Why am I selling some art ‘affordably’?

“I paint on anything and everything. A lot of effort goes into what I call ‘practice sessions’. Sometimes I may develop the initial sketch as a finished piece even though it started out as a practice session. Sometimes I leave it at the point where I have learnt or ‘practiced’ what I set out to do. More often than not I wipe these pieces and start again.
But lately people have shown interest in these pieces. And I have already sold a few to people who had come to the studio. So I ask you all – would you be interested in buying art priced between 1.5-5 k + shipping and gst as actuals?
Do share your thoughts via a direct message to me on this page or via email to aarohi [at] artbyaarohi [dot] com.”

This is what I posted on my Facebook Page and my Instagram stories. The result is a lot of enquiries. And I have already sold a few to people who wanted to come ‘choose’ from available small format works in the studio. A lot of times some practice sessions may not even make it to my social media pages but sit here in the studio.

One person was very unhappy at my selling these works. The said person felt that I should just give it away to family and friends. That got me thinking. A lot of other people may have also wondered why I was doing this. So here goes – another post on my philosophy on art and life 🙂

I paint because I love to. I paint because it is the same as breathing to me. I paint when I am happy or unhappy, when the kids and I are having a particularly rough day in the mother/kids department, when I feel fat or thin, when my man and I have a wonderful day or we are miffed with one another… So in that sense I am pretty prolific given the limitations that come with just living a familial life with the added emotional baggage. Add extended family to that and the list gets quadrupled. Most people who know me call me super mom. Trying to be super mom, super wife, super friend, and super daughter/sister/lover/employer/neighbor is hard. Definitely hard for someone who would like to shut herself in her studio for 22 out of 24 hrs! But I manage. I do admit some days better than others. It’s a work in progress 🙂

I have often said that art is my jam and not my bread and butter. The bread and butter comes from my husband’s work. But does that mean I don’t do all I can to take care of my art? Of course not. I try and live a creative life as best I can whether it is creativity in the kitchen, home or studio. I choose to be a stay at home mom. As I do believe the greatest job in the world is to bring up well balanced children who in turn become balanced adults. Between responsibilities of home and motherhood, for years my art took a back seat or not a full time role in my life. I am looking to slowly start changing that as my kids are pretty grown up now and don’t need me around all that much. And starting that long process where I make my art my bread and butter.

My art teacher in school told me never ever to give anything away for free. To never ever ‘gift’ my art. That free stuff is never appreciated. So I never do. I always take at least one rupee for the ‘gift’. And my work does not come cheap. It’s not at all expensive in the art world stakes but it is not easily affordable for all either. I get mail and messages telling me that people love my work but can’t afford it. So this was a way for people to be able to afford a piece that they like. Be it a sketch, a half-finished painting or a loosely rendered one that is an important cog in my growth as an artist and creative person.

I am always amazed and grateful that people are willing to give me their hard earned money for my work. It does not matter if it’s a 100 rupees or a 100,000. I am just grateful for the opportunity to keep creating. I have a digital record of all my work including practice sessions. There is much to learn from practice and more from ‘failures’. So the record exists digitally for me to go back and see my growth.

These small format works are works that have enough merit to not be wiped over. They are small steps in my ladder to becoming a better artist. If someone is happy to pay me their hard earned money for it and it is a small way for them to afford my art than why not?

So do follow me on https://www.instagram.com/artbyaarohi to see updates on paintings that qualify as *affordable art*. Do also see ‘stories’ on instagram as they are posted and you may want to go over older work which may still be affordably available .