The Cost of Learning (and Teaching) Mosaic

 While brainstorming a new workshop idea on social media, I received a request to please price it affordably. There was a comment that mosaic instruction is often cost prohibitive, especially for people in depressed economies.

I am very sensitive to that concern. I've been there. When I started out, I was using Yahoo groups to glean any information about best techniques and products for mosaic. My fellow budding mosaicists and I used the forums to share our experiences, successes and failures, while we stumbled along our learning curves in a world without YouTube or the Society of American Mosaic Artists. 

Back then, in order to get good, professional instruction in the medium, you had to fly to Italy and work with the masters in Ravenna and Spilimbergo. Eventually, some of those students became accomplished in the field and began offering classes internationally, but we had to travel to them and a weekend workshop generally cost $300 or more. Total costs generally ran about $1000 for any good mosaic workshop, and it was a major hardship for me. At the time, I was the mother of a young child, supported by a teacher, earning some sporadic income from my artwork and occasional part-time jobs that didn't cover the cost of childcare. 

This is at a Facilitating Community Mosaic workshop in Oakland, CA in 2011

In 2009, the SAMA (Society of American Mosaic Artists) conference took place near enough to my in-laws that we decided to make a family trip of it. I was so impacted by this experience, I swore to keep investing in my growth as a mosaic artist, and while I haven't managed to attend every year, I used credit cards to pay for my expenses, wrote it off at tax time, and the investment paid off. Eventually, I was skilled enough to actually carve out a career as a mosaic artist; which still amazes me every day. Now, I'm a SAMA instructor and I've been able to pay for most of my conference expenses by teaching.

These days, you can find some great videos online for free or cheap. A commenter pointed out that Domestika is hosting a workshop by one of my favorite mosaic artists, the fabulous Gary Drostle, out of the U.K. The course costs something like $12 U.S. and is a wealth of information. Domestika is a big company, and I'm not super familiar with how they operate, but they do have a huge global reach. They have found a price point that works, apparently, and it must have been worthwhile for Gary to contract with them and put in the time, even though he receives only a small royalty for each enrollment. But he'll have students all over the world, so it will add up. 

I work with Mosaic Arts Online and I have three courses available on the platform. MAO was created by Tami Macala, the owner of Santa Barbara Mosaic School. Tami left her work in television behind to focus on her mosaic business. She is a practicing mosaic artist who hosts in-person workshops, and she had the brilliant idea to create stream-able courses with visiting artists as well. She brought her television experience to the enterprise, and I was immediately impressed with her attention to details like camera angles, lighting, visual clarity, being concise, breaking down the course into clear segments with transitions that make sense, and then editing it all together for a seamless experience for the student. These days, MAO has become a vital resource, with the best instructors teaching specific styles and techniques, and Tami's spouse, Jerry, now edits everything together.

I can attest that each course takes weeks, if not months, of preparation from the instructor, along with coordination by Tami. We fly to Santa Barbara at our expense, and she arranges everything for us - even providing a car. We spend the better part of a week filming the process on multiple demos created ahead of time, and generally not in chronological order because actual mosaic work takes so much time. I fly down with projects at different stages so that I can show all of the steps in a few days. Jerry rearranges everything so that it appears to be completed like magic, and still make sense for the student following along.

Here I am in the MAO studio, filming a garden mosaic workshop. That monitor on the work table is brand new, and allows me to see what the student will see, so I can correct my hand position and keep the project in the center of the screen, etc.

The business is now incorporated, has an attorney for contractual help, has a social media coordinator and accountant, etc. They have to pay for hosting fees and equipment and a whole array of overhead costs. But remember, they are still a tiny operation; just a couple with some extra help. 

So, the prices we charge are compensatory with the effort and overhead. Each time I visit, there's a new piece of equipment that is a giant improvement, like a wireless mic, a tablet with a teleprompter, and a video camera with remote zoom instead of a digital camera on a tripod mounted to the ceiling. This is all a longwinded way to say that Tami has grown this business from scratch, and the courses are priced to help the business succeed. None of us are getting rich. But the platform has allowed me, and the other artists, to earn some passive income once our courses are live, and to reach students who can't afford to fly to our location and take a more expensive in-person workshop.

In the meantime, I have ventured into recording my own stream-able workshops and I currently have one listed on my website for $50. I priced it lower partly to make it affordable, and also because I am keenly aware that it is makeshift, using a camera on a mount in my messy studio and with very little editing (because I don't have that software or skill set) and no outline or script. You don't get to download pdfs and slideshows, and I often forget to say something important until too late. I'll be working on putting together another class soon, and I'm sure it will be better, but it's still going to be just me and my cell phone in my actual workspace; low tech, casual, and straightforward. I've gotten positive feedback on the first one, so I feel emboldened to try it again. 

I do these, not because I love filming myself, or to get attention - I hate both passionately. I'm doing it  because I like teaching, and because the extra income really helps keep my family solid between commissions. With the courses I'm creating from home, I'm happy to help out someone in another country for whom the price represents 3 months income, so if that's you, send me an email. 

