Specifics On My Free And Open Arts Studio

Earlier today, Krissy asked me about my post from a week ago regarding an open arts studio. Her question was simple, but perplexed me nonetheless. She asked, (I'm paraphrasing) "So what do you want to do? Is this hypothetical or something you want to do?" I was taken aback because anytime she mentions reading my blog, I blush, but also because I though, "well, isn't it obvious?" But maybe it isn't. I assured her that I want to do it for reals, maybe not so seriously considering she walked in on me in my "Hipster week" look, which makes me look ridiculous.

In a future post, I'll write about fundraising ideas and other details, but this post will be more about general classes. Obviously this is merely some quick brainstorming so this will by no means be complete or final. So there's that.

I will attempt to do this in something resembling a coherent and organized manner.

There are probably an infinite manner of mediums for art. Really if something exists, you can create something with it, or on it. This is really quite fascinating that, in essence, arts is made with anything and everything. There are always barriers to entry for anything, but with art, the barrier can often be quite simple to overcome.

Golf can be fun, but if you're no good at it, the people you're playing with might not tolerate your having fun at shooting a fifteen on every hole. Then there's the cost of clubs and greens fees. Baseball, too, isn't much fun when you never, ever hit the ball. True story, in my career in little kids baseball I got two hits. Both in the same game. I'm also fairly certain it's the only two times I swung the bat. Suffice to say, I was very deliberate in everything I did whilst playing baseball.

But art can be made on cardboard or the blacktop using rocks or chalk. Art can last forever (at least, centuries) or be disposable. Art can be physically, mentally, and emotionally draining or shallow. Art can be fancy pants or accessible. In reality, everything that surrounds us is art. Sometimes art is random other times it is calculated. Art does not discriminate (though, the art world can be very discriminating); a blind person can create.

That said, I'm going to try and break down various ideas into more general sections or categories.

Textiles

The first such category of classes will be textiles. Textiles surround us everywhere, and one can improvise with them pretty easily.

Stuffies

My first idea is stuffies. Who doesn't love stuffed animals? Who doesn't have someone in their life who would appreciate stuffed animals? Stuffed animals can be created in numerous ways, in varying complexities, for people of any age. Yes, I don't believe stuffed animals are solely for children. I have at least three of them within five feet of me.

Stuffies can be made very simply in a few minutes by sewing some felt together, or planned out over months leaving you with a whale that takes up an entire room. You can make them out of felt or fabric. You can knit or crochet them. You can make literally anything out of anything resembling a fabric. In fact, I bet you could make them out of other items, but I'm not sure how most people would feel about a cardboard stuffy.



Knitting & Crochet

Being in Woodbury and near Southbury, which are probably the undisputed champions of the world in elderly per capita, crocheting and knitting seem like obvious areas for classes. I especially like that young people are taking these crafts that are traditionally seen as very elderly and injecting them with a youthfulness that might not exist without a marketplace like Etsy.

Knitting and crochet are also limited only by one's imagination. You can knit or crochet almost anything. Want a blanket? How about an Ottoman? Stuffies? Yup, they too can be made with yarn. A fun offshoot of knitting and crocheting would be the process in creating yarn. I know there are quite a few yarn makers nearby to partner with. Any time I've met one, they loved talking about their animals and the yarn they make from their furs.

Basketry

I don't know anything about basketry, but I think it's intriguing. I saw a guy in Hawaii making them out of, I think, palm fronds. This guy clearly just sat there all day making hats and baskets to make a living.

Weaving

This, too, I know nothing about. Weaving is one of those things that seems exceptionally simple, but I imagine is far more complex. You can create some beautiful things with weaving though. I imagine that weaving is a very practical craft as well. You can make rugs, for example. Rugs are expensive. Making your own rugs and rugs for others seems a whole lot better than heading to Target and buying one of their generic rugs. You could make your own instead of blowing a few hundred bucks at Anthropologie, too. But like I said, I don't know anything about weaving.

Making Clothes

Maybe "Seamstressing" (is that a word?) would be a better title? Either way, making clothes intrigues me. I know Krissy would do it if she could sew. I always appreciate when people wear clothes that they make themselves. Of course, I think Jemma is the only person I've been able to say this about, since she made the dress she wore to mine and Krissy's wedding. I think this could be fun, though.

