Ya know, I do most of my work by commission. I have been a sign artist for almost 30 years and am used to doing life that way. I wanted to make money and make an artisitic statement and not...make art and hope that someone would buy it.  Living in a small town, I got asked to do a lot of things that were artistic. It evovled into color consultation, interior design, and murals.  My passion is in art. But I have a hard time waiting for someone to buy it. Too many years of people coming to me. About 4 years ago, I took off 3 months and painted my "Movable Murals" for a show that I got accepted to. I utilized all my talents with construction, paint, gold leaf, and faux painting. I painted what I wanted and was totally "in the zone" doing it. I schleped those screens all the way across country, in a naive state of mind, to a show that was a first time promoter and it was a TOTAL BUST! Another long story, I won't go into.  Anyway...what I was getting to...in a round about way...I didn't sell a thing. I lost thousands of dollars in the whole process and am still apying it off. I have shown the screens locally, but there's no money here for what I want for them. And they are so contemporary, there is just a certain kind of home they belong in. I know all this. But have no time to deal with the marketing of trying to find the right gallery or venue for them. I went into a furniture mart show in San Francisco....but had too high a price point for them.  Into a Contmproary Craft Show in San Francisco, but the economy was just into taking a plunge in the big city.  So I went back to doing what I know, murals and signs and I sit on my beautiful screens and participating in an Open Studio Tour once a year. People come in a rave about them, but have no place or no money.

 OK, at least I'm not starving. I am doing art, big art,... murals. And get paid pretty good, too.  So the question is.... Why not an ART SALE? I don't have any previous clients that would be ticked off because they paid a higher price.  How 'bought a huge crazy wild sale  with some gimmic. Isn't it better to sell than to sit on our morals and wait till we have no ego left and no money either? Why can't we have sales like anyone else? Thinking outside the box in the presentation of the sale and make it an art event that says..."yes, the economy STINKS"...we want to help you still have beautiful art, we want to SELL our art.  Shoot, I'm doin' it. I'm tired of listening to people cry economy. I want to sell these puppies so I can have some money to make more puppies.

 Come on people. Let's stop thinking like artists and think like business people!

It's a numbers game like anything else that is sold. Play the numbers, advertise with someone else to display an event. Get those creative juices going and don't look back. Don't listen to anyone else....they aren't in your shoes. If you think of it and it sounds good....go for it. Stop being so timid or self absorbed into your worrying state of mind. It's selling that let's us continue to paint. I love the doggy daycare idea. Let's come up with some more ideas. Just throw them out. I heard of a soup event art show in a woman's home. What a concept.

 OK. I'm done. Call me crazy, if you'd like. I'm gonna have an ART SALE.

Sounds like you're ready.

 A couple of thoughts. Clearly these works want to fly to a new home.  

I was in a gallery recently and they had some tags that read:

Price: _____  OR ___ over 10 months.  So a thousand dollar piece became 100 per month, etc.  They even had a few that were 390 or 39 over 10 months.

I started listing my paintings that way. What I found is that it helped a lot. People imagined owning the work without the strain of spending so much. But then they'd pay in one check anyway.

I also make sure to have a 'today only' special price (15% off) I saw artists doing this at a high end art and craft show. It seemed to add some urgency.

If you don't have to worry about undercutting any galleries, then find out what the market will bear. Is the price really the objection? Get deeper into those conversations.

Earlier this year I had the problem of underpricing. People would come and look at my work, all excited. Then they'd look at the prices and - I felt - not take the work seriously anymore.

I doubled my prices. Now they sell.  But before I was selling an original 18 x 24 on canvas for about $425. I couldn't afford all that labor and a nice frame and sales overhead for that.  But everyone warned me not to go too high - so there I was at $1 per square inch. Now the same piece is close to $900. People can buy a gliclee if they like the image but can't afford the painting.

It's much better now. Even people buying prints value the work more.

My advice, play with it. You deserve for it to work out.