On Thu, 5 Jan 2006 09:14:47 -0500, (Arch) wrote:

snip

Anyway just to suggest a hypothetical argument to fan the flames; does
it somehow seem not quite right for a busy 'Leading Light' (definition:
a turner who publishes excessively so as not to perish) to have work
begun and mostly turned or finished by a talented but unknown
journeyman; barely touched by himself, yet signed and sold as a 'Mr.
Wonderful' original?

snip out of context from other rambling

Well, one collection of rambling thoughts deserve another...

Does the journeyman count as an apprentice? Could that journeyman end
up being so talented that he/she starts a studio and becomes
well-known? Does that affect our appraisal of this situation?

Does creating jobs for others where there might be none count as a
good thing? Would this journeyman otherwise be employed as a turner,
doing something he loves and earning money, or would he instead be an
accountant or burger flipper? Is his life enhanced by his employment
as a journeyman turner?

Does Martha Stewart make all the products that bear her name? Does she
let the child labor that does the manufacturing in other countries
sign the work too? Did she sign the license plates she made in jail,
despite the fact that she didn't smelt her own ore?

Is the buying public for such works of art the
gourmet-coffee-quaffing, Lexus-driving, ultra-fashinable set of our
country? Do they deserve to pay through the nose for this kind of art?
Would it be ethical to use dried turds in a layer of a bowl and call
it "biologically prepared vegetable fiber" and then sell it to these
people for an extra $2000?

Given the choice, would you rather be A) An impoverished and fairly
unknown turner who produces nice works of art which sell for a modest
price and are wholly self-produced, or B) A well-off turner who uses a
few people to produce like-quality works of art which you only do
about 10% of the work on? Which one puts better food on the table?
Would you be able to afford that nice Powermatic/Vicmarc? Better
tools? A bigger, nicer, and safer workshop? A better spouse?

We live in a world where star power is worth an awful lot, and name
dropping is a big deal. "Oh yes, that is an actual so-and-so turning."

I write and record music, and burn my own cds of the albums I make.
I'm sure that your favorite cd by your favorite artist was not
actually manufactured by that artist. Does that make my cd better?
Does that makeyou want to give me lots of money? Please?

All in fun and contemplation, no insult or slight intended.

Mark Pollock
Amatuer woodturner, musician, and fencer.