Sewing

I think sewing is an extension of the previous section. Or maybe the previous section is really more of a subsection of sewing. Either way, there's promise in teaching sewing. Everybody should have a very basic working knowledge of sewing (Think: refastening buttons, etc). Then there is hand sewing, which when done right adds an entirely different look to products/items. Sewing machines can do all kinds of fancy shmancy things, too.

Needlepoint

I don't personally care much for needlepoint. It's neat in it's own way, I just don't think it's my style. Maybe this is because most needlepoint is the ballet dancer or wolf crap you see at craft stores. Also, my grandma does it, so there's that. But as far as I understand it, needlepoint is basically pixel art with yarn. In that respect, I feel like I could like pixel art, so long as the endproduct wasn't so...cliche.

Quilting

I think more people should quilt. The irony, of course, is that I've never made a quilt, but I know I will. Think of all the fun family projects that could be made and turned into a quilt. If Krissy and I had children, I'm pretty sure we'd be saving little bits and bobs of art here and there for quilting. I'm a big fan of taking artwork, especially that of children, and turning it into something more display-worthy. Quilts seem like a perfect extension of that ideal.

Printmaking

Block Prints

Linoleum, wood, metal cuts. There's a certain magic in making a block print; cutting or carving them takes a bit of time, but it's very relaxing. Sometimes carving them can be a bit confusing if you're unfamiliar with positive and negative space, or working in reverse, but the worst that can happen is going to be a flaw that adds to the final print anyway.

Screen Printing

If I had the space and money, I'd have a screen printing machine. I'd crank out stuff like you couldn't believe. But that's not exactly why you're here. Screen printing is beautiful because it's automated to a point, but still very "hand made" in a sense. Each color is applied by hand, one at a time creating generally simple (in color) prints. You can print on probably anything, but for many people paper and fabric would be clear winners. I think screen printing would be a great way to raise funds for supplies, salaries, and equipment, too. I'd really like to have a class where parents take their children's drawings and turn them into t-shirts, ideally t-shirts manufactured in the USA.

Engraving & Etching

I don't know tons about these two, but I'm especially intrigues by etchings. I imagine engravings being involved and difficult to make, whereas I bet there are many ways to create etchings—even with common household items. I'm partial to ideas that people will be able to recreate at their home without needing all manner of specialized equipment. I'd really like to offer classes centering around lithographs and stencils, too. Other options include mezzotint, aquatint, drypoint, and photo-lithography.

Photography

Camera: Basics & Intermediate

Classes focusing on how to use camera and their many, many peripheral devices. What various functions are for and what everything on your camera and in the menus means. May also teach photography basics such as composition, understanding expose, when to listen to your camera and, more importantly, when not to.

Portraiture

Classes focusing on photographing living beings—namely people and animals. Certainly classes centering on photographing children, and allowing children to photograph will be offered too. Discuss various styles of portraiture from classic posed portraits to a more documentary style. Classes on using natural light and studio light would also be a given, which leads me to...

Lighting

Light is amazing and integral to all photographs. Classes on this topic would discuss how to understand and work with light in a natural, intuitive way. Topics would cover how to use the light to your advantage in any situation and also how to use strobes when you're looking for something different.

Landscapes

Landscape classes would be no fun inside, so these classes would head out into the natural beauty of Connecticut for some sweet hands-on training. I can think of plenty of places both near and far that a landscape shooter would love. Could be interesting to organize trips to places that are, ahem, a bit more exotic, too.

Darkroom & Film

Want to develop your own black and white film with household materials? Want to know how to set up your own darkroom in your home? Do you want to make prints from your negatives, or scan them into your computer for touch ups and printing? Really anything pertaining to film could be covered here.

Book Arts

Bookbinding: Beginner Through Advanced

I love making books! Making books by hand takes some time, but is really very relaxing. There are many types of bindings and ways to create books and all will be covered here. Hardcover, softcover, perfect binding, stab bindings, and longstitch are just the beginning. Book repair and conservation could also be covered under this section.

Altered Books

Classes here would focus of using books to create new pieces of art through, you guessed it, alteration. While I'm a bit undecided on whether I like seeing books destroyed, I have to admit that the end result can be pretty unique. In a good way. Altered books can take a flat, almost two dimensional object and turn that into something very sculptural and dynamic. Where bookbinding is the physical act of creating a book, altered books are those books turned into something new. Art books could probably fall under the purview of altered books as well.

