I have been struggling in trying to redefine my medium. I am a textile designer, and as the business of what I have been creating is becoming over saturated (thanks to wholesale suppliers flooding the market to anyone who waves $$ for their ridiculously low opening orders) I am trying to carve out the time to bring back my original textile work that had seriously fallen by the wayside. Any ideas on how to continue to have my current income as I develop and branch out into these other areas. This isn’t about developing a new product, what I wish to start working on is a totally different audience. Anyone do similar? Trying to find the balance and I seem to be failing at the moment. Thanks for any ideas.
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I'm doing much the same myself, and likewise struggling with it. I've been doing photography for many years, with this year being my 30th doing art fairs. In the beginning photographers at the fairs were mostly wet darkroom B&W stuff and things were good. When digital hit, it became too easy, and ZAPP opened up the market to even more, so competition really heated up. What has happened is there are a lot of photographers out there copying what they see in magazines and web sites, and this is also what the public sees, so that's what sells. I'm too old to be trekking up mountain sides, deserts, and deep swamps to get similar images.
What I've done is to start making pieces with an introverted twist and more emotion by revisiting some of my older work, re-interpreting it visually, and the significant part is writing poetry and verse to go along with the visuals. It runs the risk of looking like a giant Hallmark card, but it has succeeded in reaching some folks who will stop and read, and begin to tear up crying. That tells me the work is going beyond a 'pretty picture" when it can do that for young or old. The problem is that it's not a volume seller yet and may never be.
At this point, I'm introducing more and more of this work while slowly weeding out the older conventional stuff. I'm applying to some shows with this body of work under 2D Mixed Media instead of photography. I'm not seeing work like this so I'm hoping it's unique enough to get me into some new shows. If you can pull it off without running the risk of ticking off show personnel, try adding more of that work as you get more done, and arrange you booth with new work on one side and the older work on another. I've done this in the past and gotten away with it by running a propanel or two down the middle with a doorway in the back, and each side then has 5-6 panel faces to hang the respective bodies of work. I feel that's a better approach than mixing the new with the old. It's just like sharing a booth with another artist.
Thank you. We are going along a similar path. I have decided to start writing an action plan, so I can add it in layers. Time and being pulled backwards into what people are used to purchasing from me is still an issue as I transition and redefine my middle ground.
Sorry, no good suggestions for dealing with the problem, but... you're not alone! Possibly teach? or write "lessons" for some of your designs? Crafty seems to be having a lot of designers doing their videos, and some artists have You-tube channels/videos that require paying to view.
In jewelry design, "wholesale to the public" has been in effect for years-- on-line and off-- and to top it off, imported finished jewelry is often cheaper than the imported supplies to make it. This includes "high end", as well as "low end" pieces. It seems that most of the "queens of beads" I knew when I was starting out, are no longer making beads (lampwork), nor beading "professionally"; they still may produce an occasional pattern, an art piece for a contest or show, or teach classes, but many are selling off their supplies and books, and doing something else. Several are now doing "coloring books", and lessons for "doodling"....
The same holds true for your "sister crafts", using yarn (knitting/crochet/weaving), or sewing "art clothing". Even "The Crochet Dude" is doing "coloring", and "household hints" to supplement his business. And people are aghast when I respond to a custom work pricing query that includes both costs and even "minimum wage" labor... I was asked about making a dress like
this: (made for myself), and was "offered" about half what the materials cost to make a custom one. Granted, I bought the fabrics retail, but even if they had been free/supplied, the "offer" would have been way less than covering even min wage.