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Art isn’t art until it’s sold. Until then it’s an obsession and a storage problem. (Anonymous)

I’m not sure I agree that art isn’t art until it’s sold, but this quote made me laugh anyway.

Selling art is on my mind this week. I’ve been getting ready for the art show I’m participating in on Saturday. I’ll be selling woodcut prints (details about the show at the end of this post). I’m also busy working to get my Etsy store set up.

Selling art is hard for artists. We want our work to be out in the world to be enjoyed and appreciated by others. At the same time, we tend to feel shy and nervous about selling. Asking people to pay money for our work brings up a host of uncomfortable feelings. We worry that it’s somehow inappropriate to want money in exchange for our work.

I’ve been working on my own attitude about this…telling myself that part of the value of the work is the value I place on it. Certainly part of this value is emotional. How I feel about the work is important. But a price tag gives it value too.

Someone once pointed out to me that a diamond is just a mineral we dig out of the ground. The only reason it’s so valuable and expensive is because people decided a diamond is beautiful and important. Without the value that people decided on, it would be worthless. So by putting a price tag on my work I’m telling the world that my art has value.

If you are in Seattle this weekend I’ll be at this event selling my art. Come and see. Who knows….maybe you’ll decide to buy something!

WINTERFEST! Holiday Art and Craft Show
17077 Meridian Ave, Shoreline WA
(in the Meridian Park School)
Saturday, December 1, 10am-4pm