Not feeling like I know enough

College Work - "Warrior Sonja" Linoleum block print

So most of the time I feel like I know what I'm doing. It's once I'm finished with the part I know that I am unsure of what to do. For instance, I know how to paint. I'm no Michaelangelo, but I do pretty good. Once the painting is finished though, we have a problem. Framing, pricing, & figuring out what the hell to do with it. Funny, they didn't teach me any of that in school. Even funnier, I already knew how to paint BEFORE I went to school. So what exactly did I get for over $40,000? A few pointers & tips I could have picked up for $79 at a vo-tech school?

So, I sort of have the framing down & with the new router my brother got me for the holidays I should be able to make my own frames from here on out.

The pricing thing is a real problem though. I've heard $25.00 to $35.00 an hr. plus supplies. I've heard the same minus supplies. I found this article, but it doesn't answer all my questions. I've been know to finish a piece in a couple hours. I've been told I am really fast. I get an idea & try to get it on canvas or board as quickly as possible before it fades. So how do I charge for these? $50.00 for 2 hrs work + a $2.00 piece of board + maybe $10.00 in paint with no frame = $62.00. Really? I guess that seems right. Then again, some paintings take me days. 16 hrs of work = $400.00. That seems high. Also, do I count the time it takes me to build a frame if I frame it? Add in that cost & the frame materials cost & we are getting close to $600.00. That seems a little silly for my stuff. Maybe after I get some shows or publicity it would seem reasonable, but not now. See how confusing it is?

Angel - college work - Etching

Another part of my dilemma is that I don't know if I care enough to try to figure all this out. I am getting really sick of staring at my own work hanging on my own walls. I've started moving more & more of it to the attic, which is ironic, because I always had a fear that someone would buy my work & it would end up in their attic.
Ugh. It's beginning to become overwhelming & a negative aspect, rather than something I love. I've got art coming out my ears. I want it out. All of it. Out of my sight. I'm tempted to give it all away, but I really don't think anyone would want most of it. A couple things sure, but not the huge mass of it. So what do I do with all of it?

High School work - Dragon Protector - Watercolor & Pen & Ink

That's problem three. I need space. Do I trash the old stuff? What do you do with art you've piled up for 30 years that no one wants? I suppose I could use it for fire pit fuel. It might be a little spiritual to burn it all.

I guess my point is I always feel like I know just enough to not know enough about almost everything. I have no idea how to learn the stuff I need to know to get any further along than I am now. So I feel stuck & a little stupid & a little lost, okay, a lot lost, with no direction.



Poseidon - high school work - watercolor & Pen & Ink