I had three gallery shows this year and I have been going back and forth between original art drawings and product development activities using my artworks. This is because I don’t sell the originals, so I needed to prepare something else to make profits so that I can pay for the gallery rent. I also wanted to help the galleries earn some by showing my artworks.
My gallery manager recently reported to me that the total profits from the sales of my items throughout the three shows were 127,758 JPY(approx.1,160 USD, 1,578 AUD) . I was in particular happy to hear that 207 postcards in total were sold, which means that now there are so many people who know what I am drawing. Given that it is only two years since I started drawing using a ballpoint pen, I think I spent these years in a pretty productive way.
Some other items which greatly contributed to the sales include:
My next show will be sometime in the spring next year, so right now I am working on a new item, i.e. a series of decorative papers using my pen drawings:
Hi Jack, thank you so much for your kind comment. I have several websites that offer my items but I think my minne shop is the most comprehensive one, I mean, it covers almost every item that I have developed so far. Basically minne shop is managed in Japanese, but I hear that if you access the site from outside of Japan, you can see some information as to how to use the site in your local language.
This is my gallery & shop at minne:
Have you considered making gift bags? I think your artwork would look wonderful as gift bags also. Just a thought. I look forward to hear the response at the next gallery.
Yes the paper bags in the link are what I am talking about. If you were to print out your artwork onto a little thicker but pliable paper and then open a brown paper bag (they sell them on Amazon, but in bulk only) to see how the folds are then it is very simple to make. I have done this to make gifts more personal. Then you could add a folded card with some artwork, a kitten, flowers, etc., maybe, like 2" x 4" folded, and a ribbon or some type of handle that is appropriate.
They can be made in all sizes. Your artwork is perfect for men, women, children, teens.
I hope that I explained this in an understandable way.
Hi Teri, thank you so much for sharing your ideas as to how I can use my artworks for gift bags. It sounds really fabulous but the problem is that, when working on a small scale, I cannot set prices that are profitable enough to cover all the costs to produce these items, including my own manpower costs. I would much prefer licensing some stationery companies to use my artworks for their products. I might enjoy producing some gift bags as just samples to attract them. Thank you for your suggestions anyways. I am really glad that somebody took time to think about how my artworks can be utilized for some products
