Back in the saddle!

If you also are on my yahoogroup, you know that things are kicking into gear here at the studio. I have it (more or less) put back together, I have a new piece that is almost ready to share with the world, and I just got a new job where I will be working normal hours again. All of these things have me filled with a new sense of hope and optimism. The piece I am working on, a trad. sized stock mare, is definitely the best thing to come from my hands yet-- and later today I will be posting some in-progress photos of her.

Releasing a new piece, regardless of whether an artist has been active or inactive, is always a bit stressful. Feedback only tells you so much, and its hard to tell how it will be received when it actually goes up for sale.

Its been a year since I have been out of the hobby. Comparatively, its not that long, (but long enough) and so I've been doing some 'due diligence' lately to see what's selling, and what's not. It surprised me to see that things are pretty much as they were last year... in the finished resins, there are LOTS for sale, for much lower prices-- some pieces I saw for sale at half their price from the original artist. This kind of trend is a little depressing... but what I also saw is a still strong support of the original artists, and that people are still looking for horses and tack as they always have been. The hobby is still alive and evolving.

I was talking with a friend of mine who is a miniature painter (as in, she does very small watercolor paintings). We were going back and forth over how things were and she said that the art world has been feeling the economy too-- she is not having the same sales that she used to, and has had to really shop herself out to new galleries to carry her work. In 2007, she was like 6-8 paintings a month... now, she is lucky to sell 1-2. Its amazing what a few years can do.

The difference between the hobby and the art world, however, is the type of collector. We are even different than the model railroaders (to whom we've been compared often)... because we use the pieces we buy to compete. This puts things into a very different perspective for the collector; creating two different types. The type that collects pieces to have forever, and the type that collects pieces in order to compete well at shows.

While there is no right or wrong approach to collecting, it does effect the artist community and what it is that we create and offer for sale. Scale is a huge one. For example, there are a lot of mini and trad. sized horses, but few classic/LB sized horses. Its funny how the hobby market dictates the preferred size of what models should be. Color is another huge one. Some colors just sell better than others.

So I am throwing this out to the community at large... what do YOU collect? And why? What makes your heart pump when you see it flash across your screen on the MHSP? What aspects are most important for you in a model?