Saying “No” to Mass Production

If you ask me, Culture Tour was a raving success.

While I didn’t sell as much art as I’d hoped to, it was my first year doing this and I learned a lot. 

Next year, I plan on doing it bigger and better. There will be more opportunities for folks to communicate with me and support me.

That being said, I have a real issue with the class of Vendor. I don’t believe in mass producing things.

Don’t Expect Any Merch

You won’t be seeing any stickers, t-shirts, or prints from The Opal Door.

I took a short adventure down this path early on in my career, and I didn’t like the way it went. 

The print company wanted a HUGE percentage of the revenue, yet at the same time, the prices for the merch were so low that it lost its value.

When you can buy a canvas print for $50, you don’t cherish that canvas or the print on it as much as you would if you purchased the original artwork.

I believe that if someone buys a piece of my art, it’s because they feel connected to it. They’ll value it, and display it in their homes for years to come.

That being said, I believe in fair pricing, and I’m open to negotiating if my art is outside of someone’s budget. If you love one of my pieces but the price is too steep, tell me what your budget is. I’ll find a way for you to have something I’ve created that you can cherish.

That’s what I want for my art.

Aligning with Values

Printing all of my art onto different things is not in alignment with my values or what I want for the Opal Door.

The process of printing things is costly and time consuming. And the amount of waste is another issue. If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ll know that my business practices revolve around impacting the environment as minimally as possible.

I also feel like my art is too personal for prints. Too individual. I lose the expression of my art and the feelings it evokes when it’s in print form.

My Art is Alive

Prints are flat. Prints are static. My art is not static.

I enjoy the process of painting so much. It brings me so much joy, counteracting all of the difficult things I face on a day-to-day basis. 

It gives me hope. If I can still make art, then I'm still okay. And it gives me something to look forward to. 

It’s a promise that tomorrow, I will do this, and that experimentation is altering my brain. Building new pathways and helping me stay engaged with the world.

It’s a way for me to share my world with you - to soothe the ache of loneliness that comes with a life of isolation.

It’s so much more than paint on canvas.

So, I don’t do prints.