Sneak Preview

August - Just whoosh and it is gone - My list of things not completed is growing, but my list of things done is growing, too.

We set a goal of finishing the remodeling of our web site by August 31 - did not make it...Click on "Sneak Preview" at the top to see the progress we have made.

But Phil did get our workshop moved (at least most of it!) We reconfigured the space behind the gallery/showroom, and he built an addition - including slab, walls, roof, wiring... I helped with building the doors, and moving the tools and work tables... So, now all of our cutting, assembling and finish work is in the same building as the gluing, shipping and selling! (also, Lis silver, glass, and enamel studios)

We moved in just about a week and a half ago - just before the dreaded Katrina. It was really hot work, but now we do not have to drive 13 miles to do the work, and back again to ship and sell...

It is a good thing. We should be able to do more of what we do - not crippled by distance.

Gasoline started rising on August 31 - within an hour the stations had gone up 40 cents - We are in a fairly rural area, and the purveyors here don't expect more gasoline for at least two weeks.

So, we are glad we can save the gas and the time.

I have just gotten the band saw box site about ready to go live. It is actually there now, but just not linked.

I will finish populating the site over the next few weeks as we get more things done.

We are praying for the poor. I am not a religious person, but I know that it is right and just to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, care for the poor, and love our fellow man.

The horrors in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast have "lifted the skirts" of America and shown the underlying poverty and our true colors. I would hope and pray our leaders will work with generosity of spirit to ease the suffering. We desperately need compassionate leadership in our country. It is not right to sit back and point at desperation with blame. We are better than that..

So, I am working on our new band saw, hair stick and kitchen site, and will be listing more on Amazon and ebay... and doing what little I can to help my neighbors to the south, east, north, and west... We need to love our neighbors as ourselves, and act to the best of our ability...

http://www.worldofebay.blogspot.com/

Visit this site to get the LATEST and find great links to products for sale on ebay from the Sellers Resource Group. From art and craft made by the sellers (like us) (wood, clay, ceramics, soaps, jewelry, needlepoint, perfumes...) to antiques, booksellers, collectibles, tools, hookahs, clothing, shoes, clothing, toys, puzzles, just too many things to list here...

We have our kitchen ware, (spatulas, boards, salad servers, and containers), a few of our art and puzzle boxes, and as always our wonderful hand crafted hair sticks....

You won't be disappointed in the products offered by this group of professional sellers!

My Response

To: Michael S. Miller Editor in Chief of Toledo Free Press

Hi Michael –
I read your op-ed in the Toledo Free Press regarding the Ann Arbor Art Fair. First, let me say, I appreciate your point of view. I can understand your anger as most Americans find their wallets woefully inadequate these days (maybe yours, as well). When you see things in the marketplace which are beyond your means, then it rightfully makes you angry – me, too. Ultimately, as you already know, the marketplace decides the value of things. If things are overpriced – they will not sell. Certainly, you did not purchase at the show. I would hope you might look a bit further into why you are angry, and examine the realities of the marketplace in the United States.

First, the economy is fueled by the middle class – people with good jobs who have a bit extra. Our middle class is evaporating as our jobs go away.

We as artists are struggling in America – we live in poverty, have no access to medical insurance, no retirement in our future - we live on the edge – all the time. Many of us are like the working poor, except that we don’t have a paycheck. We are not taking from the culture, we are adding to it.

Don’t blame the craftsmen and artists..

I cannot speak to the pricing of art in this show, but I CAN speak to what we have to do in order to survive as artists.

· First, the American artist has to get a living wage in order to survive. We have to pay rent, utilities, insurance, raw materials, tools and maintenance as well as transportation, and all the selling and display equipment and supplies.. In other words, it costs us just like it would cost anyone in “manufacturing”.

· Additionally, the way American Craft and Art are marketed has changed. We are competing with imported crafts and art for shelf space even within the fairs like Ann Arbor. Some of us “wholesale” and some of us “retail” and many of us have to have second incomes.


