How I price my work
Hey guys! Thank you for taking the time to read about this little part of being a painter. I believe in transparency so this is why I am taking the time to put this down in writing for inquiring minds. I believe we can achieve a lot in this world without money but lets be real, we need it to do the things we really would like to do and I like to think there comes a point where dreams can be slowed down [and many have] for this reason because what happens is when there's no money there is no honey.  

Let's start with this story I experienced a few years back. Picture it, the Excelsior neighborhood setting up one of my first street fairs. I looked over to my neighbors in the booth next door and asked them what they thought of my prices. I could tell they had been doing this a little longer than me and I could see their prices were much higher than mine. I could also see that they were selling originals and not prints and they were actually selling them that day! Of course they were because they were out of this world amazing paintings!! I was in awe and I was getting excited to watch it all happening in front of me.  They immediately said "too low!!" about my prices. I felt a little shame, also a little excitement like I felt seen and appreciated by these two fellow artists for my little corner of the street fair. It was a light bulb moment for me and I have to be honest, this used to be a very hard part for me in deciding how to price my work. We chatted it up and I remember one of them saying "the struggle is real! how do we put a price on our soul? haha!" No truer words could have been spoken my brother.

I got to thinking I'm not sure people out there truly realize that a part of my spirit dies each time I sell a painting because I have to say goodbye to it and let it go. Each time I paint something it becomes my new favorite painting and at the same time, I still have a lot of love for the previous ones that I painted. When I say goodbye - there is a mix of emotions and part of my spirit is filled with gratitude and a deep sense of pride that shouts "I did it! OMG."

So, here we are today and it's taken me a long time to not care what people think about how I do things here. I look up the net worth of some of these big companies I have supported my entire life, one recently I came across had a net worth of 1.7 Billion dollars. In my mind, what's a million to them? Shoot, what's 100 dollars to them? Some people would be over the moon to have $100 bucks right now just so they can give their kids the basic essential needs to thrive; food, shelter, hygiene, mental and physical health needs and above all; their attention and presence in their children's lives. Not having those things can really mess a person up pretty bad and can happen in so many ways. My point is - It's a drop in the gosh darn bucket for them and many people at this point. I've paid the price and they don't care about raising their prices on the shelves so why the bloody hell should I?! I recently paid $14 for a tube of paint when last year it was half the price. So if I'm working at a place that pays [here in CA] minimum wage at $16.50 per hour, before taxes which is roughly 20% of a pay check these days - you're telling me that tube of paint is worth 1 an entire hour of my time? Do you know how small a tube of paint can be? That particular tube literally 2 US fluid OUNCES! Literal drops in my muthafreakin bucket. No muthafreaken thanks babes. I'll find another way. My time is worth a lot more per hour and I know yours is too - my gifts are worth because they come straight from the source and what's going on is just a complete joke to me. I'm not the joke, my dreams and career choices aren't the joke is what I have to say to the energy I felt standing in front of that $14.00 2 oz. tube of paint that day. I was all, I guess I have to go without that color today, shucks!! I guess I could mix these other colors to try and get the look but its not exactly what I had in mind. This was my life and I'm done with those horrible feelings. Life should be full of color and I'm here to do just that! 

At the same time, I have a deep sense of compassion for people who aren't there yet financially to purchase one of my paintings and I do believe art is not just for the elite or those that are financially stable at the moment - art is for everyone. To be shared and created in every capacity - ART IS FOR EVERYONE!

So, please reach out to me through the contact form if my prices are out of reach for you at this time in your life and it'll be between the two of us - I am more than happy to negotiate and work out a deal with what you can do for an exchange. When I price my work, I intuitively feel a number through signs and synchronicities and that's how I feel the number for the price I land on.

I take into consideration my time, the sometimes painful experiences I went through for it to exist and be birthed into this 3D world, the top of the line supplies that I use, and what I would like to do with the money in exchange to live and keep on creating. I am also moving towards selling originals only so what you are receiving is becoming a bit more rare. Although I believe in magic and all things are possible, it does take me time to get er done too. I am getting faster at painting but its a process with speed for sure. I do have some prints from previous art shows that I am selling and giving to friends and family but going forward prints will be limited and I'm thinking dropping print releases once or twice a year going forward, but that can change! Who knows man, one thing at a time here. Thank you for having the willingness to understand my pricing and for supporting my goals. 

How I decide what commissions to accept
This is another part of the pie that can be complicated (if we let it be) but it can also be easy if we let it be too. I get asked to paint some pretty outlandish things that sometimes I really don't want to do. I fought long and hard for my artistic freedom and I am in no mood to give it up for anyone or anything at this time, most likely never will, I will find ways to keep it always. I was once asked by a close friend to paint a picture for a guy she was crushing on. The reasons she gave me behind her idea felt manipulative and I'm not a fan of tricking people into doing things for my own personal gain. The story she gave me felt like it was meant to twist this guy's brain into doing something he already said he didn't want to do. I explained to her how it felt mis-aligned with me and I did not want to do it. Needless to say, I risked ending that friendship because she was not happy about my response. I let it go and realized the friendship too was not aligned at that time in our lives. So, here I am thinking how am I going to handle this in the future because I am conflicted here. I love doing commissions and nothing brings me greater joy in my life than seeing someone smile after receiving one of my paintings or even if they are just looking at it! It brings me joy beyond belief and it's like a ping pong game of joy bouncing back and forth but yeah, this can go south darn pretty quick sometimes if the energy behind the request has ill intent. So please, spare me the rejection letter and don't come at me if you have ulterior motives, I know you don't but I have to put this out there as a disclaimer. I only accept golden heart intents here and I trust my vibes on it to know what's up.