Should I buy a completed painting OR commission a painting?

I have had several people over the years ask me a familiar question: “What pieces do you have done right now that are in my budget?” I can appreciate that question, but that really limits what the next step my perspective client takes next. I mean, maybe I happen to have the exact size and subject matter they’re looking for. Maybe, but not usually.

I then present the option of commissioning a piece from me, but about 70% of the time, the person who would be willing to purchase a completed piece from me seems hesitant to commission a painting, which is a shame. The already completed pieces of art on my studio wall are there to show people what I’m capable of creating. If one of those pieces speaks to them, that’s awesome, but primarily, I want those pieces to get people thinking and dreaming.

“When I paint, no matter what I’m painting, I’m in my happy place.”

So is buying a completed painting or a commissioned painting better? Well personally, I like both. But I really like working on commissioned pieces. Here is why:

1. You can match the size to perfectly fit the budget. I charge by the square inch, so the size determines the budget. If something is more than the budget can support, we can just shrink it a bit so that the bottom line total is something you can live with.

2. You can pick this exact subject matter for the piece. I’ve had the privilege of painting scenes I’d never think of painting and trying to sell in my Asheville studio. People have asked me to paint a scene based on their rafting excursion amidst antarctic icebergs, canals of Venice, mountains of New Zealand, and so many other awesome places. This is what makes my job really interesting and challenging!

3. I don’t charge any more for commissions. I charge the same per square inch rate for a commission as I do for a completed piece.

4. You can get creative! I currently have a perspective client that found a sky they like from one photo, the background from another photo, the mid ground from another photo and the foreground from yet another photo. The colors and lighting don’t go together perfectly as is, but I’ll deal with that. That’s my job.

5. I ship anywhere in the lower 48 states free of charge, which saves you paying any sales tax if you live outside North Carolina.

6. I completely guarantee your satisfaction with a commission. If you’re not totally happy with it, I’ll start it all over again, and keep going until you ARE happy with it. I’ve never had to do that before, but I always stress my willingness. I don’t want anyone worrying about purchasing something they end up not liking. I also send a photo near the end of the painting process for my client to take a look at and request tweaks if needed. I’m always happy to tweak a piece upon request, and keep tweaking until they’re totally happy with it.

7. Upon request, I allow people to pay over time at no added interest. When the last payment is received, the painting is shipped.

I love painting. When I paint, no matter what I’m painting, I’m in my happy place. And it continues to be such an amazing honor to be asked by people to paint something specific for THEM. I absolutely love that. So…if you have an idea and if I happen to have just painted something that matches that idea perfectly, awesome. Talk to me about a purchase. But if you have a specific budget or size or subject matter in mind, talk to me about a commission. I would love to work with you on whatever project you dream up! It’s my job to make sure you never regret that decision.

"How do you Price Your Work?"

I remember when I was a kid, I wanted to be an artist and so, like a lot of would-be artists, I went to art school. They taught us about art history, how to create a dynamic composition, color theory and pretty much everything an artist needs to go out and create a masterpiece. “Pretty much everything” is the key phrase here. The one thing they never mentioned was how to price and sell our artwork. I totally understand that you can’t cover EVERYTHING an artist needs to know in an art school but uh…that little detail seems kind of important.

Over the years, I’ve worked with artists that set their prices based on different criteria. I’ve worked with one artist that set a price of $500,000 on some of his pieces. To him, that’s what it was worth. Then he’d tell people not to be intimidated by the price on the tag, that he’d work with them. He’d follow them out of the studio asking “What do YOU want to pay for it?” I am not making this up. I didn’t see him sell many paintings by the way, which is too bad because I thought he was an excellent artist. He just was never told how to price a painting. His prices were completely subjective.

I don’t price my work that way. I was taught in the beginning of my art career to price by the size; by the square inches of the piece. This way, the only subjective point is at the very beginning — where you start. The first piece I finished for sale in my very first studio in Asheville was at $2.25 per square inch, and I was really excited because my paintings started selling. Then they were selling TOO fast. I couldn’t keep up with it so…I raised the prices to $2.50 per square inch and that slowed sales down just enough. A year later, I had to raise prices to $2.75. I’m now at $3.35 and inching toward $3.50.