And I do recommend checking out all of the amazing online resources that are now available to aspiring mosaic artists. Join facebook groups and find YouTube channels like https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCavAkUITnile1MQdv0cX5VA and https://www.youtube.com/c/LouAnnWeeks and https://www.youtube.com/c/TreasuryRoad. But if you really want to advance with your work, taking professional level workshops with practicing artists is invaluable. And they deserve to be paid for their time and for sharing their talent, which they have spent years (or decades) cultivating.

And have fun!

My courses on Mosaic Arts Online:

https://mosaicartsonline.com/p/garden-mosaic-for-any-climate-with-jennifer-kuhns

https://mosaicartsonline.com/p/professional-mosaic-installations-with-jennifer-kuhns

https://mosaicartsonline.com/p/precision-cutting-stained-glass-for-mosaic-with-jennifer-kuhns

https://mosaicartsonline.com/p/bundle-courses-garden-mosaic-and-precision-cutting-stained-glass-with-jennifer-kuhns

https://mosaicartsonline.com/p/bundle-courses-precision-cutting-in-stained-glass-and-professional-installations-with-jennifer-kuhns

Pricing your Mosaic Artwork

 Ok, I have to start right off letting you know that this post will not reveal a formula for pricing your work! The fact is, there is no formula. Even though I've been creating commissioned mosaic for about 2 decades, I still don't have a solid equation for mosaic projects.

When I was just getting started, I remember being very confused about how to price my work. I just made up numbers by guessing how long it would take me and how much materials would cost, and I was working for peanuts. Honestly, that is how you start. If you are like me, you are getting started with very basic skills and each project poses new and unanticipated challenges. You are making mistakes and learning as you go. Price accordingly and be honest with yourself. Do as many projects as possible in your own home or as favors for friends in order to learn and build your portfolio before accepting commissions. I can't stress enough how important this is! If you take on a corporate or public art project before you understand the properties of adhesives and how they combine with different substrates, you are setting yourself up for a disaster. 

The above image is a glass-on-glass mosaic I made for a restaurant in Olympia, WA back in about 2008 as a privacy screen between the kitchen and dining area. The design is sweet, but I did not yet understand the concept of andamento and the lines are rudimentary. I made two of these, about 36" wide, for about $900 in food credit. Twelve years later, the work would be much more sophisticated and I would charge $3000 for the labor alone now. Unless the client asked me to reproduce this design (or provided a design) there would be a design fee. If I were expected to install the panels, that would be additional. Otherwise, there would be a delivery fee.

In the years between then and now, my per-square-foot fee has slowly increased in keeping with my skill level, experience and reputation. By now, my work is installed nationwide, my CV is extensive, I know what I'm doing, and I now carry business insurance, have a contractor's license, and I'm incorporated. These are considerations for your pricing structure.

My first step toward making this work into my business was to enroll in a 3-month-long business course offered by a great local organization that helps people start micro-businesses. By the time I completed the program, I had learned about marketing, taxes, liability, etc, and had a business plan approved by a financial advisor. A couple of years later, I took a "Business of Craft" weekend workshop that was more specific to creative commerce, and it gave me more tools to apply to my own business. In 2012, I took Laurel True's "Business of Mosaic" class, which was intense! I highly recommend her workshop, if you can take it. But honestly, even with all of this information, I still had to figure out my own pricing because my particular situation is unique to me. The work I make is different from other mosaic artists. My needs are different. My local market is specific, and I adjust accordingly. Each individual project has its own considerations; is it a simple design, or more complex? Is it flat or dimensional? Stylized and simple, or complex and representational? What are the materials and tools required? Can I work on it in my studio, or will I need to travel to the site? Will I be doing the installation? Or will I need to build crates and ship something heavy to another state? Will I need to rent scaffolding? A crane? Do I need to contract others to help with aspects of the work, like the stone carver who created the inlays in these boulders?

If you are making straightforward rectangular mosaic art that is either hung on a wall or installed in a backsplash (for instance) you can more easily come up with a square-foot or square-inch price. If that's the case, I recommend you do some research, looking at other artists' prices. Try to be objective about your work and compare yourself to others at the same level, and in a similar category style-wise. Try to match your market as well as you can. If you underprice your work, it hurts your colleagues. Many years ago when I still sold at festivals, my booth was placed right next to another mosaic artist, unfortunately. She made small, simple mosaic onto the glass in reclaimed picture frames she had bought secondhand, and she lived next door to a stained glass factory where she gleaned all of her glass for free. Her mosaics were all $25. Mine were $100-$500, much more elaborate and diverse, though also using reclaimed materials and bases. I didn't stand a chance. With sites like Etsy, this kind of thing is happening all the time. 

So, it's tricky. You need to start somewhere. But you don't want to underprice your work. That is a balance each artist needs to find on their own. I've had people send me photos of their work, asking, "How much should I charge for this?" I cannot answer this question. I'm sorry, because I was once where you are and I know it's confusing. Each artist needs to figure out their market and their pricing, and in time, you'll find it. 

