WV Glass and Ceramics Project Trip Day Six

Our last stop of the trip was a fabulous ending!  We went to the Pittsburgh Glass Center, where we got to watch an artisan make a blown glass bowl.  We then got to make our own glass ornament!  It was an amazing experience.  We toured the facility and walked around in their gallery, where we viewed many beautiful pieces that were hand made. Most of these pieces were for sale and as I wandered around the gallery, I started thinking about how they determine the price of each piece.  As an artist, I have always struggled with how to price my art.  A professor once told me to think about how many hours the piece took to make and then how much each hour of my time is worth.  But I feel there is a bit more to it than that, such as the cost of my materials and the amount of training I have in the particular medium.  For example, I have many more hours of training invested in photography and ceramics than I do in oil painting or printmaking.  Therefore, when factoring that in, I would likely charge more for a bowl than an oil painting.

In talking to the glass blower we worked with today, I learned that some blown pieces take 20 to 30 minutes to create, while others may take two hours to complete.  She also told me some of the more intricate glass pieces are made through flamework, meaning the artist could spend days on them.

If you were a glass artist, how would you determine the price of your pieces?  I want you to develop a scenario in which you choose your method for creating a glass piece, decide how long it would take you to complete the piece (based on what we've learned about the process), and how much your materials would cost (you will probably need to do some web-based research for this info).   And lastly,  in this imaginary scenario, don't forget to mention your training.

Below, I have added some photos of some pieces I saw in the gallery today:

This seedling was the least expensive piece I saw in the gallery.  It's detail is extraordinary!

This piece was in the medium price range.  It was created by the artist who walked us through the process of making a glass bowl today.  She said this vase took her two hours and that after blowing the piece she had to take it to the cold shop to cut the detail into it.

This piece was the most expensive I saw.  Notice the intricate detail.  A design like this would be created through flamework.  This is one of those pieces that could easily have taken days to make.