The important thing to note is that the ONLY time I arbitrarily set my prices was at the very beginning. But even then, I looked around at what other artists were charging for their work so I had SOME idea of the ballpark to be in. Since then, sales entirely set the price. If sales slow, I keep prices steady, and I’m not above lowering the rate. When, over some months, I see that I’m selling faster than I can paint them, I bump everything up slightly. Understand, I am not bumping prices so I can make more money. I’m bumping prices because a professional artist HAS to have paintings on their wall that are for sale. I pay a premium on studio rent, and if I have empty walls, you might think that’s a good thing because I’m selling my work. But empty walls is ultimately disastrous to an artist’s career. New studio visitors will not consider buying a piece of art that is not there. I HAVE to have a studio full of paintings in order to make a living in this profession. And that means I simply let the rate of sales dictate the price.

Pricing this way is also the easiest way to defend my price to someone who questions why the heck I think this or that piece is worth the number I have on the tag. But really, I DON’T “think” that piece is worth anything in particular. My sales are what set the price on the tag. You can argue with me, but you can’t argue with sales.

So if today, I were to complete a painting that has a price of $500,000, the size would be around 25’ x 42’. Dear reader, if you by chance have a wall that is crying out for a 25’ x 42’ painting (and a 500K budget), please contact me today! Short of that, I will keep painting sizes that I can sell. :)

"What is it like being an artist these days?"

“Le Canal du Midi”

This week, I was talking to some studio visitors and they wanted to know a bit about my background and how I came up with my technique. I’m used to questions like that, but then they asked about what it’s like being an artist today. And I thought that was a really good question. Pre-COVID (remember those days??) that would have been a relatively easy question to answer. Being an artist is fun! I can (and have) done other jobs. This art thing is not a “job”. This is life. Painting for me is “life-giving”and I absolutely love it. Having a studio in Asheville, North Carolina where I can share my artwork with literally thousands of visitors every year is amazing. What an awesome privilege. How many artists around the country would love the chance to create their art within such an awesome community of artists here in Asheville? Pre-COVID, that would basically have been my answer.

Now, two years into the pandemic and feeling fairly hopeful about all that, my answer honestly is more contemplative and sober. These days, with wars and political discord and cultural polarization, I honestly have gone through weeks feeling really superfluous being an artist. I mean honestly, when the economy is tanking and all the headlines are depressing, it’s really easy to feel like what I do is unimportant and not really “necessary” to anyone but me.

But even during the darkest days of COVID and during this economically “uncertain” time, I make sales. I don’t understand, but I am still making sales and breaking my own records. I am confused and absolutely full of thankfulness. My clients are so, so encouraging and especially during the last couple years, I’ve really received that encouragement with a sense of thankfulness and awe. One 2021 client in Oklahoma said “especially now, I need artwork on my walls that makes me feel what your painting makes me feel. They take me somewhere else. Thank you!”

“I am confused and absolutely full of thankfulness…”

This is so encouraging and really humbling. I am feeling now like I need to take every painting, every creative project really seriously. This work I do isn’t just to create something that looks nice on a wall. What I want to do is to affect people. During times of uncertainty, grief, fear, frustration and anger…if I can, I’d like to create something that brings a sense of peace; something that will inspire imagination and curiosity in the viewer. I want to create something that will “take them away” to a peaceful place if only for a few minutes. If ALL of us did that, this world would be an awesome place to call home.

I can’t change the world for everyone. But if everyone changed the world for one person, that would really be something. I try to do that with the only thing I know how to do well…art. What do you enjoy doing? How could you use that to encourage the life of one person this week? You up for that? If so, I’d love to know any details you’d like to share. I think this planet, these people (broken though we are) are really worth investing in. THAT is why I do art now.

My Christmas Present to Joy

“One Plate, Two Forks” (24” x 24”)

My fingers are cramped, my shoulders may well be permanently hunched and my brain is fried from the most tedious painting I’ve done in a long, LONG time. Do you feel sorry for me? Ahhhh, don’t. I was still having fun because I love painting. But really — this is probably the last photorealistic painting I’ll ever paint, so I pulled out all the stops. And this was my Christmas gift to my wife Joy, so…it had to be the best I had in me.

