Pricing

Materials - These are things that are used in every project  

Glass - Sheet, crushed / powdered, enamel powders, glass mixing mediums

Kiln wash / separator

Kiln paper / separator

Fibre paper - 1mm, 3mm, 6mm

Mould-making materials - Silkemat blanket, Rigidiser

Silicon carbide grinding grits

Wet/dry sandpaper

Glass cleaning spray 

Pens / paper for design, planning and sizing

Packaging - Boxes, protective wrapping, business cards / branding materials. Eco-friendly packaging materials tend to be more expensive. 

Electricity - on average, one firing is 7-12 units of electricity.  Most of my pieces need three or four firings each.

 

EQUIPMENT & TOOLS - These are things that depreciate or need replacing over time

Kiln - Relays, elements, thermocouple and ceramic bricks

Kiln shelves, props and dams - These items can chip and degrade

Glass scoring and cutting wheels 

Glass breakers and pliers

Cutting surfaces / mats

Mark-making tools

Powder sifters

Gauntlets / high heat resistant gloves

Protective glasses for looking in the kiln (a bit like looking at the sun!)

Glass grinding surfaces

Diamond coated hand-grinding pads 

Small diamond-coated tools grinding for tight corners

Jewellery hammers - for removing the rims of drop out vessels

Dremel cordless tool with diamond wheels and burrs - for drilling holes in glass and cutting the rim off thick-walled vessels 

Respirator masks for working with powders and grits

Air purifier filters

HEPA vacuum, filters and bags

 

DEVELOPMENT COSTS

For every new design there is at least one prototype. Many of these prototypes will have faults and won’t be suitable for sale, but will have taken the same amount of time or longer to make than a finished, final piece. 

Learning and development - Courses on specific techniques  

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EXHIBITION COSTS

Exhibition fees - In galleries, you pay a fee to rent space for a period of time.  

Application fees - For Open Call exhibitions there will usually be an application fee. This is not refundable, even if your work isn’t accepted into the exhibition. 

Commission - This is a percentage of the sale price, taken by the gallery or exhibition. Commission varies between venues and is anywhere between 15% and 50%.  This is in addition to any exhibition or application fee already paid.  

Display props - Risers, racks, table coverings, plinths. These are not usually provided by venues.   

Petrol / Travel - Got to get it all there, set it all up and take it down again! 

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ADMIN

Labels - Printing, cutting, writing

Website - I run my own!

Social Media - This takes a surprising amount of time

Record keeping and tax returns

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MAKING TIME

Time spent making is something that a lot of artists don’t account for; properly valuing our skills and professional worth is a constant topic of conversation. There is information about acceptable rates of pay on the Artists Union England website here Rates of Pay - Artists' Union England 

 

On average I will spend 4-6 hours actively working on a medium to large size piece.  By ‘actively working’ I mean, cutting and laying up the design, programming the kiln, checking on the glass in the kiln at key points in the firing process, and ‘cold working’ ie removing the rim from a vessel then grinding, smoothing and refining it using hand tools.  The final price also reflects the elements above.