wonderful! perfect for a nursery…

gosh these are soooo pretty – so natural.

stunning!

I have one of Heather’s pieces in my bedroom and absolutely *love* it. Now I’m seriously considering that branch mobile for my entry hallway.

These are the most pretty and refined pieces of paper and sticks I have ever seen!

Beautiful.

I don’t mean to sound negative, but I can’t believe the price for the mobiles!!!! They’re paper, recycled magazines and driftwood! It’s nothing that any scrapbooker or card maker wouldn’t have on hand to make in addition to a nice walk on the beach. $400, $500, $700?!!! You’d have to be bloody barmy to pay that much for these mobiles! Quite daft, IMHO.

very beautiful :)

These are so beautiful!

Tiffany
i can understand your questioning of the prices…but take a minute and think about how many people can appreciate the beauty of the pieces but even with plenty of sticks and paper would never be able to put them together in such a pleasing manner. also, these mobiles and wall hangings may look simple, but i bet it is not easy to get such a look with materials as fickle as paper and thread without an investment in time and technique.

First….THANK YOU to Grace for the post and to all of the LOVELY ladies who posted such nice comments. Second…. I probably should refrain but I feel compelled to address the comments made by Tiffany because once someone puts those sorts of comments out there it can become a thread associated with the work and it troubles me. I have noticed it already today on another blog that picked up this post from Grace.
First of all the work that I make is not simply about the cost or value of the materials alone….although the material cost is not insignificant. For example….the $700 mobile that was made as an art installation piece for a children’s trade show incorporates a vintage chair which I carefully sourced and had to pay real money for. The wood hanging structure that supports the mobile took several design revisions and again cost me real money to have made. The magazine elements (of which there are probably several hundred in this mobile) are each handmade….that’s individually handcut with dies that I had custom made….dies that cost $60 to $75 each, as well as the die cutting press that costs several hundred dollars. And they are not randomly torn magazine pages. I spend hours and hours choosing the particular imagery I want from magazines, then more hours gluing them to make two sided elements. I spent several weeks making this mobile…it was no small undertaking. Putting it together took a great deal of time, thought and vision. It also cost me $100 to ship to the installation location.
The birch wall hanging that Grace posted about here is made with real pearls, glass beads, and paper. But again, it is not so much about the cost of materials. It is about the artistc vision that I have. The work is very well crafted….but I do not consider it to be a craft project. It is not something that was made in an afternoon crafting session with stuff from the scrapbook store. I consider myself to be an artist, designer, and business person. This is what I do for a living. It is not a hobby. You also have to condsider the cost of branding, packaging, designing and building a website, marketing, photographing, and all of the other things required to successfully operate a small creative business. Again, the time, effort, vision, and cost to successfully make this happen is significant. Oh and did I mention patience and focus! All of that factors into the price of the work.
The first mobile I made in 2000 actually did look like a craft project. It was all wonky and crafty looking. It took me a good year of researching materials and production methods, lots of trial and error, and many, many hours of thinking and planning to come up with a final product that could be reproduced, packaged to ship easily, and marketed.
Whew!!! So there you go.

Heather – thank you for your comment to Tiffany. You should never have to justify your work to anyone. I think it’s beautiful – the cost is irrelevant(though you have justified every penny you have spent). I feel for you because I know that if I had seen Tiffany’s comment directed at my own work it would have completely consumed me for days. She obviously has no idea what torment it can be to be an artist.

thanks heather! what an inspiring and thoughtful response. i was frustrated with the comment as well and just felt i HAD to defend your work. it upsets me when artists and artisans feel they have to defend their work, especially when it’s so clearly worthwhile.

Thank you Fiona and Suzie for your kind words.
It is a worthwhile topic to discuss….it just would have been nice if Tiffany had framed her comment as a thoughtful question instead of a negative declarative comment.
I spend a good deal of time thinking about the cost of the work. I have been actively researching ways to bring down the cost of my “collection” of mobiles….at this time they refelct the true cost of production.
One purpose of my new “one of a kind” page on my website is to be able to make work freely and offer it for sale without the considerations of production and cost, etc……They are one off peices that will not be reproduced so their value is greater in my mind. :)