I have put a couple of paintings into a show and filling out the form it says "price".

Just one little word, "price", sitting there, glaring at me - "go on then, make a decision".

How do you price art?

When I was working full-time, I got a salary, you could compare against other people, when looking for new jobs you tried to get paid more, you got pay rises and most of the decisions were really made by other people anyway.

When I ran events and/or created materials for people I would think of how much I was paid and have an idea of how much the company would pay. This wasn't so difficult as I used to own various marketing budgets and therefore knew the likely rate.

But art? I've seen some amazing pieces of art that must have taken a huge amount of time selling for very low prices - and we've all seen art selling for millions where we scoff and say "well, I wouldn't pay that".

So, where to pitch it?

Obviously there's the cost of the materials - and sometimes that's not small (when framing with non-reflective glass can cost around £100 and oil paints can be £20 a tube the cost of materials is never zero).

Then there's the time to create - hours, perhaps days, especially if you like to fiddle with it (oil paints give you the chance to fiddle for months).... can I dare to charge how much I'd get per day working?

But what about your ideas, your failed attempts, thinking time?

But - will anyone pay that... is this bottoms up approach comeplete the wrong way around?

Should you start with "what would I pay?" - in the end there's no point saying you've got lots of finished works but sold nothing - unless you have an unlimited number of walls...

So, look at others that you think are similar in size, materials and subject and pick something - you have to start somewhere - and selling your first piece, even at a ridiculously low price means something is sold.

So, there's this box that says "price" and it is SHOUTING at me "PUT A NUMBER IN"... so I do.

Will it sell, watch this space in 3 weeks and we will see.

Fingers crossed.