Making and Using Book Cloth

Book cloth is great for keeping your finished book together since it resists tears far better than paper, but you're often limited to solid colors at your local store. This class would show various ways to turn any fabric into book cloth and various ways to use said bookcloth.

How To Make Books Out Of Anything

Books really can be made out of anything. My first was made out of a USPS mailing box and some dried acrylic paint. I think this class would be more child-friendly since the class is inherently more down to earth and less erudite. I have some craft foamy stuff in a drawer that would make an excellent children's book cover.

Making Boxes

Making boxes is sort of an extension of making hardcover books. Both use the same materials, just in slightly different ways. Making your own boxes, say for jewelry, photos, or books is far easier than you'd think. What are the odds you'll find a box the exact size you'll need anyway? Make it yourself and you can be certain it's perfect. Boxes are a great way to present books, gifts, or portfolios, too.

In Conclusion...

Well, I think that's a good start. Obviously this is just a very general outline of avenues worth exploring. Not knowing most of these arts and crafts myself, I'd need to get in touch with an awful lot of people who share in the same idea I have of a wonderful, free, and open art studio and would be willing to teach to their respective expertise. I know that I've left out plenty of worthy arts and crafts (painting; drawing) worth teaching too, so this list will be pretty heavily amended over time; but like I said, it's a start.

More to come!

A Grand Plan

I don't know about most people, but I always have ideas popping into my head. Most of them are what I'd consider insignificant in terms of their scope. Over the last couple years, Krissy and I have bantered about on varying ideas like selling pictures, crafting things, and so on, while others have suggested we do other things--namely open a bakery or go into construction.

Most of my ideas are not very organized. Krissy would probably disagree, thinking I can come up with a pretty organized plan off the bat, but my idea of organized and hers can be a bit different at times (which is great).

I think that there's a lack of accessible, free and open education; namely in the arts. College really shouldn't bankrupt people, and it hardly guarantees employment. Arts degrees, I suspect, are becoming even less worthwhile since it seems like funding for the arts is always getting cut.

I don't know what it's like now, but I really never took an art class. There were the normal arts and crafts type things in elementary school, but nothing that really encouraged a desire for the arts. I seem to recall cutting construction paper into circles and making a chain out of it. Now that's inspiring! Middle school actually got worse, if you can believe it. In Middle School we had this bizarre system where every single "elective" shared a period. This essentially meant that you spent two weeks in each class: Phys Ed., Health, Library, Art, Wood Shop, Computers, Spanish, French (and more that I'm sure I'm forgetting). This is a terrible "solution" for a mountain of reasons, but that's my exposure to art class as I remember it. My high school, as awesome as it is, did not require art classes and, having never been given the chance to want to like art, I skipped it.

Which takes me to now, where I have a vested interest in art and in a most bizarre turn of events: education. I'm not going to go into detail, but growing up I really did not like school. I think I prefer a more hands-on, learn at your own pace type of environment, rather than the standard approach that treats everyone the same and teaches, primarily, to standardized tests. Creativity is often a casualty in these methods.

Please excuse my rather rapid and poor graphic:

Perhaps I should explain. I'll try to do that in a reasonably coherent way, but I make no promises. My brain tends to go off on tangents.

Some Basics And Background

I've long been a proponent of free stuff. I understand the basic tenets of capitalism and respect the great wealth it has infused into this country. But I can't help but think that that's a bit selfish. Should Exxon-Mobil be rolling in the dough while your average Saudi is dirt poor. Or while Somalia is stricken with the most atrocious bouts of poverty and malnourishment-- far worse than I could possibly begin to fathom.

Or how musicians make little money while the organizations that purport to represent them are filthy filthy rich.
But that's not what this is about. What I want is an unrestricted. accessible place where people can (and will) come together. Not merely in the physical sense either, I want people to come together emotionally and intellectually because I believe that's the backbone of art. And I want this space to invite and encourage anyone to teach, and teach often.

Much has been written that information wants to be free; this is an old debate. but whether or not information wants to be free doesn't matter, it deserves to be free. Modern Science or mathematics would not exist if this basic idea didn't hold true.

The Basics

Don't mind the sentence fragments, this is a pseudo list.

I want to create a community-driven, free, and open space for arts education. I would certainly be open to other types of education as well, but the emphasis would focus on the arts, both arcane and modern.

Small classes, because no thirty people learn the same way, and no instructor ought to be stretched that thin.
I want to create a focus on children, but without alienating adults. I'd like to see children and parents working together. But there'd also be plenty of programs for adults. too.

