Thanks and encouragment

Bailey-
Thanks for bringing up this interesting subject.
I really like the idea of adding a web page for "works seeking a patron" or whatever. I agree, it's hard to put so much work into a piece without ever knowing when it will sell. I found a patron myself, though on a much smaller scale. As a college student (at the time) I didn't have the funds to buy all the gold this guy wanted. And, I made a few things for him that I would have never made on my own. It really did push my skills.
 
I am pleased everyone has voiced their opinions, and it has made me rethink some of my marketing strategy. So much of what makers do is done over the workbench, and I wonder if many put a great deal of though into marketing beyond trade shows and a magazine ad. That has worked for me, as well as many others, and I am not trying to paint it as a simpletons method. But at a certain point, making hunters and plain folders doesn't satisfy either my artistic urges, or my customers desire for something new, exciting and different. It's almost like a glass celing in that I cna see the other side, but didn't have an idea of how to get there until this exchange. So, I am working on a new website, and it will have a page for projects I want to do. Some are high end, some are just a little out of the ordinary ( like a katana with realistic flame painjob and carved flame fittings) :D . I think I may even make a notebook of sketches to bring to shows and hammer-ins.

We makers are always on the look out for signs of another trend, like any other industry. It would be great to see a trend towards more artistic collaborations and meaningfull pieces for both makers and customers. Not all of these projects have to be expensive. What I guess I am really hopeing for is more of an exchange of ideas between customers and makers. I have made several knives starting with the thought "this would be cool, hopefully someone else will ike it too". Sometimes they do......sometimes they don't. With the idea presented, if everyone turns their nose up at it, I know it is a flop and won't waste time on it.

Good stuff in this tread, thanks everyone!!
 
First let me extend my condolences regarding the events of this year... I can only imagine the emotional and physical drains that must have occurred. But given the content of this thread, I feel that your strength and your artistic drive will only serve to carry you beyond those events...

And again, as in another recent thread, you raise an issue that I have been mulling over for some time now. You posted a thread in which you displayed an interpretation of a European Hirschhanger. I, in my own bull headed way, implied I felt it was kind of incomplete in that I have only seen said style of blade in a package consisting of the main blade and an auxillary knife and fork... Of course, it didn't sink in that you were simply doing a rendition of the main blade, and you mentioned that again, when you make something all that complex... Will it sell? (Of course that piece was already sold!LOL!! :eek: )

Which leads me to trying to add my .02 to this thread...

I can't personally afford to drop x amount of money on an artist's imagination the way Patronage in the arts has traditionally done. Which I think is the central thrust in your ruminations on this thread. I also don't think a very big percentage of the denizens of this forum can, either. So, what's a maker with all that talent to do...

It's been mentioned that getting your work out to a bigger audience might help. And you replied that your website could be designed to reflect your aspirations...

That might work, and it is how I've run into the works of makers that I would like someday to own... Jerry Fisk and Jay Hendrickson are two that come to mind who produce highly artistic pieces but you'll mostly only see them on the net or at knife related functions. But, if memory serves, the knife known as King Tut's Dagger, one of the first major art knives that I became familiar with, became famous really because it was displayed in several mainstream media... giving the artist much wider recognition than maybe other artists producing equally ornate work. Some of Zaza Ravishelli's work has earned him a reputation outside of the knife world again because it made it into the public eye in other forms of media. And to another top end maker of the obscure... Bruce Bump is in the category you are describing, and of which I think you are now a full blown member...

Your work is becoming some of the finest and most artistically stirring. I think one way you should look is to displaying some of your work, where appropriate, in other non-knife related venues... Your work with gold and precious metals and the techniques required qualify you for a lot of jewellry and prescious metals shows. Also, your pursuit of historical pieces, if presented in as historically accurate form as the original, would see interest from those into the appreciation of things historical... (which is why I made that comment about the original Hirschanger - to some degree, I would love to collect modern versions of certain historical pieces but I can't really afford to! )

And I would also think that some of your current client base has ideas for venues that would appreciate their prizes and that could lead to increased interest in their social circles. (IIRC, that hanger went to someone overseas... I've heard of several knives that have been made for royalty all across the Arab world, and for the rich and famous in Eurpoe as well as the Hollywood crowd.)

Well, after all this rambling, I'm not sure I really contributed anything, but I do have to tell you that there probably aren't too many of us on this forum who wouldn't hesitate a nano second to drop ten grand on you for a commission if we had that much laying around! :D

I wish you luck and I look forward to seeing your work evolve and your career travel in the path you imagine...

Happy Hammerin'...
 
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