· Our markets (including art fairs) have been inundated with imported items. Our designs are picked up and copied by factories in China which are state run and employ forced labor (soldiers, prisoners, children, young girls). Not only are they working within an artificial monetary system which keep the prices low, they are paying no taxes, non-subsistence or NO wages, AND our large retailers are bringing in these products in direct competition with American made stuff.



As American jobs go away, the American middle class evaporates, the market for American Craft will become increasingly “skewed”. Look at it this way, if no one can afford an (essentially) unknown artist’s work for $100, then why not price it at $5000. So, the “unencumbered” artists you saw at that show, each and every one of them, started with a concept, gathered materials, created, finished, framed, labeled, packed, hauled, unpacked, created a nice display, dressed for selling, put their stuff out there, and manned their booth for a minimum of 10 hours a day.

Maybe your anger is misplaced. I am glad you and your family enjoyed the museum, and sorry that you experienced the rage at the art fair, even to the extent of publicly expressing it. I hope you feel better. But, are you attacking the wrong people? Many of the artists whose work you saw in the museum suffered in their lifetime.

Those paintings in the Toledo Museum are most likely valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and provide a tax write off to the wealthy people and organizations that put them on display for free to the “masses”. Corporations can give large gifts and endowments to fine museums to offset their tax liability. The profits are often at the expense of American jobs.

I might add, on a personal level, that we (craftsmen for over 30 years) are working harder for less than ever in our lives. And we are falling backwards. I am beginning to resent the affluence I see on the television, and second guess the choices in my life. I have become the old woman with knurled painful hands, who must continue to work in order to put bread on the table. I have given up on art shows, because they are most often not, and now sell my work in a “shed” gallery on the side of the road, online on my web site, on ebay, on Amazon, and through a few galleries. You might ask HOW do I supply all those venues? That is not a problem, my few sales on each add up to enough to sustain us… I price my work at the lowest price I can, without LOSING money.

Most sincerely,
Martha Baerreis
Designs by Baerreis
P O Box 397
Tellico Plains, TN 37385.

Woo-Hoo

Gee, we are so busy we can't figure out if we are coming or going. ,,, Our son George has moved on from the Bain mattox band - That is really a typical pattern for him - he sets a goal, reaches it and then it has to keep growing with him or he lets it go. He has moved back to his old haunts in Charleston, SC - works part time, and plays music every chance he can. He is working on new music, so we are looking forward to hearing it soon.

Our son Nathan and his wife saw an ultrasound yesterday. The little one was doing back flips and just seems to be getting on swimmingly!! (my little joke!) They got a real due date from the doctor and we are looking at becoming grandparents between Christmas and New Year! Amazing how that feels.... we had come to accept the relationship we had with our grown children! Now we will have to clean up our act and baby proof the house again!

Lis is taking a silversmithing class in Georgia - she is the craftswoman, and the artist - Her work is growing incredibly - and her studio as well. We enjoy seeing her develop and evolve her style. So comforting to watch as her customers return and return to add another piece! (she jokes that she is doing her best to support the family!)

Phil and I have decided to take the leap and sell some of our work to galleries. We had a few gallery accounts when we lived in Texas, and since then, we were just too busy making and selling to try to do any wholesale. Our web business is really up from last year. The shop in Coker Creek is as well, but we decided the economy is so iffy, we had better set up another basket to put our eggs in. We are already working like crazy, but I think we can handle it... especially if we are careful to offer items which will work well for galleries... so, look for our hair sticks and barrettes to come to a spa or gallery near you soon!!

The shade now is very deep when the sun comes out - the foliage is full. Hard to believe the days are getting shorter. I guess we will have a few tropical storm days, and lots more truly hot days. We still resist air conditioning, so we take lots of showers!

The blackberries are just starting to ripen, and the blueberries and huckleberries are next. Time to start picking and freezing - and drinking lots of tall clear glasses of ice tea!

Summertime

We have been busy this week - in spite of the heat. I don't know why we insist on living without air conditioning... Our thoughts are that we are more aclimated to the seasons, and the extremes - as our workshop is pretty open. We also pat ourselves on the back because we are using less energy, and contributing less to the pollution.

But gee whiz! It is HOT!