This painting, “One Plate, Two Forks”, is based on some photos I randomly decided to take on an early summer afternoon several years ago, when Joy and I first moved to Asheville, North Carolina. I had not yet started an art studio so technically my “art career” had not even begun. Joy and I were exploring downtown Asheville and we were both getting tired of walking. We mutually decided we needed coffee and maybe a snack, and so…we walked back to the car and drove up to the Grove Park Inn. This place has a “Vintage National Park Lodge” look to it, with huge stone fireplaces in the cavernous lobby (you seriously could fit a medium sized tree in one of the hearths!). Anyway we made our way out to the terrace restaurant overlooking downtown Asheville and the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains. It was really a perfect afternoon.

My understanding was that we were going to get coffee and cherry cheesecake (we’d heard it was amazing). Let me clarify that expectation: My understanding was that we would both get our own cheesecake and our own coffee. But then, after we sat down and looked at the menu, Joy announced that just a coffee was fine with her…(long pause)…”I’ll just have a couple bites of your cheesecake if that’s okay”.

If that’s okay.

I’m no idiot. That statement is code for “I’m going to devour half your piece of cheesecake Steve”. After emotionally recovering and readjusting to the new reality, I agreed.

“One plate, two forks, please.”

It’s recently been pointed out to me that she deserved the whole cheesecake. That is an understatement. She deserves ten thousand times ten thousand cheesecakes and more. Do you know the shame and wonder of being fully known and still loved and believed in? I do. Being fully known is not a goal of mine, mostly because when I get to some parts of my life, I want to surrender to the black hole of shame, but that is just another form of narcissism. I’ve learned (and am still learning) that being known and still loved can either lead to shame or profound humility and thankfulness. I have chosen that second path for myself. I wish I were unbroken and that it made sense that I’m loved by Joy, but being broken and being loved still is profoundly life changing. The only response I can think of is to put down the self-absorbed shame and to honestly give my whole self to the one who knows me and loves me. What an amazing thing.

So, you definitely do give up something (sometimes a WHOLE lot) when you share yourself, your grief, your joys, your experiences, your time, and yes, sometimes even your cheesecake with other people.

And the Next Blog Post is...

I’ve been blogging since 2016, and to me, that’s amazing. I had no idea I had that much to talk about. When I opened up my art studio here in Asheville, I was told in the beginning that blogging was important, so I’ve tried to be consistent but recently I’ve had a had a hard time coming up with an interesting topic. I’m an artist, not a rocket scientist or a biotech engineer, so what I do in my art studio (talking to clients, hanging new paintings in my art gallery, talking with other artists in Asheville’s River Arts District, coming up with new ideas for new creative endeavors), while a lot of fun for me, does not seem like it would be interesting to anyone but myself. Is answering another question about what the “shiny stuff” is on top of my paintings “blog worthy”? I don’t know. But I suspect that just because something is an “everyday” and “normal” task to me as an artist, does not necessarily mean those things are not blog worthy. So…

“…what would YOU like to know?”

So rather than wracking my brain for something that I think might be interesting to a reader, I’m going to just ask the reader what would be interesting to them. I am an artist…an oil painter…I made up a technique I call “Dialuminism”. Dear reader, what else would you like to know? I’ll still come up with topics I would like to explore, but I really do want to regularly be asking gallery and website visitors what THEY would find interesting.

Anyone want to start??

A Look Back to "The Dark Year"

Maybe it’s just because this is therapeutic, but I think I need to give a “Year in Review” as far as the strangest and scariest year I can remember: 2020. When it started, I was oblivious to what was to come. We were celebrating the New Year with our kids in Texas, and I was working on a dozen commissioned paintings. 2019 was my best year to date (sales-wise) and I was looking forward to what 2020 would hold for us.

Wow.

