The little shop in the village has given me three good reasons to reconsider my decision not to sell my chairs there:
1. They are no longer going to charge me rent.
2. They are going to be asking $125 for a chair like the cat chair and I will be paying a commission of 20% to the person managing the store and selling the goods.
3. The store is opening this coming Monday.
That all sounds fair to me and so I am going for it. Wish us all luck!
Monday, 13 July 2009
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Wet Bed and Those Damned Nails
Sarah and Dan came out yesterday afternoon. Dan flexed his muscles and took the big carpet I have been tripping over for weeks up to the garbage cans, and then moved other stuff up there as well. He looked at the weed eaters and told me what to do with the electric one I can manage (it needs a new spool), got the gas one going, and did some clean-up for me.
After dinner (a yummy chicken and veggie curry that Sarah made), we all went swimming with Remi and Kenya. They took shifts because Lucas was in bed sleeping. Sarah and I swam for ages. I'd forgotten just how great it was to skinny dip at night with a water-loving friend.
Afterwards we all joined the baby. I slept the deep uninterrupted sleep of the innocent -- the kind I only seem to have when I feel safe; when other people are sleeping nearby. Kenya came into my bed ... hence the damp bed this morning.
Off and on, all day, before they arrived, I made banana bread, painted schools of little fish on the rockers, dragonflies on the arms, and clouds and birds above the fish pond, and pulled staples and nails from the other chair. I think that chair would have lasted forever if it had been kept indoors. Where a modern craftsperson would have stapled once, the maker of this chair used twenty-five staples going in two directions plus nails and glue. I worked out a rhythm ... thin wedge to start the lift ... screw driver to finish it ... and pliers to pull the whole thing out ... off to the side ... thin wedge ......... until my back began to complain and I had pile to put in the garbage can.
It is almost clear of the staples, nails, burlap and damask now. I am looking at a lovely bright blue silk damask with silvery tracings as the one to use ... maybe paint the chair black with silvery trim? Not sure. I will make a sketch and try out paint colours on paper first, I think. This chair will be happy because it is clean, living indoors away from pigeons who used it for an outhouse, and wearing elegant clothing, not because it is funky. I think!
And I think I will follow the guidelines of the original seat maker ... burlap or the modern equivalent stapled onto the wood frame, dense foam glued in place, the covering stapled on, then a bordering trim attached with pretty upholstery nails.
With this chair and the little fluorescent rocker, I feel that anything I do has to improve it, but this one makes different demands on my newly forming skills. I hope I have what it takes to do the seat properly.
After dinner (a yummy chicken and veggie curry that Sarah made), we all went swimming with Remi and Kenya. They took shifts because Lucas was in bed sleeping. Sarah and I swam for ages. I'd forgotten just how great it was to skinny dip at night with a water-loving friend.
Afterwards we all joined the baby. I slept the deep uninterrupted sleep of the innocent -- the kind I only seem to have when I feel safe; when other people are sleeping nearby. Kenya came into my bed ... hence the damp bed this morning.
Off and on, all day, before they arrived, I made banana bread, painted schools of little fish on the rockers, dragonflies on the arms, and clouds and birds above the fish pond, and pulled staples and nails from the other chair. I think that chair would have lasted forever if it had been kept indoors. Where a modern craftsperson would have stapled once, the maker of this chair used twenty-five staples going in two directions plus nails and glue. I worked out a rhythm ... thin wedge to start the lift ... screw driver to finish it ... and pliers to pull the whole thing out ... off to the side ... thin wedge ......... until my back began to complain and I had pile to put in the garbage can.
It is almost clear of the staples, nails, burlap and damask now. I am looking at a lovely bright blue silk damask with silvery tracings as the one to use ... maybe paint the chair black with silvery trim? Not sure. I will make a sketch and try out paint colours on paper first, I think. This chair will be happy because it is clean, living indoors away from pigeons who used it for an outhouse, and wearing elegant clothing, not because it is funky. I think!
And I think I will follow the guidelines of the original seat maker ... burlap or the modern equivalent stapled onto the wood frame, dense foam glued in place, the covering stapled on, then a bordering trim attached with pretty upholstery nails.
With this chair and the little fluorescent rocker, I feel that anything I do has to improve it, but this one makes different demands on my newly forming skills. I hope I have what it takes to do the seat properly.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
Kandinsky, Kayaks and Snakes
I have insomnia ... again ... damn ...
Yesterday I had such good intentions but, as often happens these days, I was led astray.
