Selling my paintings for almost nothing.

I have belonged to an online gallery for years. I have noticed that there are far less artists on there than there was many years ago. I have sold a few paintings through them, but not enough to really justify the annual fees.  I have sold paintings in traditional bricks and mortar galleries, but have to give the gallery owners 40 to 50 percent of profits.

It is difficult to sell originals in England at the moment.  I have had to continually reduce the cost of my paintings just to try and sell them.

I had two paintings of Greek landscapes, that originally I priced at £250, which was a good price as they are quite large paintings. They did not sell in a traditional gallery, so I put them in the online gallery for £200, which I later reduced to £150. I had two sales before Christmas and in the New Year when for one week I reduced my entire stock to half price, so somebody could have had a bargain at £75.....but despite a lot of interest, nobody wanted to buy them.

So I have ended up taking a selection of paintings to craft fairs, and ended up selling original work for £25.  Honestly. Just £25 for original framed work. The frames alone cost more than that!!!    Yes, the Greek paintings originally priced at £250 went for £25 each at the weekend. These are large framed original works, ready to hang on the wall, not prints in a cellophane wrap.

These paintings took almost a week each to paint...so virtually two weeks work for a mere £50 !!!   Well below the minimum wage!  Absolutely no profit at all. In fact when you add up the costs of frames and paint/brushes etc.  used , this is actually giving work away at a loss.

The two paintings I sold are these......

I am glad they have gone to a couple who seemed to really like them, but I find it so sad that I have to almost give my work away. I cannot keep paintings forever as they take up a lot of space. These are about 5 years old, so have hung around for quite a while.

I also sold this painting for a mere £25 recently...which is totally crazy, as it is a painting I spent quite a lot of time on.  Again this was sold at a craft fair, and I just wanted to cover my table fee so I did not make a complete loss on the day. I appreciate that craft fairs are not the right place to sell art....but if they do not sell in galleries , exhibitions or online...where do you sell them? 

So what is the answer???  I think to produce smaller work that can  also be sold as prints is probably the best way forward. Framed work is heavy to move around, and I have had a few with broken glass, which is scary!  Most of my recent work is on canvas.

Some canvas paintings I have just covered in gesso and started again...........but I really don't like to do that with a painting I value or have spent ages on. 

So what do other artists do?  Keep their work forever, with all the issues of storage space, or do as I have been doing..... getting rid of it, even if it goes for a ridiculous low price??????  Comments appreciated...........