In late February, I left Joy in Texas to help take care of our newest grandchild, and I ran back to Asheville to finish up and deliver several of the painting commissions I was working on. But over the couple weeks I was back at my studio in Asheville, as February was giving way to March, the Coronavirus was ramping up and the governor ordered all businesses closed. I still had to work in the studio and was walking in each day, but it was kind of terrifying. The streets were empty and silent. It was like a scene out of “The Walking Dead”. When I got to my studio, I opened the door and wept. I thought this might be the end of my career.

After a couple weeks by myself in an empty, quiet city, I drove back to Texas with a new supply of panels for the next round of commissions. Texas (like everywhere in the world) was still scary, but at least I was not alone there. Our home there is right next door to my daughter and her family and two houses away from my son and his family, so I was painting and playing with grandchildren for the next few months as we waited.

In the mean time, rather than seeing my business shrivel, I was amazed: it was growing. People were ordering commissions from me like they’ve never done before. In 2019 (my best year so far), commissions were about 50% of my total sales), but in 2020, they shot up to about 80%. This amazed me. I figured that when people are worried about the economy completely crashing, who is going to buy artwork? But a client corrected me: “No Steve,” she said. “Especially this year we need artwork. We need to add beauty to our lives especially now.” I’d never actually thought of it that way.

My studio in Asheville really was empty until summer, but then summer was pretty busy. Foot traffic in September seemed “almost normal”. By that point, everyone coming into my studio (from all over the country) seemed fine with the idea of wearing face masks and socially distancing.

By the time the year ended, my sales were right in line with where they’ve been the last several years. 2019 was still the best year so far, but 2020 was not the worst and for that, I’m profoundly grateful.

Because of 2020, I learned that I love to paint at home. I spent the year painting under a couple big maple and hickory trees in my front yard and I found that to be really refreshing. Honestly, I’ve had worse work environments! I’ve also enjoyed the time with my wife and my family. As far as 2021 goes, we’ll see. But the time working from home, without the studio crowds, has given me time to think outside the box and dream and ask myself where I want to be headed and what I want to be doing. I don’t usually have time to ask big questions like that, but in 2020, we all had a lot of down time to think, right?

I’m looking forward to vaccines and truly praying for a return to normalcy in the world; a return to coming close to people again, of shaking hands, of hugging. In the mean time, I will keep dreaming and planning and painting.

The Best Painting Delivery Ever...

Hitting the “reset” button

A couple months ago, I was commissioned to paint a rather large painting. Because I normally pay for shipping charges for my clients (a tangible way to offer my thanks for their business), I knew this piece would be pretty expensive to send to it’s new home in Denver, CO. When I actually checked the FedEx website for pricing, I was pretty shocked at the several hundred dollars price tag for shipping, and so…I looked at Joy and asked if she was up for a road trip.

I don’t know about everyone else, but this year especially, with all the stress of a business that was closed down for three months, trying to stay clear of Covid-19, and constantly dealing with the chaos of the upcoming election…e really needed a rest. Creativity demands to be fed with peace and adventure. You cannot expend what you don’t have inside your heart and mind. Well, that was my way of justifying taking a road trip to Colorado (and adding a few extra days onto said road trip, as long as we were already there!). So we packed up the painting securely and strapped it to the top of our car, then headed three days west.

After helping my clients install the piece, Joy and I headed north a couple hours to Laramie, Wyoming, and we spent nearly a week exploring the mountains, canyons and lakes in the area. Our daily routine was to hike a few hours and then scout out a cool place to plant our camping chairs, have a picnic and spend several hours just sitting and reading. Enjoying the absolute quiet. Listening to the autumn breeze as it rattled the leaves of the golden aspen trees all around us.

It was amazing.

We talked about it afterwards and we both could actually feel ourselves soaking it it. My gosh. I felt like a dry sponge immersed in sweet, clear water.

So whether or not the need for peace and adventure was actually a “need” or a “want”, I don’t really care. I’m content to let someone else figure that one out. It felt amazing. And by the time we were headed back home to North Carolina, I could hardly wait to start painting again. I’ve never felt that way about any other job I’ve ever head, so I think the time in Colorado and Wyoming was definitely worth it.

