Wolf Kiessling
11-24-2003, 12:49 PM
I attended the woodcarvers' show in Amarillo this weekend and thought I would post a report. I usually don't do this but there were a couple of interesting, at least to me, items this year.
First, and foremost, I have been grousing the last couple of years over a slump/drop/nonexistence of sales. Well, at this show we managed to sell a couple of bowls and four hiking sticks. The other interesting thing, I think, is that I decided to try an experiment. As the result of a discussion I had been reading regarding the turning of thick versus thin bowls I decided to turn a very thick 2" bowl, approximately 9" diameter by 4" high, just to see what kind of a reaction it would bring. It was turned from a nasty, ugly chunk of magnolia and I finished it off with a combination of walnut, cherry and fruitwood colored danish oils that was brought to a fairly glossy sheen. The bottom was left unfinished to show the natural attributes. The piece was very heavy and I referred to it as a desk ornament/paper weight that would also serve as a catch-all. It was amazing, almost everyone just loved the piece, it drew just as much attention as my "crowning" piece and was the first bowl to sell. The only other bowl to sell was what I call the crowning piece. It was a hackberry bowl with a wonderful, in my eyes, combination of spalting, borer holes, voids and bark residue. To use Bill G.'s words, many people lusted after it but just didn't want to pay the price. The couple that ended up with it made four trips to my table to eyeball, handle and plead for the bowl and finally weaseled me down 15 percent when I let it go. It was kind of humerous, I probably could have gotten full price for it because they kept watching my table while they were visiting other displays and every time someone would pick up that bowl they would go into a mild panic. I had discussed it with SWMBO and I was not going to discount the bowl. However, ironically, I started lusting after a Wecheer 330 rotary tool, complete with a great set of handpieces and now made with reverse rotation, so, the last time they showed up I told them they could have it at the aformentioned discount if they promised to love and cherish it forever. They actually agreed to that.
In the competition, I did just fair to middlin'. I entered pieces in seven classes and won two 1st, three 2nd and two 3rd places.
The attached pix are of our show table, I took it in three shots because it would not fit in one.
First, and foremost, I have been grousing the last couple of years over a slump/drop/nonexistence of sales. Well, at this show we managed to sell a couple of bowls and four hiking sticks. The other interesting thing, I think, is that I decided to try an experiment. As the result of a discussion I had been reading regarding the turning of thick versus thin bowls I decided to turn a very thick 2" bowl, approximately 9" diameter by 4" high, just to see what kind of a reaction it would bring. It was turned from a nasty, ugly chunk of magnolia and I finished it off with a combination of walnut, cherry and fruitwood colored danish oils that was brought to a fairly glossy sheen. The bottom was left unfinished to show the natural attributes. The piece was very heavy and I referred to it as a desk ornament/paper weight that would also serve as a catch-all. It was amazing, almost everyone just loved the piece, it drew just as much attention as my "crowning" piece and was the first bowl to sell. The only other bowl to sell was what I call the crowning piece. It was a hackberry bowl with a wonderful, in my eyes, combination of spalting, borer holes, voids and bark residue. To use Bill G.'s words, many people lusted after it but just didn't want to pay the price. The couple that ended up with it made four trips to my table to eyeball, handle and plead for the bowl and finally weaseled me down 15 percent when I let it go. It was kind of humerous, I probably could have gotten full price for it because they kept watching my table while they were visiting other displays and every time someone would pick up that bowl they would go into a mild panic. I had discussed it with SWMBO and I was not going to discount the bowl. However, ironically, I started lusting after a Wecheer 330 rotary tool, complete with a great set of handpieces and now made with reverse rotation, so, the last time they showed up I told them they could have it at the aformentioned discount if they promised to love and cherish it forever. They actually agreed to that.
In the competition, I did just fair to middlin'. I entered pieces in seven classes and won two 1st, three 2nd and two 3rd places.
The attached pix are of our show table, I took it in three shots because it would not fit in one.