Really fun informal events like open dance studio where kids and adults can dance together to some sweet jams. Well, the little tykes will probably dance while the parents watch from the perimeter waiting for some other brave adult to make the first move.

Something A Wee Bit Different

I'd like to have a user-friendly and intuitive website that makes all the information and lessons available to anyone, for any use.

I'd really like to encourage the premise of the open exchange of ideas. I feel that by giving away the information and allowing others to see and use it, that they can also improve upon it. This is a good thing. Not everyone is the best teacher in the world (it's statistically impossible) but the simple desire to teach should be celebrated. By teaching in a cooperative community-driven way, any idea can turn into something much bigger.

In a more technical sense, everything released by the "school" would be under a Creative Commons license. Specifically a non-commercial Share-Alike license. It might sound like gobbledygook, but this is the general idea:
We release something (a lesson plan, artwork, a template, et cetera). Someone can take that and share it with whomever they like. But, they cannot do so commercially. They are also free to create a derivative work. But this derivative must also be shared under the same license, ad infinitum. This kind of piracy is encouraged.

Crazy Talk

I'm not going to actually put a price on any of this. Art classes are typically expensive. Between tuition and course supply fees, art classes have a certain barrier to entry that most might find intimidating.

Instead, I'd institute a pay what you can model. I don't want someone to choose between art classes for their child or dinner. No one should ever have to make such a choice. (More on this in a future post.)

I understand there are a lot of kinks to work out, and that creating a non-profit is incredibly complex and that this hardly scratches the surface of what would need to be done, but this is just one post, and I think blogs with lots of words and few pictures can be, well, a bit wordy.

How do I hope to achieve this craziness and what are some more details? We'll just have to wait and see.
More to come...

It's Valentines Day

I've been instructed specifically not to blog about the origins of Valentines Day by my other half. There will be no rant about how Valentines Day is a "hallmark holiday" or how it really caters to women, and in a way sort of forces men to do something for their women today. There will be no mention of the executions of two men named Valentine, both on February 14th of different years. Nor will I delve into their canonizations.

Nope. Not gonna do it. And not just because the wife said so. Truth is, it's kind of depressing to think about all that on a day that's supposed to be happy (and hopefully stress-free).

A lot of people buy things on Valentine's Day, and you have to wonder why? Not "why do they do it" why, why why this day? Do flowers and a card mean more today than some other day? Is Valentine's really a holiday that caters to women and only to them? Is Valentine's a day for a guy to behave so he gets rewarded by his lady (or man)? I don't really think so.

Speaking of which, here is mine. I hope she doesn't get too upset with me over this. ; )

How can one not love this girl?

I don't think that Valentine's, at it's core, meant to become what it is today. I think we made it that way.

No one says you have to give someone a Hallmark card. No one said you have to give anyone flowers, or massages, or anything else. Who says today requires a romantic dinner? What makes it special today? To me, I think it is less special.

The best part about romantic dinners is that they are usually a surprise. They are special because, for all you know, you are the only two people doing it at that very moment. Chances are you are not, but you can believe it to be so.

But on Valentine's Day? Being special, being different is what I think makes a day memorable. You can (and should) shower your significant other with love, gifts, and the like every day of the year. On Valentine's Day, do something different. Make them something by hand, for example. I know no woman who doesn't appreciate something made by hand. And I'm going to assume that guys would feel the same way. I know I do.



Making your own valentine is certainly a start. This couple has been using the same valentine for seventy years. It doesn't have to be anything too fancy. If you are not artistic or crafty, it won't matter. It really is the effort and out put that matter, not the artistic sensibilities behind it. Though, if your other half is an art critic, I cannot guarantee this previous statement.

Maybe that is too simple, or you've been doing that and you want to impress your love with something new, something different. You might try a new, unique craft. Quilling (or paper filigree) is one of those lost crafts that people just don't see much of anymore. It's incredibly inexpensive, all you need is some paper, a quilling tool, and some glue. It costs maybe ten dollars to get started. You could make something like this:



You could go with a different craft, too. Maybe you are clumsy with your fingers, or you have large hands, or can't focus on the small minutiae of quilling. Try making a book. There are all kinds of ways to make, and further customize, a book. It could be a recipe book, a note book, or a book for him or her to write you letters. We personally have this one, and I like it. It's simple and not too overwhelming if you are starting out. Even better is that some books require nothing more than paper, while others do require a few more tools. I assure you though, they're not expensive.