How a Dinky Little Virus Changed my Art Business

Each day I go to my studio now, inevitably someone will profusely thank me for being open, and then asks how I’m doing as an artist in this crazy pandemic.

Well, things have changed. Last year was an amazing year as far as art sales go. Incredible. And then…we hit March of this year and everything completely changed. Those last few days before we HAD to lock up the studio in Asheville was just spooky. Though mid-March usually brings tourists back into town, no one at all was on the streets. It was like a scene from The Walking Dead. But if you’re reading this, you already know that because it was the same all over the country. Mid-March began a period of time that was really scary for so many reasons. Questions like “will I get this disease?”, and “will I make it financially through this thing?” were on everyone’s mind (including this artist).

COMMISSIONS

During those first weeks, I was really thankful I still had painting commissions I was working on from the end of 2019. But then in early April, a few more commissions came in. I was amazed. “Now??” I asked myself. “Who would buy art NOW?” But one client at that time explained “the world is so scary and horrible right now. I need something that will give me joy and peace and that’s why I have to commission a piece of artwork from you.” I was honored and really thankful for that kind of response to this situation. Even now, there has not (so far) been a day of 2020 when I was not working on a commission. In fact, I’m just finishing up the largest commission I’ve ever received. I honestly don’t understand this at all, but I’m not complaining.

NEWSLETTERS

Because of what that client said, I realized I maybe had something I could do to help people during the lockdown (at least a little). I began to send out a newsletter weekly to all my client list (nearly 2000 people). I usually send it out to show new work and talk about upcoming events at the studio (if you’re interested in being on the mailing list, just email me at stclaireart@gmail.com). But this time, I sent out a single photo once a week of one of my paintings and the story behind that painting. And immediately, I got really positive responses. I just wanted to give people at least a few minute escape from reality, and right then, that seemed like something real I could be giving.

MINI MASTERPIECES

During that time, I also began working on tiny (8” x 10”) versions of some of my favorite pieces I’ve done over the last several years and then offering them for sales on Facebook and Instagram. The sales of my “mini’s” really helped support us well through spring, and I have a whole bunch ready for holiday sales. Again, these sales surprised me. I have NEVER sold directly on-line. Because my paintings are reflective and have depth to them (and you can’t capture that in a photo), I have never bothered trying to sell my work on-line. But these were an exception and I am really grateful for the Artist Support Pledge that started this whole idea of artists offering tiny paintings in 2020. That really helped a lot of artists make it through the scariest time of the lock downs.

STUDIO SPACE

One unexpected thing about the studio having to be closed down for a couple months was that I found I really liked working from home. I have a yard surrounded by huge maple, oak and hickory trees. To be able to just wear grubby clothes and set up my work station right there in my front yard, crank up my music or podcast and create my artwork there was uh…really nice. So Joy and I decided to move most of our behind the scenes production work home, which cleared out the back part of my studio. We cleaned and painted the walls and floor, opened up the back doorway to about 12’ and I found another artist to join me in the space. His name is Onicas Gaddis and he has been a joy to have around. He is also a painter but works in acrylic and does large expressionistic-style pieces. Really cool stuff (you should check his website out at onicasart.com). Having another artist there not only helps us out on rent, it means we can be open seven days a week, but Joy and I still get our two days / week off. Thank you Onicas! So when you next visit, you may well be greeted by a smiling face (smiling behind the mask) of my new studio mate. Make sure you say hi!

TO SUM IT UP

I am really lucky, blessed, fortunate (however you want to look at it). And I cannot help but be hopeful about the future and thankful I’m making it through this period of time (so far, so good anyway). So my business model has changed, and this years sales sure aren’t what they were last year, but thank God (and I do multiple times every day) and thanks to all my amazing clients, I’m making it and actually enjoying parts of this whole experience. Don’t get me wrong…I’m longing for 2021 and I’m longing to be able to travel again! I’m longing to ditch my mask and start hugging people again. But right now, in this weird and sometimes scary lull, I feel quiet inside. I am so thankful.

