My birthday is coming up in December. I’m sure many of you are reacting to that news by thinking, “I only have $15,000 to spend on Wendy’s birthday present. What in the world will I get her?” Not to worry. I would be thrilled to get a needlepoint pillow by Brigid Berlin, and what do you know…it fits your budget perfectly!
If you are a youngster who doesn’t know who Brigid Berlin is, I guess I will forgive you. However, if you are an Edie Sedgwick fan who doesn’t know who Brigid is, I do NOT forgive you and am, in fact, on my way to your house right now to beat your ass. If you’re someone who knows of Brigid only through your Andy Warhol books, I urge you to see Pie in the Sky, an engrossing, Grey Gardens-esque documentary about post-Andy Brigid.
Looking at Brigid’s pillows reminds me of a beyotch who commented on my jewelry prices on another blog. According to her, my price should be pretty much double the cost of the gold used, and that’s that. Oh, maybe I could throw in a $50 tip for myself, but apparently I don’t deserve any money for labor (including not just my intensive labor, but the U.S.-based manufacturing labor that I pay other people a lot of money to perform) or design, originality or rarity, not to mention all the other expenses of having a business that must be included in product costs if you don’t want to go bankrupt. I keep envisioning this genius telling Warhol or Van Gogh or Picasso that their paintings are worth ONLY double the price of their paint set and canvas, nothing more. Not that I put myself in the league of artists like that; I’m just making a point about her reasoning. I’m sure this chick would go to a craft store, price an embroidery kit and tell Brigid Berlin that her pillow should cost exactly twice as much as the price of the kit. I wish that would happen because I’m pretty sure Brigid would skewer her with a knitting needle and eat her, then embroider a pillow about the experience … which you could buy for me for my birthday. Happy ending, y’all!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
December babies are the best! You’re so close to Christmas… do people try to give you one gift and pass it off as both your birthday and Christmas presents? Because people do that to me, and my birthday is December 1st.
Also, jealous peeps suck.
Those pillows are too cool. The first I’d heard of her was from John Waters films. Very interesting history.
haha thse pillows would make great gifts for the Holidays!!! 😉
thanks for your comment<3
clue-less! making stuff ain’t easy – esp. for you December babies! you demand a lot from your creative selves.
Happy almost birthday! I just had mine (well, if “just” is early October). I would take one of those pillows – too hilarious.
I love listening to people who understand nothing about the creative process tell you how retail/manufacturing/markup works for handmade items. Yeah, shut up.
Love your jewelry. I hope you make lots of money.
wow, talk about being tacky by complaining about your prices on a blog. and seriously, don’t u deserve some compensation for your creativity and hard work? if that’s the case, this blogger needs to rant about all designers out there who really do charge outrageously for their designs. a lot of people don’t understand the time and stress it takes to “create”. pisses me off.
How about a newspaper-print beach towel instead?
P.S. Once I saw Ultra Violet [in real life.]
Sheila, I should point out that the beyotch claimed she too was a jewelry designer so she KNEW that my pieces didn’t use that much gold. That was her “expert” (jealous) opinion. Ha!
Kd: I saw her too, at a cafe in NYC.She was very nice and threw me a big smile.
Wendy: These pillows make me wish I had kept some of the needlepoint pillows my mom made.
The pillows are hilarious, and so is your story. The nerve of some people!
Labors of art and love cost money!
amazing, yes, i need them all too!
xx
People like that woman SUCK!
I get crap like that all the time with my photography…the old “But at Walmart they charge X amount for EVERYTHING so you should too!”
When they start that bs I always think, “Die in a fire. Thanks. Bye.” because they would be s****ing bricks if their boss came in one morning and said…”Let’s see…I am going to lower your pay to $5.75 an hour because Idaho has that set as minimum wage and we are 35 minutes from Idaho so you should make the same pay as they do even though you work full-time and not in a field that pays minimum wage.”
Peopel who say thinsg like that woman did to you need to stop being cheap and disrespectful.
Hooray for December babies!!
Howzabout, I just pretend to send you the pillows and you just pretend to sit on them, does that work for you?
Happy almost Birthday! I love those cushions, needlpoint with irony – not something you see in the tapestry shops normally – I’d do some if I could get a kit like those!
What price can you put on orginiality?
What a crock – for some great Australian irony and finding out how to ‘pretty things up’ check out this clip on you tube http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=WcLXDF0ZJ3g
Hi Wendy-Your jewellery pieces are soo worth what they are-if we want cheap and cheerful, we can head down to Argos or H Samuel (I’m sure you have the cheapo equivalents) Don’t stop doing what you’re doing, some peoples jealously knows no bounds!!
excellent conclusion! The biatch dies and you get a fantastic present, not sure if a pillow with her mug on the cover will be worth $15,000 but hey!
Wendy my dear people who reason that way aint worth your business my sweet! what type of ignorance is that.Personally I think art and fashion & jewellery is a part off cant be priced as your buying a piece of the persons talenr.
Love those pillows hun.big fan of hers,Warhol and Edie.
muah!
Marian
obviously that woman is not worth her weight in gold.
love the pillows… but knowing me if i owned them, i’d probably fall asleep on one and drool on it.
😉
(happy near birthday!!!)
I wonder if you got presents in double when you were a kid:-)
What nerve. And I had no idea that Brigid Berlin was still making art. Sadly, I have only about 10 grand for your birthday present, so I’m sending you a 2002 Honda Civic. Fully loaded!
Put me down for buying you the knitting needle. Oh, and Cadbury chocolate – if it’s been un-recalled.
Efff her. Bet she thinks downlaoding music without paying is her right as an American.
Well, my bday is far from December but wouldn’t mind one of this just now..
hahahahah! cute post!
I told you the bitch crazy.
Well, I didn’t. But I meant to.
p.s. Verification word = zoonate. Zoonate = to have an unhealthy attraction to animals. Zoonate.
omg awesome. I remember reading something about her when Sienna was trying to be Edie a couple years ago.
hahahhaha I loved this post!! you are amazing, and I completely support your reaction about that girl’s comment…she clearly has no idea the work and the money that goes into your work …I only have an inkling, but I’ve done a bit of research here and there and can imagine…
by the way, thanks for your sweet comments wendy!!!
xoxo