By the Numbers
As an artist, it is easy to ignore the numbers. (The studio table is always calling!) Yet as I try many new ways of sharing and selling my art in this post-2020 art world, it’s important I take a minute to step back and evaluate the impact of a new event on me personally, as well as on my business.
Since I am in the final week of my first “Affordable Art Show & Sale” event, I decided to start crunching the numbers and think about the future of this type of sale.
For this show, I offered 31 paintings (1 reworked painting, 5 paintings from my collection, and 25 new paintings). I then created a month-long (mostly online) event to showcase and sell the art.
As of today, I have 6 paintings left.
Anytime sales are coming in, it always feels like a big win. It’s easy to forget all the expenses that led to that moment. So before we celebrate, let’s take a look…
To keep the art affordable for my buyers, I mostly painted pieces I could quickly create using supplies I had on hand. I did need to buy a few additional stretcher bars, paper, paints, and canvas to keep me going though. (Materials Purchased: $258.) Also - I usually scan my own art (for record-keeping, licensing, and providing online pics for my website), but I needed to pay for scanning services on my large 4x6 ft painting which is too big for me to handle in my studio. (Thanks Gango!) (Services - art scanning: $200). Finally, since I wanted an in-person component to this show, I decided to try setting up in a local park which would offer me an interesting, weather-protected setting (see image above) as well as cater to my personal covid comfort level. (Park Permits: $220)
Pre-Show Expenses: $678
I also decided to include a few pieces from my collection at a discounted price. As I total my expenses, I do include their inventory value (which for my “show evaluation” purposes, I calculate at 1/4 their gallery price in order to capture the time and materials previously spent on them). Please note, that this is NOT a calculation I use for tax purposes.
Previously Expensed Work: $1770
Next, I include fees for the online services I’m using during the show. In this case, I used a combination of DailyPaintWorks.com (auction), Squarespace (event information), and Weebly (sales).
Online Services: $152
Finally, the resulting SALES! In this case, I’m calculating my net sales as…
(Gross Sales + Pre-Paid Shipping) - (Actual Shipping Cost) - (Transaction Fees)
Show Sales: $6423 - $933 - $176 = $5314
Also, $300 from the above figure was donated to Outright International
Net Show Sales = $5014
The results?
After 30 days of painting plus 30 days of in-person/online marketing, selling, and shipping: My first Affordable Art Show & Sale netted $2414.
(Note: I did not pay for any advertising for this event. I relied on my e-newsletter (approx. 500 subscribers), Instagram (approx. 1600 followers), and a free calendar posting to our local paper.)
I’ve sold my work many different ways with many different outcomes over the years. From the show that bombs in a parking lot with zero customers (where I funnily have many happy memories and stories) to the wildly successful yet extremely exhausting and stressful festival, and everything in between - from gallery events to online showcases. The lesson I’ve learned throughout is that every show, event, or venue provides opportunities, whether monetary or not.
With fine art, it only takes that special one or two customers to have a connection and make the day (or maybe even a different day down the road) a financial success. Never knowing where these connections might be made, I find it important to include in my valuation process: opportunities gained, lessons learned, and that beautifully hopeful and amorphous feel-good quality that makes an event meaningful personally regardless of financial outcome.
And while the net outcome of this show is rather modest, I consider it quite a success! I thoroughly enjoyed the process that this show required of me. It was fun to take a break from my usual routines and create fast new paintings. It was fun to find all these creative ways to share them with my viewers. I loved doing the live painting event (and plan on several more during my next Affordable Art Show & Sale). I loved chatting with the few folks who could make the in-person event and hanging my paintings in an interesting space which provided me with fun and interesting new photos of my work. (Not to mention it was MUCH less physical labor than a regular festival event.) And I am grateful for the support I received from friends, family, patrons I’ve known for years, and ones I’ve just met - and for the support which enabled a donation to the people of Ukraine who have been on my mind throughout this entire process.
And - I loved offering original art to people at prices I myself could afford and seeing nearly every piece find a new happy home in which to live.
I recognize that I can’t offer my newer art (which takes a much longer time to process and create) at the affordable prices I could for this show. And, that I’m fortunate to have direct sales as only one part of my revenue stream. (Otherwise, quite honestly, $2400 would not be enough income for me to cover 2 months of work. But thankfully, it’s a rather nice supplement to the passive income I receive from licensing and gallery sales - THANK YOU, buyers!)
In the end, I am happy to find that I can maintain a means through which to make and sell the type of art that has kept me engaged in painting for the past 15+ years while still enjoying the process of exploring future new mixed media work.
So - was the Affordable Art Show & Sale a success (with 1 week left to go)?
For me, I’d say it’s a definite “yes”, and am continuing with my plans for another event in October.
And to everyone reading this who participated in the event in some way - Thank you! It is such a gift to have the opportunity to share my art with you. And to other artists navigating different ways to show and sell art, I hope this preliminary review helps to offer some insight into the numbers behind the sales and the personal value of sharing art with the world.
In gratitude,
Jennifer