That’s enough. I have a commission I need to get back to now…

Story Behind the Painting: "Sundown over the Blue Ridge"

Last summer, my wife Joy and I hiked to the top of Max Patch, a barren mountaintop right at the crest of the Appalachian mountains. It’s about an hours drive from our house in Asheville but we LOVE going here with a picnic dinner to watch the sunset. You can see for nearly a hundred miles from the summit of Max Patch. It’s amazing. 

So last summer, we spread the picnic blanket, lit the candle (great way to class up a mountaintop date), pulled out the rotisserie chicken, potato salad, three bean salad and a bottle of wine. And Pims (Per Joy, you have to have Pims for desert when on one of these mountaintop dates).  

It was a perfect evening. It was a hot, sweaty day down in Asheville, but up here, Joy had a sweater on. Picture a nearly cloudless afternoon, watching the sun set over the horizon. With every moment, the sunlight grew more and more golden, then orange and then just hovered on the horizon and then…show’s over. We sat there and chatted, enjoying the cool breeze until it was starting to get dark. 

Picture a nearly cloudless afternoon,

watching the sun set over the horizon…

A couple weeks later, I was at the studio painting and a guest came in asking for a commission. They’d found a photo from (wait for it….) Max Patch and wanted me to paint it for them, which I very happily did. This was one I wish I could have kept, because it wasn’t just a nice painting (in my opinion), but it recalled a memory. I’m always telling people interested in a commission to look through their photos from their favorite vacations. I can paint them! And that memory infused that artwork with power. Crazy huh? If my artwork can have the power to call someone in this (at present) crazy world back to a place of joy and peace, that’s almost spiritual. I love that! 

Anyway, for me personally, that’s the power this particular painting has for me.

Q&A: SESSION ONE

If you've read my blog at all, you know that many of the posts address some (sometimes weird) question I'm asked at my studio. Since these days, my studio is closed to the public, I put the word out that I need your input. 

I'm opening the door to any and all questions. This may be good fodder for many blog posts! So think about it...if there's anything you want to know about me, my art, my art background, living in Asheville, ANYTHING.

Questions and Answers:

Question 1: Do you have a favorite painting that you could never part with?

Ooooo. Good question, but easy to answer. No, sort of. The whole reason I paint is to sell what I create and thereby support myself that way. I.e. I don’t have a “real” job. This IS my real job, so I need to pay close attention to which paintings and themes are getting the most interest in my studio and let that interest guide me as I dream up new ideas and themes.

That said, there are two paintings I’ve done that I will be heartbroken when they sell. One is my largest piece so far (a 6’ x 8’ waterfall that took 13 months to complete) and the other is a bridge at Giverny (Claude Monet’s home and garden). I’d kind of rather neither of them sold, but…Joy will hit me if I don’t have a price tag on them so…they’re for sale as “premium” pieces (meaning I’ll never discount them).

“Cullasaja Falls” (72” x 96”)

“Le rêve d'été de Giverny” (36” x 48”)

Question 2: Do you make your own canvases? Like the one in the picture, you would not normally find that on the shelf at Hobby Lobby.

I have a friend of mine make the panels for me. Because the weight of the materials I use to create my artwork (modeling compound and resin) will bow the canvas in the center, the canvas has to be backed with a then sheet of plywood. So, every panel is custom created, which means the size and proportions are not limited by what is “in stock” at the art store. I can get whatever size I order. That’s awesome.

Question 3: Have either you or Joy ever tossed away a half - finished work, completely disgusted and convinced that it is not going to turn out right, and then wished that you'd kept at it and finished it?

Not exactly. There are some pieces both Joy and I have gotten to about half-completed and realized it was not going to be improved with any amount of artistic cajoling, so we then rip the canvas off the panel, re-stretch the canvas and begin all over again. I’ve never, ever been sorry I’ve done that, because the second time I approach that theme (the re-do) is always so much better. I’ve even completely finished a piece, hung it on the wall for a few days and realize I hate looking at it. It doesn’t happen often, but I rip the painting off the backer panel and start over in that case as well. I want absolutely everything hanging on my studio walls to represent the very best I can create. If I know that’s not the case, I’ll start all over again.

That’s all for this entry…more questions and answers to come. If you have a question for me — personal, creative, technique, anything…just ask. I’ll answer every question I get. :)