Love the dovetail analogy! Splitting the line on the waste side is what we were taught to aim for….glad I achieved it here.

You’re right, people do want to understand exactly “why” they should pay the price of our work.

“It is part of our job to engender a knowledgeable appreciation, marketing, if you will.”

Dare I take this one step further and say it is our privilege and not just our job.

Thanks for sharing your article. I appreciate the approach of whether our work truly matters.

“Studio furniture” is indeed an industry or art world term. Not common vernacular, you’re right. The most common terms are custom furniture, art furniture, one of a kind, high end furniture, bench crafted furniture…..basically any descriptive term relating the nature of how it’s made. The public does indeed need more education and exposure to to high end custom furniture. Most people know it still exists but they immediately dismiss it as an option before ever investigating it for themselves. It’s up to folks like you to inform, educate and entertain the public on the beauty and enhancement that comes with hand made objects of distinction.

Thanks.

This splits the line on the waste side and fits right from the saw without trimming, if you know what I mean, and I know you do!

I think it is important for craftspeople-artists to articulate to the general public (and to ourselves) what the value is in what we make. It would be nice, in a perfect world, if our creations spoke for themselves without us having to annotate them. However, people justifiably want to understand what makes our work special and why it costs a lot of money. It is part of our job to engender a knowledgeable appreciation, marketing, if you will. Your essay does that very well. Thanks!

I wrote on this topic recently and you might enjoy reading it:
http://www.rpwoodwork.com/blog/2009/03/20/personal-woodworking-it-matters/

Rob

I hope you don’t mind all the questions, but I have an interest in the topic both for its own sake and because it’s similar to what I face in talking about hand-knotted carpets.

The new blog looks great, by the way. Spare and elegant, like your furniture.