I began to work on the lazy susan and decided that I didn't like the symmetry that was happening. I was working within a circle and using triangles, curved lines and circles, but I began to make symmetrical patterns with the same objects. It looked more like wallpaper or fabric than one of my funky things. So I put down the chalk and went up to look at Kandinsky's art. He used the same shapes but didn't repeat them. Rather he balanced the composition by suggesting a circle sometimes or by placing two small triangles opposite a larger one ... So ... I made myself some large pieces of paper the size of the lazy susan and began drawing. It is getting there, but it's not finished yet.
At lunch time I took my book and my plate down to the deck, ate and then went out in the kayak with Kenya swimming behind me. Occasionally she swam to shore and made her way through the woods. At Tanya's she was polite enough to shake a fair distance away from Tanya's chaise longue where she was reading. At the beach she scared one child and delighted two others by rushing up to say hello.
Then I cut the grass and beheaded a small garter snake. Instinctively, I said, "I didn't mean to." It didn't help the snake, of course, to know that his death was entirely accidental, but I thought about how much I have changed to have said that. I have had a phobia about snakes all my life. I realize now that I am no longer afraid of them. Oh, they can still startle a shriek out of me when they appear suddenly from under a board I am moving, but I no longer feel the abject terror or sick horror that used to seize me. No longer do I have that adrenalin rush that makes flight at amazing speed my instantaneous reaction.
I did some housework and walked down to collect the mail, but I didn't sand any chairs or do any painting. I did play with the silk scraps and think about the sexy black chair with the gracefully slim legs. And I did finish reading The Flying Troutmans and begin reading Barack Obama's autobiography.
I cooked chicken on the barbecue and ate dinner alone because Tamarak and company had brake trouble that kept them home. And then I watched Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash movie that is one of my all time favourites, while knitting a pair of little girl's socks from the wool/silk/nylon blend I bought on Wednesday. They feel lovely and silky smooth. And then it was bedtime ...
Tomorrow is another day ... and it may just disappear in a haze of indecision, inaction and enjoyment too. Aren't I lucky?
Yesterday I had such good intentions but, as often happens these days, I was led astray.
I began to work on the lazy susan and decided that I didn't like the symmetry that was happening. I was working within a circle and using triangles, curved lines and circles, but I began to make symmetrical patterns with the same objects. It looked more like wallpaper or fabric than one of my funky things. So I put down the chalk and went up to look at Kandinsky's art. He used the same shapes but didn't repeat them. Rather he balanced the composition by suggesting a circle sometimes or by placing two small triangles opposite a larger one ... So ... I made myself some large pieces of paper the size of the lazy susan and began drawing. It is getting there, but it's not finished yet.
At lunch time I took my book and my plate down to the deck, ate and then went out in the kayak with Kenya swimming behind me. Occasionally she swam to shore and made her way through the woods. At Tanya's she was polite enough to shake a fair distance away from Tanya's chaise longue where she was reading. At the beach she scared one child and delighted two others by rushing up to say hello.
Then I cut the grass and beheaded a small garter snake. Instinctively, I said, "I didn't mean to." It didn't help the snake, of course, to know that his death was entirely accidental, but I thought about how much I have changed to have said that. I have had a phobia about snakes all my life. I realize now that I am no longer afraid of them. Oh, they can still startle a shriek out of me when they appear suddenly from under a board I am moving, but I no longer feel the abject terror or sick horror that used to seize me. No longer do I have that adrenalin rush that makes flight at amazing speed my instantaneous reaction.
I did some housework and walked down to collect the mail, but I didn't sand any chairs or do any painting. I did play with the silk scraps and think about the sexy black chair with the gracefully slim legs. And I did finish reading The Flying Troutmans and begin reading Barack Obama's autobiography.
I cooked chicken on the barbecue and ate dinner alone because Tamarak and company had brake trouble that kept them home. And then I watched Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash movie that is one of my all time favourites, while knitting a pair of little girl's socks from the wool/silk/nylon blend I bought on Wednesday. They feel lovely and silky smooth. And then it was bedtime ...
Tomorrow is another day ... and it may just disappear in a haze of indecision, inaction and enjoyment too. Aren't I lucky?
Friday, 10 July 2009
In a Quandary
Lazy Morning Write
I am disappointed with the way the artisans' centre is unfolding. They expect a year's commitment of $50 per month towards the rent plus a 20% commission for selling each item. If (as I think would be reasonable) I were to get $75 for one of my chairs that would mean that I would have to make and sell 10 chairs before I made a cent ... and that does not take into consideration the cost of the chair, the materials needed to clean, sand and paint the thing or the value of my time. And ... the shop does not intend to open till September 1 ... almost the end of the season for tourists, cottagers and train customers. So even optimistically, I would be making no money at all in the first year; in fact I would be subsidizing each sale with my time and the materials needed to create the chair.
