got to love it

[blanchard65]

You know I have only been carving for about 6 months and I love it. I have made a few nice projects. Every time I show them to family and a friends they say I should sell them. I do this because I love to do it and they don't understand I can sit on the porch when it is raining or when I am camping and take a piece of wood and get rid of all the parts that don't belong and make something out of it. If I made it to sell, first of all I wouldn't even make wages for 1966 never mind today. 2nd I hate to give my first peices to anyone I don't like how they came out and they are a gauge of my progress. I have a full time job that pays most of the bill lol. I want a hobby not a job. how do I tell them that. Straight forward dosen/t seem to work

[jmischel]

blanchard: Like you, I do this for fun. And if I were to try to sell my carvings, I figure I'd get paid about $2 per hour.

I, too, have people tell me that I should sell my carvings. Some, I just thank for the compliment. To others I say, "I do this for fun. If I were selling my carvings then it'd be like a job. And I already have one of those."

To shut up the persistent, I'll offer to sell the carving I'm working on for $20. So far, nobody's taken me up on the offer.

[mdallensr]

As long as you don't sell a carving, your carvings are priceless. Sell one, and you'll confirm they're not worth much in dollars. Their worth or value, in satisfaction for the carver, and as a treasure for the gift recipient, is much greater and, in fact, priceless. I know some carvers with limited income, and they sell enough each year to cover the cost of their hobby; that makes good sense. Turning an enjoyable hobby into a miserable business doesn't sound like anything I want to do. Mike

[Buffalo Bif]

I like the road you're on. Stay there if it makes you happy, smile and shrug your shoulders at the ones who want you to sell, give them a carving if you like them, and keep having fun. I open a beer or pour a cup of coffee, sit down to whittle, and look up later to find a flat full beer or a long cold coffee. It's all good.

[Ed Redwine]

Most of us do this out of a passion for carving. Looks like you know the secret already.

[Donsexton]

I have sold carvings that took hundreds of hours for next to nothing and sold paintings that took nothing for hundreds. I still maintain that most folks that buy art buy what they think their peers will like. If you do sell I hope you “make bank” at the end of the day this is just a hobby for most of us. Most of my buddies that play golf don’t get paid for that hobby.

[kdispoto]

Just asked your "family and friends" to buy them at a fair price (say $20/hour) - that might zip them up.

[Dpinkham]

I do my carving for fun, and most importantly when I have time. So, if I ever decide to sell one, I'm going to sell only to be able to advance my hobby. If I buy a piece of wood (cause I can't find one), then I'll sell the end piece for the cost of the wood. I want to develop my hobby so that I don't have to sink lots of money into it. That would take away some of the joy. I've already given one of my carvings away, and as mentioned before, it became priceless at that point.

Keep carvin.

[Coker]

I usually give my carvings away. However if someone orders something special, then I charge a fee. It gives me money to buy more wood. I sold a piece one time to a man for 20.00 and he tried to talk me down in price. I told him I would sell it to him for the same amount that he makes per hour. When I told him I had about 6 hours in it, He handed me 25.00 and didn't say a word.

[JuliePup7]

I literally just started on this wonderful hobby about a month ago, and I already know that I would sure hate to have a deadline put on me that I have to have a piece done by, or to have a value placed on anything I create. That would take most of the fun out of it. I totally agree with you guys

~Julie