Why I don't have Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals

I don't often put my work on sale because I can't afford to.  Instead of spending my time setting up sales, promoting those sales, and hoping this will somehow bring thousands of dollars my way, I try to just make work that I like and maybe someone else will see its value.

This is my nightmare:

Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters

Unlike Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and all those other convenient chain retailers, I don't have a board of directors, stock market presence, or a plan to expand to eighty new locations over the next five years.  

Also, I don't pay my over-seas workers pennies a day to make plastic junk that will fall apart in no time.  I have no employees. 

I keep my overhead low by using cast-offs and salvaged materials.  The components I do buy, I try my hardest to keep them sourced in America--my clock mechanisms are American made and cost a bit more, but I feel that's worth it.  My aluminum is American-sourced and purchased in my hometown, so my family can pick it up and we can meet in the middle for regular visits only 30 minutes from my home.  We'd be doing this anyway, so we're not adding any extra shipping costs to the metal.

I work out of my home, so my commute is by foot, about ten feet from my bed, and I save on heating by having a cat on my lap (right now!).  This offsets my long road trips to out of town shows, so I feel at least a little less guilty filling up my tank.

So what I'm saying is, I can't afford to have enormous discounts on my work, even with all my own efforts to cost-cut and be frugal day to day.

I have too many ideas in my head to give away the things I make with my hands.  I'm happy to clear out older work and experiments/sketch pieces during my normal shows, and, yes, my show schedule is heavier as we near the winter holidays, so these coincide. But I'm not into all the hype.  

WITH THAT BEING SAID...

My final showing of the year is this weekend.  I'm in the company of four other wonderful artists and am excited to meet more Kansas City area art lovers.  So here's my plug for in-person, art-buying opportunity from me, the artist who makes the things you will see.

3rd Annual Holiday Art Sale at Meya Studio
3345 Baltimore Ave., KCMO
FRIDAY, DEC. 5, 6-9PM
SATURDAY, DEC. 6, 10AM-6PM
SUNDAY, DEC. 7, 11AM-5PM

Discounted transitional pieces, oldies but goodies, new desk clocks, all the wall clocks you could ever want, plus ceramics, glass jewelry, fine art paintings, and funky paper cuts and mixed media.

Also, hot rum and cider, beef stew, brownies, wine, and OMG JUST COME ON BY!

Here's us last year as we were wrapping up:

Amy Meya, Allan Winkler, Laura Nugent, and Desiree Warren
It was an average 15 degrees all weekend, so we were cold...but this year it will be much warmer!

If you want to buy online, my Etsy store will be open and updated as much as possible.  I've been working on loads of desk clocks that are not only perfect for gifting, but easy to ship and pretty economical! 

Happy Cold Time of the Year, Art Lovers!