I think an important part of Valentine's Day though, arguably the most important in fact, is every single other day of the year. No amount of neglect can be made up for in one day of flowers and chocolate. No Hallmark card is going to make up for you being a bastard for the rest of the year. It doesn't take much to go a long way. Make them breakfast (Pancakes are yummy). Leave them notes at random, maybe daily before they leave for work. Surprise them every once in awhile. Tell them you're going to go out for dinner, and leave work early to prepare a meal at home instead.

This is not that difficult.

Really, if you're going to be spending the rest of your life with someone, it is in your best interest (and theirs) to treat every day like Valentine's Day.

You'll only have yourself to thank for it.

Let's Give Green Companies A Little Encouragement, Madge.

To begin with, I don't know why I added "Madge" nor do I know who or what "Madge" is. I do know with one hundred percent certainty that it is not Madonna.

That said, I always have a lot of tabs open in my browser. And I usually have several windows open too. I'm going to assume I have around thirty open at this very moment, and most of them are from the New York Times. One article that is really bothering me though is something I've known about for awhile now: Green companies get no respect.

Consider that as a country we rely on oil. Oil from other countries, mind you. Yes, we have oil, but we've also depleted most of it. And I don't think we need to be drilling in the arctic destroying the habitats of polar bears. People who want that can go fuck themselves.

There's coal, yes, but coal isn't green at all. Even clean coal is something of a misnomer. They just take the dirtiness of coal and hide and bury it. Doing that has never come back to bite us in the ass though, right? Coal is awful for the environment, and it's awful for the workers who have to mine it. It literally kills them by the second. I wouldn't work in a coal mine if they paid me ten million dollars an hour, and you shouldn't either. I hate knowing that thousands of families across the country have to deal with the repercussions of coal-mining.

There's natural gas, too. I don't know a lot about natural gas except that it's better for cooking, and T. Boone Pickens gets a hard-on any time he talks about it. But of course he's an oil-turned-gas magnate, so he's biased. Though he does have a very cool name. What I do know is that the way they find gas is not safe.

Basically, they use pressurized water and chemicals to blast through miles of rock to get to the gas. These chemicals are secret. They guard them as if they are the recipe for KFC or Coca-Cola. The only thing is, these chemicals get into the water supply and kill people. While being able to set the water from your faucet on fire might be cool for a YouTube video, I don't think you should be able to ignite your tap water.



Wind and solar are free, though, and there is plenty of solar energy out there. We can even predict solar energy pretty well, what with sunrise and sunset and cloud cover and such. Or we can just do what the Chamber of Commerce wants and ditch renewable energy for Oil and Gas.

Can we, in the economic times in which we find ourselves, continue to fund the type of research and development that were spent in the stimulus package on very high cost energy sources? It may be lovely to think about a world without fossil fuels, but that simply is not America's reality.

Yes, he's right. We shouldn't try to progress at all. Maybe we should wait until we deplete everything.

“Can we, in the economic times in which we find ourselves, continue to fund the type of research and development and the types of monies that were spent in the stimulus package on very high-cost energy sources?” Harbert said….

“It may be lovely to think about a world without fossil fuels, but that simply is not America’s energy reality.”

Which brings me to this New York Times article about a Solar Panel company out of Massachusetts. In a nutshell, because they innovated and with some government assistance from Massachusetts, they grew, eventually becoming the third-largest solar panel company in the country. But now they are closing shop here in America, laying off 800, and shipping production to China. This is unacceptable.

This isn't an isolated incident, either. China is kicking our asses in everything green.

- First Solar plans to build the biggest solar plant...in China

- Congress removing programs that encourage investment in renewable energy.

In its current form, the deal would allow the only effective federal support mechanism for renewable electricity to expire, killing the 20,000 wind energy jobs and 11,200 jobs in geothermal that would be created in 2011, and the 65,000 jobs in solar over the next two years.

In addition, without an extension of the Renewable Energy Grant Program (1603), the domestic wind industry will lay off upwards of 25 percent of its workforce -- 20,000 people

And I agree with Rep Markey (from Massachusetts). The best way to increase jobs is with new industries. How many more jobs in coal, oil, or gas can there be? How many jobs can there be in Solar, wind, and other renewable sources?

