[New-Poetry] CD Wright's body count

[Suzanne Burns]

On Wed, Jul 2, 2008 at 6:32 PM, <jforjames at aol.com> wrote:

> That's not a lot unless you sell a lot. Galleries close all the time for
> want of sales. A few artists make it big...but most, like most poets, make
> ends meeting teaching, doing workshops, etc. Galleries, good ones, ones that
> can really sell their stock, take 40% or more. With each sale the artist is
> often recovering cost of materials, equipment (costly in photograhy),
> mounting & framing, sudio rental, etc. And time planning, developing and
> executing the work. I
>  hope Luster is one of the lucky ones. Her work strikes me as strong (and
> her 'sentiments' are in the right place).
> Finnegan


I really love these photographs and feel the same way.

And thank you Jim for pointing out how this really works for the artist--
After you subtract materials and everything else you have listed, factor in
the cut taken by the gallery and then divide what is left over by the TIME
the artist spent developing the idea abd work through to find the right
image and then actually finish the work....

It's nothing. NOTH-ING.

The artist also takes all the risk.  They have to front all the materials
and time AND take the risk that nobody will buy the work in the end.  Bottom
line: for most fine artists it really is not at all about the money.

I have this conversation often with a members of my extended family who are
shocked-- SHOCKED!-- at how much money I paid for a painting once.  Some
people really do not get how much work and time goes into something like
this.  Yeah, I bought a painting instead of a sofa.  Big whup. That to me
sounds like smart and sensible thing to do.  Who needs a sofa?

Suzanne Burns
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