On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 19:22:01 -0500, Bill Day
wrote:

well, I learned something today, the first day of that 3 day show. The
'cheaper' piece ,
http://users.starpower.net/extree/wood/PB235536.JPG
sold within an hour and a half at $245...ane the little piece at the
bottom right, which was just a flat section I had bandsawed off in the
mounting process and then polished, brought $20 soon after!..The woman
who got it said she was going to pierce the edges with a Dremel and add
thread or fiber windings and wear it as a necklace.

The only point of this is to note that there is a market for almost ANY
pretty piece of wood, and that it is terribly hard to answer Arch's
original question easily...since it took me 4-5 hours of hard work to
make that bowl, and the little flat slices took maybe 10-15 minutes
each..You do the math..*wry smile*.......I did learn long ago that
'perceived value' is the important thing....if a shiny piece of wood is
going to be used as jewelry by a woman, it is worth more than the same
thing made into a refrigerator magnet......

In the same way, turned items are *usually* of greater 'perceived value'
as art objects than as candy dishes...especially if they have
natural/rough edges or holes in the sides! Later in the day today, I
finally sold a few 'useful' bowls with solid edges......but I am aware I
always need to have some of both types available, as some people WANT
functional items and/or have a limited budget.

Maybe in a few more years, I'll write a treatise on pricing! (I HATE
pricing! I know now why many turners keep everything or just give stuff
away as gifts..
....so, we shall see how it all goes for two more days.....

I have a few more thoughts on value, following one of the best shows I
have ever had......thus, I am appending them to this earlier post so
they can all be read as one unit for those who may have missed the
first.

We all know there are several things which can bring 'value' to a
turning..
usefulness: lidded boxes, candy dishes,goblets, salad bowls...etc..

aesthetics: shape, color, grain, finish, size (large OR small)..etc.. A
subset of this is 'features' like worm holes , bark, voids, limbs, etc.
Somewhere in the list is things that are 'added', like dying, painting,
inlay, bleaching..etc.

name recognition: work by a 'known' artist, or from a famous wood or
tree (The Wye Oak in Maryland was recently cut up for projects). Pink
Ivory 'could' be considered here, as I HAVE sold some simply because of
the appeal of owning something considered to be rare.

personal interest: a tree they know, a wood from their home or friends
home or town...etc.

now, let me add also...the ARTISTS own input and interest. That is, the
customers realization that the maker cared and thought and struggled to
create the item.....
These last 3 categories I sort of summarize with the idea that people
like to buy a *story*, not just a turning.
What I have found recently is that the more I talk about wood and
it's folklore and history and properties, the more I sell it. (If, of
course, it is a decent item fairly priced). .......Sure...you have to
learn when to be quiet and let the folks just look, but sitting in a
corner reading a book and having no 'information' beyond a common name
of the wood is courting disaster, unless you have really amazing pieces
and/or prices. (Yes, pieces sell in galleries without the artist there
to explain it all, but usually only the best pieces...and I suspect that
IF one was able to be there to add the 'story' dimension, sales would be
even better)
It is possible to provide some printed information with wooden
items (beyond noting the wood type), but I am SURE that several of my
sales this past weekend were concluded because I gave the potential
customer a 'feel' for the wood over & above the standard aesthetics and
usefulness values. (The last sale of the day was a pretty , but simple
bowl of Chechem--'Metopium browneii', also known as "Black Poisonwood",
from the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico...Explaining why this wood was only
fairly recently available because of the nasty sap in the bark made it
much more interesting than just a bowl of pretty wood.)
I try to learn ALL the genus/species names of the wood and know where
it comes from and what its characteristics are, and provide them IF the
customer seems to care..(not all do! *wry grin*)

I hope this long-winded analysis doesn't sound like I'm preaching, or
that I think you all don't already realize much of this, whether you
have written it out or not!...I just wanted to put these thoughts in one
place where they might stimulate more musings like Arch's and maybe
serve to focus more ideas on one of the most sticky issues in
crafts....value.