThis type of thing makes my blood boil! My worst experience of it was when someone I knew offered to pay me $7 for a piece I had already custom made for her - but that is a story for another day.
ReplyDelete