Bill Grumbine
11-20-2003, 10:44 AM
Good morning all
Here are some pictures of some pieces I had at my one and only show per year. some of the wood, featured in pictures below, was given to me by attendees at the Five Barns Picnic last August. It was quite an interesting show, and I will comment on some things as I go along.
<img src= "http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/artiststour1103.jpg" >
Here is a shot of the table overall. In one respect, this is an easy show to do, because it is in my shop - uhh, I mean studio. On the other hand, I have to clean up quite a bit. For two days a year I become an artist and the shop is magically transformed into a studio. The only magic about it was that we could actually see the floor after two or three days of cleaning. Unlkike some of you here, I actually make things that are flat and square, so you will see some of them if you look hard enough. In the background are some Shaker inspired quilt stands. I had some other furniture as well, but it has already been posted in the past. The quilts on the racks were made by the lady who was showing in the shop with me. She does a lot of stuff with old fabrics.
I even went so far as to make some (gasp!) pens! After making them by the thousands for years, I vowed never to make another once I got to a shop big enough to do other things. But, SWMBO was doing some cleaning, and found some unused kits, so I broke down and made ten pens. I'm not as fast as I used to be, but it was only a short time and they were polished up and ready to go. They sold well, so I will have to resist the temptation to make more. I don't think I will have to try too hard though. I was having flashbacks to the 90s, working late in the shop to get these things turned for the next day, the smell of Behlen's in the air, and sticky fingers from polishing them on the lathe.
<img src= "http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/artiststour1103pear.jpg" >
This is a pear bowl from a piece of wood Mike Rubes brought to the Five Barns Picnic last August. I roughed it right after the picnic since fruitwood has a propensity to crack, and this is the result. This stuff was real nice to turn, and took a very nice polish. My apologies for the setting - these were taken 10 minutes before show time, which is about when things finally came together. I had nowhere else to put stuff for pictures. The bowl is approximately 11" in diameter and 4" high.
<img src= "http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/artiststour1103osage.jpg" >
This is a piece of osage orange given to me by Dominic Greco, also at the Five Barns Picnic. If I could have collected 25 cents from every person who asked me if that was the natural color of the wood, I could stop working and retire. This bowl turned out quite nice, and if I had had a stack of them, I could have put them out one at a time and sold them all. Not everyone who was curious liked that electric yellow orange color, but a lot of people were asking about more in the process. Finished size is approximately 11" x 4". Both these bowls (as all of the bowls in this lot) are finished with Watco Danish Oil and buffed on a Beall wheel.
<img src= "http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/artiststour1103unknown.jpg" >
Last picture (for now). This is a piece of unknown foreign wood given to me by Dan Donaldson, again at the picnic. It was a small lump, big enough for two confetti lights. Both sold early on in the show, and the buyers did not seem to care that I had no idea what kind of wood it was. It has a bit of a coarse grain sturcture, but it polished up real nice and took finish well. It was very hard and heavy, and it is a sure thing it doesn't grow around here. This was finished off with Bartley's Gel Varnish. That stuff works great on small pieces that are finished off the lathe. It gives a nice shine without having to buff it up, as well as giving some decent protection from wear.
I did extremely well at this show. I sold a bunch of stuff, and as I was running out of bowls, people started ordering ones as yet unmade. I had two hollow forms hidden amongst a bunch of roughouts and covered with dust in the background. I don't make them very often, only enough to prove to people that I can. Two ladies came in and after going over the stuff for sale at the table started poking around in the roughout pile. I didn't really mind, since I had been selling pieces to be finished. All of a sudden the one lady reached in behind the grinder and produced this hollow form I had finished off last year and asked if she could buy it. In fact, here is a picture (all right, I lied about the other one being the last picture).
<img src ="http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/maplevessel050201.jpg">
Now when this vessel was finished, it was a sight to behold. However, it had been knocked to the floor by the wind on a day when I had all the shop doors open, and had suffered a crack and had its insert knocked out. A lady asked to buy it last year, but I didn't want to sell it. She demanded one exactly like it, and when I could not produce it, I lost a sale. This time, I figured, hey, she looked it over and she likes it, so I sold it to her. After completing the deal, she informed me that she and her companion were scouting the tour for artists to participate in a museum show about 40 minutes from here. She went on to say that they both liked my work and thought that Iw ould be a good fit. I am now waiting to hear from them on the details. Go figure.
I had a bunch of people order bowls that were not made. One lady tried to talk me into selling her a bowl that was already sold to another person. She argued vehemently with me, telling me it was an impulse buy and that she wanted it NOW. When I refused to back down she relented and ordered one.
I had very good numbers and high traffic, however the highest honor I had was to have other woodworkers come in and actually buy some of my stuff. It is one thing to have people in the craft admire my work, but when they plunk down money to take some home, that is an honor that cannot be exceeded to my way of thinking.
Oh yeah, I had a spectacular wild cherry bowl that I had promised others I would get some pictures of. The customer bought it ahead of the show and then left it there for display. I had intended to photograph it afterwards, but she reappeared to spend more money, and since it was close to the end, she took her other purchases with her. I may be able to get it back for a picture before she sends it to its recipient, but if not, there are more in the works - three more just like it (I hope). So now I must repair to the shop and start cranking out the stuff that people have paid for but do not yet have.
