Heartsong Studio

Now that we’re approaching the season for art shows, you may be facing again the tough job of pricing your work. There’s
some relief for your heart in this article by Celeste Varley.

“Does pricing your work raise goosebumps ?”

Do you have doubts of self-worth in setting your prices ?  Many beginners look at prices asked by other artists, and judge themselves to be better or not, and set their prices accordingly.

I’ve heard artists say that they need to value themselves more. But can you really create more value for yourself ? Many hold the belief that self-worth and the prices they ask for their work are related. One might seem to depend on the other. But is this true ?

From a spiritual point of view, price and value are different. Pricing for any product or service is not a quid pro quo trade.
Money isn’t a symbol of energy or value.

How did your artwork get created ?  Was it out of the experience, information, and wisdom given to you and passed on to clients who then share it with others ?

The spiritual essence of it is that you are being the face of the One when you pass on your work. So how can you put a price on what was given to you ? The client becomes the face of the One for you too. When the Divine gives you something, who are you to refuse ?

Here’s a radical statement:
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Price has nothing to do with self-worth. The question is: Can you open to what’s being given to you ?

The price you charge as an artist needs to allow you to have enough money to become more educated, experienced, and developed so you can offer more artwork. Real generosity asks if you can be willing to receive, and then sometimes, to be able to give freely to one who has nothing.

Sometimes raising prices doesn’t affect at all the quantity sold.  I know of an artist in California, years ago, who when his paintings in galleries didn’t sell for awhile, would raise his prices by adding a zero at the end ! Then they were always snapped
up. Of course, he had a quality in his work which was very desirable.

Asking too low a price means you are doing all the giving. This is equal to you playing God. Have you ever met someone who gave you so much free that you didn’t want to ask for their help any longer ? To do all the giving is to play hero. Every hero needs a victim.

Giving your art away, or having a too low price, removes you from the flow of relationship. It effectively cuts off the recipient’s opportunity to have integrity, or any input in the transaction.

Of course this doesn’t mean you can ask ridiculously high prices either. Well, actually, of course, you can. But you won’t last long, if your customers aren’t satisfied.

What about reducing prices for a special sale ? If you were the customer, would you feel attracted to pieces slashed to sell that
no one, including the artist, wanted any longer ? Does art go stale like day old bread ?

Assuming you have a quality product to offer, and that your real desire is to make connection with folks who really want what you have to offer, how do you set prices for what you want to give the people who want to receive it ?

Try this — Ask in your heart.

What would feel like a resonant price to receive if you passed this work of art to a new owner ? Close your eyes, and actually picture the transaction. If you’d feel awfully bereft, then that price is too low. No matter what.

If you can only find a price that feels too obscenely high to ask, it could be that it’s too high, though not necessarily. It could
also mean you aren’t ready to sell the work yet.

Somewhere in between a too-low and a too-high price is your resonant price. Usually your resonant price is slightly higher than your comfortable price, to stretch you a bit, to grow even more as
an artist.

After awhile, when you feel a little resentment creeping in, it could be time to raise your prices. If you set it too low at the
start, then the energy “vibes” you give out will be of the apologetic sort, and won’t give your clients a feeling of trust.

Think this is madness ? Think this doesn’t work ? I’ve tried it and I know of others who use this all the time. When you arrive at your resonant price, there will be an immediate response from your heart and from your clients too. Your resonant price is one in which your heart will rest.

I’ve experienced clients giving me extra for a piece of art or a class, like a tip. They sensed my prices were too low, and when I
added their “tip” to the price, it felt like a more authentic price to receive.

Art can have formal ways of being priced. Often paintings are priced by the square inch. I had subscribed to this method for
years, and am just now loosening up from such a rigid approach.

Some pieces are just so special in an immeasurable way, that out of respect for the gift, you’ll want to make a heart-centred price, if you’re ready to sell it at all.

If goosebumps appear whenever you face the task of pricing your work, then embrace this feeling. It’s telling you something isn’t
sitting right with you. Go inside and listen for your heart’s wisdom.

If you’re really wanting to let it go, and you’ve found your resonant price, then the work will sell itself to the right new owner.

Sending your art out into the world is a necessary part of the creative process. Selling your work gives what you received back to the universe, and completes the cycle.

Some money to buy more supplies would be welcome too, I’ll bet.