One option would be to increase the price but we have been advised not to do that; that "our increased sales would more than make up for the lower return on each item." Bull roar, I say. I can only produce a pair of socks or a chair at a certain rate. I cannot increase production. I don't have a Chinese crew living in my house being paid in rice.
Mud Mama has told me that it is most unusual to have to pay both rent and a commission, and she thinks the commission should be about 15%. Even if 20% were reasonable, though, I don't like the idea of rent as well.
Another option is to rent a stall at the Wakefield market for $20 a pop and sell only on summer Saturday mornings when the train comes in and people come to buy honey, local produce and goodies. It is a much more vibrant place this year with music and way more vendors than in the past. I could sell socks and small pieces and have a piece or two of furniture available for sale or just to show the kind of work I am doing ... and give potential customers the necessary contact information if they wanted to buy larger pieces from home.
And another option is to try to sell on-line at Etsy.
And I haven't given up on the idea of a weekend open house with Tamarack and Carrie.
Any ideas would be welcome.
One of the chairs I got from Erin's barn is defeating my efforts to clean it up. Her mom must have started to strip it and the stripper and paint layers have become solid ... so stripping it might be the only way to go, and I am not sure I want to bother if I am just going to paint it ... but we will see.
A second one has lovely graceful legs, and needs not only painting but also an upholstered seat. I am envisioning this one painted black with sexy bits of scarlet and a velvet and silk seat. I have some wonderful silk scraps that I brought home from Mongolia ... but ... when I was rummaging around looking for them I found another possibility ... a pieced square I made years ago using silk and flocked velvet ... done in purple, pink and burgundy with bits of green and ivory ... so my black lady of the night's chair might have to lose its scarlet touches. But first I have get all those damned upholstery nails out!
Today is a glorious day to be outside cutting grass with my little hand mower and washing and sanding chairs. I also have a stool and a child's rocking chair that just need final touches before polyurethaning and a lazy susan with a chalk drawing finished (I think ...) that is ready for the fun part of painting.
Have a great sunny day today!
I am disappointed with the way the artisans' centre is unfolding. They expect a year's commitment of $50 per month towards the rent plus a 20% commission for selling each item. If (as I think would be reasonable) I were to get $75 for one of my chairs that would mean that I would have to make and sell 10 chairs before I made a cent ... and that does not take into consideration the cost of the chair, the materials needed to clean, sand and paint the thing or the value of my time. And ... the shop does not intend to open till September 1 ... almost the end of the season for tourists, cottagers and train customers. So even optimistically, I would be making no money at all in the first year; in fact I would be subsidizing each sale with my time and the materials needed to create the chair.
One option would be to increase the price but we have been advised not to do that; that "our increased sales would more than make up for the lower return on each item." Bull roar, I say. I can only produce a pair of socks or a chair at a certain rate. I cannot increase production. I don't have a Chinese crew living in my house being paid in rice.
Mud Mama has told me that it is most unusual to have to pay both rent and a commission, and she thinks the commission should be about 15%. Even if 20% were reasonable, though, I don't like the idea of rent as well.
Another option is to rent a stall at the Wakefield market for $20 a pop and sell only on summer Saturday mornings when the train comes in and people come to buy honey, local produce and goodies. It is a much more vibrant place this year with music and way more vendors than in the past. I could sell socks and small pieces and have a piece or two of furniture available for sale or just to show the kind of work I am doing ... and give potential customers the necessary contact information if they wanted to buy larger pieces from home.
And another option is to try to sell on-line at Etsy.
And I haven't given up on the idea of a weekend open house with Tamarack and Carrie.
Any ideas would be welcome.
One of the chairs I got from Erin's barn is defeating my efforts to clean it up. Her mom must have started to strip it and the stripper and paint layers have become solid ... so stripping it might be the only way to go, and I am not sure I want to bother if I am just going to paint it ... but we will see.
A second one has lovely graceful legs, and needs not only painting but also an upholstered seat. I am envisioning this one painted black with sexy bits of scarlet and a velvet and silk seat. I have some wonderful silk scraps that I brought home from Mongolia ... but ... when I was rummaging around looking for them I found another possibility ... a pieced square I made years ago using silk and flocked velvet ... done in purple, pink and burgundy with bits of green and ivory ... so my black lady of the night's chair might have to lose its scarlet touches. But first I have get all those damned upholstery nails out!
Today is a glorious day to be outside cutting grass with my little hand mower and washing and sanding chairs. I also have a stool and a child's rocking chair that just need final touches before polyurethaning and a lazy susan with a chalk drawing finished (I think ...) that is ready for the fun part of painting.
Have a great sunny day today!
Thursday, 9 July 2009
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