Bill
Here are some pictures of some pieces I had at my one and only show per year. some of the wood, featured in pictures below, was given to me by attendees at the Five Barns Picnic last August. It was quite an interesting show, and I will comment on some things as I go along.
<img src= "http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/artiststour1103.jpg" >
Here is a shot of the table overall. In one respect, this is an easy show to do, because it is in my shop - uhh, I mean studio. On the other hand, I have to clean up quite a bit. For two days a year I become an artist and the shop is magically transformed into a studio. The only magic about it was that we could actually see the floor after two or three days of cleaning. Unlkike some of you here, I actually make things that are flat and square, so you will see some of them if you look hard enough. In the background are some Shaker inspired quilt stands. I had some other furniture as well, but it has already been posted in the past. The quilts on the racks were made by the lady who was showing in the shop with me. She does a lot of stuff with old fabrics.
I even went so far as to make some (gasp!) pens! After making them by the thousands for years, I vowed never to make another once I got to a shop big enough to do other things. But, SWMBO was doing some cleaning, and found some unused kits, so I broke down and made ten pens. I'm not as fast as I used to be, but it was only a short time and they were polished up and ready to go. They sold well, so I will have to resist the temptation to make more. I don't think I will have to try too hard though. I was having flashbacks to the 90s, working late in the shop to get these things turned for the next day, the smell of Behlen's in the air, and sticky fingers from polishing them on the lathe.
<img src= "http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/artiststour1103pear.jpg" >
This is a pear bowl from a piece of wood Mike Rubes brought to the Five Barns Picnic last August. I roughed it right after the picnic since fruitwood has a propensity to crack, and this is the result. This stuff was real nice to turn, and took a very nice polish. My apologies for the setting - these were taken 10 minutes before show time, which is about when things finally came together. I had nowhere else to put stuff for pictures. The bowl is approximately 11" in diameter and 4" high.
<img src= "http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/artiststour1103osage.jpg" >
This is a piece of osage orange given to me by Dominic Greco, also at the Five Barns Picnic. If I could have collected 25 cents from every person who asked me if that was the natural color of the wood, I could stop working and retire. This bowl turned out quite nice, and if I had had a stack of them, I could have put them out one at a time and sold them all. Not everyone who was curious liked that electric yellow orange color, but a lot of people were asking about more in the process. Finished size is approximately 11" x 4". Both these bowls (as all of the bowls in this lot) are finished with Watco Danish Oil and buffed on a Beall wheel.
<img src= "http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/artiststour1103unknown.jpg" >
Last picture (for now). This is a piece of unknown foreign wood given to me by Dan Donaldson, again at the picnic. It was a small lump, big enough for two confetti lights. Both sold early on in the show, and the buyers did not seem to care that I had no idea what kind of wood it was. It has a bit of a coarse grain sturcture, but it polished up real nice and took finish well. It was very hard and heavy, and it is a sure thing it doesn't grow around here. This was finished off with Bartley's Gel Varnish. That stuff works great on small pieces that are finished off the lathe. It gives a nice shine without having to buff it up, as well as giving some decent protection from wear.
I did extremely well at this show. I sold a bunch of stuff, and as I was running out of bowls, people started ordering ones as yet unmade. I had two hollow forms hidden amongst a bunch of roughouts and covered with dust in the background. I don't make them very often, only enough to prove to people that I can. Two ladies came in and after going over the stuff for sale at the table started poking around in the roughout pile. I didn't really mind, since I had been selling pieces to be finished. All of a sudden the one lady reached in behind the grinder and produced this hollow form I had finished off last year and asked if she could buy it. In fact, here is a picture (all right, I lied about the other one being the last picture).
<img src ="http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/maplevessel050201.jpg">
Now when this vessel was finished, it was a sight to behold. However, it had been knocked to the floor by the wind on a day when I had all the shop doors open, and had suffered a crack and had its insert knocked out. A lady asked to buy it last year, but I didn't want to sell it. She demanded one exactly like it, and when I could not produce it, I lost a sale. This time, I figured, hey, she looked it over and she likes it, so I sold it to her. After completing the deal, she informed me that she and her companion were scouting the tour for artists to participate in a museum show about 40 minutes from here. She went on to say that they both liked my work and thought that Iw ould be a good fit. I am now waiting to hear from them on the details. Go figure.
I had a bunch of people order bowls that were not made. One lady tried to talk me into selling her a bowl that was already sold to another person. She argued vehemently with me, telling me it was an impulse buy and that she wanted it NOW. When I refused to back down she relented and ordered one.
I had very good numbers and high traffic, however the highest honor I had was to have other woodworkers come in and actually buy some of my stuff. It is one thing to have people in the craft admire my work, but when they plunk down money to take some home, that is an honor that cannot be exceeded to my way of thinking.
Oh yeah, I had a spectacular wild cherry bowl that I had promised others I would get some pictures of. The customer bought it ahead of the show and then left it there for display. I had intended to photograph it afterwards, but she reappeared to spend more money, and since it was close to the end, she took her other purchases with her. I may be able to get it back for a picture before she sends it to its recipient, but if not, there are more in the works - three more just like it (I hope). So now I must repair to the shop and start cranking out the stuff that people have paid for but do not yet have.
Bill