To sell or not to sell? Do you?

Paul_Guraedy · #1 01-09-2005, 09:30 AM

I have among my friends those who make their living at carving. To sell or not to sell is not usually a question with them. What about the rest of us? I have friends in this group who occasionally sell, never sell, and one who will not even give one of his serious carvings to his children. He does carve Christmas ornaments for the club to sell for the Children's Miracle Network. Then, I have other friends who occasionally give a carving away; but, would never sell one.

I usually sell two or three carvings each year and give others to friends and relatives. So far, I have regretted selling/giving away each one. Because, I tell myself, "I will do one like it for my collection when I get the famous rountoit." Have not gotten the rountoit yet! The best of my carvings are gone! But, it does help support the habit. Interestingly, I will not sell a piece that I have carved and is already in my collection. Don't know why! But, it has to be a carving started with the idea of selling/giving it away. Better not delve into the psychology of that!

Luckily, I carve for relaxation, the physical pleasure of working with wood, and the pure joy of creating an artistic piece. This is increased many times over if others also see my work as art. Additionally, I find meditation in woodcarving. When I am doing the rote part (burning feathers, etc.), I cannot mentally solve problems or the work will suffer. But, since the work does not require concious thought I seem to enter a state similar to meditation where time, problems and the rest of the world cease to exist. When I come back to the real world, I feel good, refreshed and problems do not seem as big as they were. This makes even the normally boring parts of carving pleasurable.

So, do you sell or give your carvings away?

Nancy_G · #2 01-09-2005, 10:33 AM

I sell everything I carve. I have my earliest carvings - lol - they don't deserve the title "carvings". The most recent one is dated 1991. I'm never/rarely happy with what I do so I'm glad to see them gone and the income means I can buy decoys !!
I do carve for the pleasure, the challenge - not the money. Oh, the money is nice, but not necessary. That challenge is necessary.

Colin_Partridge · #3 01-09-2005, 11:02 AM

LIke Nancy I sell most of my carvings but I also do not make my living from woodcarving the money is never an issue. The money I make from woodcarving affords me the little extra's in life and lots of new tools. As I said I do sell a lot of carvings but if I had to rely on it for a living I wouldnt survive. I give away a lot of my carvings, a lot to charity and to family and friends. I keep very few, mind you the ones that the family have will be handed down for generations to come. Plus I can look at them any time I want to. Now as most of my carvings are very large I wouldnt have room for them anyway. At first I didnt sell my carvings but after a while the better half got tired of them all over the yard so I decided to sell them. To sell or to keep them is your decision its your choice.
Colin

Donna_T · #4 01-09-2005, 11:46 AM

Likewise, I carve for pleasure and a sense of accomplishment and most of my carvings are kept or given away. I usually give a few away for charity fund raisers each year, too. However, When I think of it.....I like to take photos of some of my more unusual carvings to keep in an album. I try to take pictures from all sides--of course, I crop all the background so I can get all views of one carving on a page.

I didn't start doing this until I'd been carving for 4-5 years and although they weren't particularly good carvings back then, I sold them or gave most of them away and now wish I had some kind of "evidence" of them other than a listing in my index file.

Course, Colin, my carvings go on tables and on shelves around the house and aren't large "YARD ORNAMENTS." That might be a problem!!

Donna T

Hugh · #5 01-09-2005, 01:02 PM

Selling your carvings is rewarding, but especially to people that truly appreciate the work that goes into them. I hope I haven't told this before, but here goes. At Christmas this year a man ordered an Owl, when he came to pick it up, he was visibly excited. He said I didn't expect a carving like this, it has even got feathers on it. That is almost reward enough. I do give a few carvings away to family, and when I sell, I keep my prices to a level where they cover my time and material. When people invest their hard earned money, I believe they appreciate your work, that much more. I believe that the best judge of your carvings, is the person that will spend their money to have one.
I appreciate this board, it is truly a good group of people. I try to control my sense of humour, but can't help

in

around. Tryng not to take life too seriously.

Hi_Ho_Sliver · #6 01-09-2005, 01:15 PM

Well "cousin"...how come I haven't gotten a carving.....I know, you'll give me the bird! LOL

Hugh · #7 01-09-2005, 01:33 PM

Which side of the family are you from? We recently discoverd family from Oregon, but this is the first from Arizona.

Hi_Ho_Sliver · #8 01-09-2005, 02:35 PM

we sorta migrated south LOL...stopped under a shade cactus and been here since

Clifford_Parker · #9 01-09-2005, 03:02 PM

If I didn't sell most of my sticks the house would soon be full of them. The other-half already says that my carving corner and the stand by the door have too many finished sticks and canes in them. She wasn't too happy when I brought in 20 new sticks from the garage to get me through the winter either. Though she doesn't seem to mind the extra income.

macktruck · #10 01-09-2005, 03:56 PM

I agree with Hugh. when someone is willing to spend their hard earned money on one of my carvings is a real compliment.
I give some to family as gifts each year. (my daughters have quite a few ).
macktruck