the economics of it all

As of now, i’ve been far enough removed from the economic collapse.  Far enough that I’d have to say that it hasn’t directly affected me.  Certain people I know have lost jobs, and many continue to look for work.  But all in all, since I don’t own a house, nor do I have a high financial need ( or high costs to live ) I’ve been doing okay.  It helps that my lifestyle isn’t so extravagant or demanding, because it seems like it’s been hardest for those people.

I recently completed a design job for a running shoe store in the East Bay.  The whole experience was good for me, and the money, for the most part, was good.  I just received word from a friend that the business is closing at the end of the month, many factors pointing to the economy.  Three thoughts sprouted in my head.  The first was: Wow, that’s really hard.  Really?  close down for good? I had a moment of disbelief.  The second was: Am I going to get paid?  I ask for a 50% deposit/retainer fee before I start work.  This was paid, but I still had 50% left.  The third thought was:  Wow, I’ve just lost a potentially great client.  

This is my first story of how the economy has affected me.  I have been able to talk to the owner of the store, and we’ve settled on a price for him to pay me out at, due to his circumstance.  To make the story short, the money would get tied up to Trustees, so he offered to pay for an amount to make sure that I would get some money, and not have to wait around for more bureaucracy to clear out before a payment was made.  I wasn’t happy, but I felt like it this was just the sign of the times.  I could argue all I wanted to about my work, and sticking to the terms we agreed upon, but it’s just turned out to be a bit more complicated than that.

So, I’ve lost some money, some future work for a good client, and in the bigger picture, my designs never really made it to the world.  The client ended up not having enough money to push the designs to print.  This isn’t the biggest deal in the world, but as I’ve been becoming more and more ‘freelance’, it’s become a bigger deal.  Consistent work is a bigger deal than before.

I also had a good conversation with a fellow artist about money, art and life.  It was good to have someone to talk to about balancing life:  living passionately ( doing things you care about ) but also doing enough work to have enough and not worry about it all the time.  On one hand, it’s a drag to work 40+ hours a week doing something you don’t like, and not having time and energy to do things you care about ( in my case, image – making ).  On the other hand, it’s hard to always be looking for work, and not knowing if you will make enough each month ( sometimes I’m almost there ).

I have to follow up with him, but he made a great statement about pricing art, and it’s value.  He talked about how a creative object is an intellectual piece, and therefore it is really hard to put a monetary value on it.  There is years of practice and mistakes that have contributed to the knowledge and process behind what is created.  And on the other hand, a person may just be a genius/savant who creates something really beautiful in one swoop.  There’s equipment, and training, and a lot of work.  All of these things add up to a piece that is created by hand by somebody.  How do you price that?  It’s an interesting conversation.  

He went on to talk about how money ends being the center of all of our interactions.  And, he just had a hard time with that.  It’s not like he was some sort of anarchist ( okay maybe slightly ), but he made some really good points about how we treat each and live our lives, based upon making money:  enough, too much, too little, etc.  I don’t have a lot of answers, to be honest, but these were all good questions that were brought up.

As for me, I’m kind of scraping by with this money stuff.  I’m still figuring it all out.  Just being honest.