Last year, republicans blocked any attempt to move forward on renewable energy, and it cost us, literally. Aside from any jobs that were lost, or simply not created, it lost us investors. With no hope for America to lead in renewable energy, foreign investors had no choice but to put their money elsewhere, costing us trillions of dollars.

These solar panels on the roof of the Jets Training Center? Not American.

There is a bright spot though. We exported more than we imported in 2009, to the tune of $723 million. This is good, but now great. For such a large booming industry, we can do much better. Oil and gas get tens-of-billions of dollars in subsidies alone.

Really, what we ought to do is encourage renewable. By definition, it isn't going anywhere. It is a fact that one day we will run out of oil. Coal will run out, too, as will natural gas. We need to discourage nonrenewable energy and encourage renewable. Why do oil giants need billions of dollars in subsidies? Why cant those subsidies go to progressing our energy policies? There is nothing progressive about oil. Natural gas is leading people to their deaths and destroying ecosystems. Coal, too, is just killing Americans.

Subsidize solar and wind. We need the jobs.

I'll end on a slightly depressing, but nonetheless funny note:

Anatomy of a Greenwash from Paul Scheer

I love satire, but I love informed satire even more.

On Undermining Professional Photographers

Being unemployed has its pitfalls, but it also has it's benefits. One such bonus is that I get to read a lot. Perhaps too much, in fact. I have kind of avoided reading about photography opinion for a few months. Aside from the constant bickering over HDR, Canon vs. Nikon, first party versus third party lenses, stock versus micro stock, et cetera, very little was offered. I just got sick of reading about people complaining. Most egregious, though, are people complaining about others ruining the trade by diluting the market.

I understand their plight. Really, I do. They have been taking photographs for years, and getting a certain wage for that. And now, with digital cameras everywhere, everyone is a photographer, of sorts. Now, everyone can take photos, and we can all get better, because practice is free now. 

The fact is, there are tiers of artistry. I can take a photograph. I can take a better photograph (subjective, I know) than someone. And someone else can take a better photograph than I can. I am not Joe McNally. I could buy all the gear and hire all the help I wanted, I still wouldn't be Joe. I'm not Louis Pang either. I don't know the first thing about photographing a spread for National Geographic or photographing a wedding. So why do I read everywhere that people like me are ruining the field by driving prices down? 

For the record, I'm not, I haven't taken photos for anyone, but let's say I did. According to what I read online, I should charge roughly what  an experienced photographer charges, maybe a little less. But wait, charging just a little less hurts their bottom line, so I shouldn't do that. I'm not as experienced as they are, so I should charge a lot less, right? 

Say I wanted to be a wedding photographer (true story), prices range from $500 all the way to $10,000 or more. On average, prices tend to be $1500 on the low end and $5,000 or so on the higher-than-average end. So what about me? After all, I'm getting married, so I'm going to need a photographer. But I don't exactly have money, so what am I supposed to do? Go without photos? Hell no. So then what? 

What about other people in my situation? What about young couples (or old ones!) who want to get married but don't have a lot of money, but want photos of the event? Is it really hurting anyone for us to pay someone a few hundred dollars to take our photos? Does this really hurt someone charging three, five, or ten times this amount? Does Prada worry about Wal*Mart hurting their clothing sales?

So what is this really about?

I think it's about innovation. I don't think there's been much innovation until recently. Wedding photos have always been pretty boring and staid. But now, they are dynamic. Even the more traditional photos of weddings are more inspired now than in the past. But there are all kinds of wedding photographers now, and that is truly inspiring. Does it matter if some of them charge $500 on Craigslist? I don't think so. 

If you're a photographer who has been in the business, and you have not evolved, that is your problem, not everyone else's. You've missed the boat, and now you need to catch up, like me.

But I can't help but think of people who are far worse than we. I can't help but imagine what child workers in other countries would think of this complaining. What would these photographers do if they made seven cents an hour? Because I bet the people who make our clothes would be more than happy to switch wages, since I don't think many of them can even imagine $500, much less thousands.

I feel like I could have said this all better and more effectively, but the words aren't coming to me. Maybe because I've stopped reading about it, maybe because I'm tired or mentally fatigued. But my point stands. Complaining is not going to fix anything. If someone is undercutting your business, figure out why. Don't just whine and give up. If people are hiring them and not you, it's for a reason. Either they can't afford you, or don't value your work for your price. Reflect. I think you'll find that reflection offers all of the answers. Just keep an open mind. Oh, and one more thing. Innovate, for crying out loud!