Mucha Peony Scarf 1

     Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with a title with more creative than that.  It seems as though all of my creative juices have been squeezed from me today, and all that is left is this pulp.
    

   
      This scarf took me a couple of days to just resist.  There was so much line work that I had to go back and refill both of my bottles.

   The first picture was one full day worth of work because I had to finish the lines and then get the first of the blossoms in.  Truthfully, it didn't take as long as I thought it would.

     These last two took me a day to complete.  I think the entire scarf took me three full days of work, from resist to finished product.

     I hope I have chosen the colours correctly.  Seeing as I wanted to make all of them a part of a series, I think my decision has been a sound one.  For some strange reason, I feel that I have everything all planned out until I come to the finishing touches.  Perhaps, I'm feeling slightly frustrated with reality at the moment.  Naturally, I paint so that I one day hope to sell my creations.  Unfortunately, others have informed me that a less-than-reasonable price for my work might be extravigant.  I say this with the full realization that since the invention of the printing press, artists like myself have been rendered, pretty much, obsolete.  We are competing with a market that we cannot stand up in.  Trying to explain to people why you deserve what you price your art for feels completely absurd to me.  If you want to take minimum wadge, which in Ontario is $10.25, and apply it to how many hours it takes me to complete a scarf, such as the one that I have finished today, that is, just to paint it; you would be paying somewhere in the area of $246.  That is not including the price of materials.  If anyone would ask me to justify my price I would love to respond with this: 

  "Imagine that your employer dragged you into their office tomorrow and said that you were no longer worth whatever your hourly salary was.  Instead, your time was now worth half of what it was before.  Would that be acceptable to you?". 

     Naturally, it would not.  No one would find that kind of treatment acceptable; so, why should I?.  Why should artists be shortchanged for their time, skill, and effort?.  Is it because there are so many of us?.  Has the printing press really put us out of a job?.  I don't know.  I'm sure I will be back in love with silk painting when I start again this weekend.  I'm just feeling slightly exasperated because my feet hurt and my back aches after bending and reaching over a table for hours.  I love what I do, and I'll be damned if anyone will discourage me.