If it helps, my range for fabrication is $200-$1200 per s.f. $200 is my simplest style, precision cutting or randomized patterning with relatively large pieces. $1200 would be intricate realism like portraits. Those are very hard and take forever. I now have price lists for materials, and that is a separate line item. Smalti runs about $80/s.f.. Stone is about $40/s.f. Stained glass is a wide range, depending on type. Cool colors of glass cost less than warm colors due to the minerals used. There is a design fee, sometimes admin fee for the hours spent working out details. I usually install my own projects and I charge a daily rate for that. Now, with public art, there is always a set budget. In those cases, I have to work backward, estimating the cost of each part of the process, and letting that define the scope of the project. 

So, in sum, there is just no easy answer to the question about pricing your work. But I hope this gives you some things to think about. Be sure to track your time on projects, especially at first. This will help you a lot. If it takes two days to complete a square foot, consider that in your labor cost. But maybe you are able to complete a square foot in two hours? This will help you determine your rate. 

I hope this is helpful! Thanks for reading and have fun making mosaic!

~Jennifer

How long did it take you to make that?

Years ago, my income relied on gallery sales, summer art festivals, and holiday bazaars.  At some point, commissions began to pick up and I was getting into more exhibitions, and I found that it was no longer cost effective or satisfying to make a ton of "affordable" artwork on the off chance that someone would buy it.  And I was missing out on a lot of weekend and holiday activities with my family in exchange for a few hundred dollars here and there.

My booth at an early art festival.

These days, I'm doing more large commissions throughout the year, with time between to make art for fun.  Some of my projects are for our house, and others are set aside for the next show.  Without current gallery representation or regular art festivals, I've collected far too much work that I really need to sell, so I'm looking at art fairs that might be a good fit for me.

But there is one question I hear over and over, usually from non-customers (those folks artists call "looky-loos.")  The questioner looks at the price tag on the item, skeptically eyes the artwork, and asks, "How long did it take you to make that?"  I try to give my best estimate: "Ten weeks?"  "Two days?"  The person dons an expression that conveys that it is too expensive.  Commonly, I get, "Hmm."  And they walk away.  I'm pretty sure all artists have gotten used to this, and have learned to just keep smiling and focus on the next potential customer.

Here is what I would like people to know:
An independent artist has far more overhead invested in a single piece of art than the hours spent making it.  First, I can make ten pieces before one sells.  When the work is not commissioned, you just make what you like and hope someone out there will agree, and that you and that person will somehow find each other.  So often, when someone buys a larger artwork from me, it is after having seen it in local shows for 2 or 3 years.  They tell me how it spoke to them, they thought about it a lot, they saved the money and finally felt ready to buy.

Me with a very early piece about climate change; Memory of Ice.

In addition to that time put in, there is overhead.  There are materials to buy.  People sometimes question me because I salvage my materials - so why is that a factor?  I can only salvage a portion of the materials, and there are always adhesives, grout, hanging hardware, etc. that give the piece structural integrity.  Also, salvaging takes a lot more time than simply purchasing items new.  I've driven two hours to Portland to go through a glass stash before it was tossed, and I've been given tubs of disgustingly dirty glass or tile to sort through.  It takes patience, commitment, and a lot of time.

Other overhead includes the cost of a studio, tools, professional development, insurance, business licenses, promotional materials, jury fees (astonishing expense), booth fees, taxes, office supplies, a reliable vehicle (can't haul art on the bus), and travel costs for workshops and exhibitions.  If I sell work through a gallery, I will receive only 50% of the sale.  Therefore, I need to be sure to add that cost at every sale/show because it is extremely bad form to have work at a gallery costing twice what I ask in person, and gallery contracts forbit it.  That commission covers the gallery's overhead, and actually does the same for the artist when we sell our own work.

At work in the studio.

You may wonder how it is even possible to earn a living as an artist?  I will be honest with you, and I think everyone should be more open about this: I know very few artists actually making a living.  Even the artists I know and admire who are well-known, whose work is outstanding, who are showing in museums at home and abroad - most are able to do it because there is another income source.  Some wholesale their work, creating something that can be reproduced in large quantities.  Some teach classes to pay the bills.  Some are retired on a pension or have a partner whose income covers the essentials (that's me.)  Or, they have a regular job that allows enough time to make art on the side.  Whatever the case, be assured that the pricetag an artist puts on their work does not come close to supporting them and their family.

I am not saying everyone should or can go out and buy expensive art.  It is a luxury.  Just be sensitive and understand how hard it is to put artwork on display and to hear dismissive comments.  If you like it, but it's out of your price range, that's ok.  If you don't like it, that's ok too.  But if you love it and can afford it, please consider supporting artists and crafters.  Those big corporations don't need it, and are doing everything in their power to keep your money instead of using it to provide the makers of goods a liveable wage.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and please support your local makers!