In spite of that, we have managed to make and ship a bunch of hair sticks, kitchen implements, a heart box, and the ordered "hug" is almost ready to ship!

We are now closing Sunday - Wednesday so we can get more production done.

We are running on Zen hours during those days. I call it "while you are shipping!" Monday, while I was doing the shipping, we had two German tourists in who were very nice. They bought a piece of enamel work by Lis, and three boxes, so the happenstance, Zen thing worked.

The one fellow came over and began his trek in Los Angeles - Six Weeks on a big Bike!! He is retired, and his friend joined him two weeks ago! They came to see America, and will visit us on the web when they get home!

I am getting more requests from shops for reselling our hair sticks and barrettes... We are not set up for wholesale, so I will most likely pass, but maybe not. Every time I do a custom order for a hairstick, I learn a bit more. We are beginning to add a bit of Lis' cloisonne' and enamel work to some - They will be very popular, I think.

I have joined the American Craft Forum and am listening to what some artists and gallery owners are thinking about. The economy, imports, demographics - lots of conversations to think about.

Our sales on ebay and amazon are holding... we are preparing for the last half of the year.

Christmas buying starts in ernest in July!

Can't believe how fast time is going by.

May Days

Well, here we are, in May already. The year is almost half done, and my work is half of that done.

I promised myself I would try to post more often here, and will try to keep this current.

Phil is doing more with the twigs, and we have planted and spiffed up the porch at the gallery. Lis is firing some recycled glass which we are making into porch mobiles - copper twists with bits of glass and pipes and mirrors! A good way to use left over stuff.

My brother has struck out on his own, to sell his photos and paintings - and we are cheering him on!

Lis is doing more intricate enamel work and cloisonne' - oh so pretty!

She is doing this with just a small hand saw and enamels!

I have begun to list our puzzle boxes on amazon and ebay - and our web site is almost ready to go! This one is made of an African Mahogany like wood called Guarea - aromatic and very full of curls and burls!

Til tomorrow!

martha

more marketing

I have been consumed for the past weeks with listing. Phil & I have been working together for years, collaborating in the design, production, and marketing of our craft pieces. Somehow, we have managed to keep things together. It has been stressful though, as we never could do it all, and even now, we are it - Either Phil or me.

We always seem to run in circles though.

• We never have enough time.
• We set goals which are basically unattainable.
• As craftsmen, we understand that in order to sell, we have to have product. We have to get it to market.
• All these years, we have done art shows and markets.
• We make things to sell.
• We listen to our customers, and try to respond. We listen to ourselves, and try to be true to our nature, and create from the heart.

Many of the things we do are mutually exclusive, so we have to make do and do the best we can. That means, we never have a full inventory.

Ever since we started selling online, we have had to deal with the problem of the time it takes to list an individual item vs the price for which we sell it.

Our marketing on line has developed to the point earlier this year, in which on all three of our online venues, (eBay, Amazon and our Web Site) we are listing items which we can repeat. We make so many different items, that we never have them all made up, so we are listing primarily the items we can get shipped within a day or so, if we have to make them from scratch!

That may sound easy to most people, but trying to work with dozens of wood species, styles, and three venues is, to me, a relative untalented web person, pretty formidable.

This week, we started on the barrettes. I am making all kinds of spread sheets to keep track of which clip size, wood species, and shape is listed where!

Here are some pretties:


So, maybe if we had a staff or something. But anyway, we are adding every day, We cut, sand, polish, glue, and then we take a picture and write a description, and list them. We have not started on the hairsticks yet, or the boxes.

We know it is not like going to market or a show with WHATEVER we manage to get finished, but it feels right, and we are building a virtual inventory, the likes of which we could never have anywhere but here !

MARKETING

Which comes first? the chicken or the egg???

The product or the market???

As a designer and a craftswoman, I often find myself in the position of having to explain the way I choose to market the things I make. I have access to many markets. Lots of options - I can do art shows, juried and non-juried, marketplaces, wholesale to galleries and/or gift shops....

My peers fall into some general categories:

• The "artist" - one who finds selling something insurance people do.
• The "technique junkie" - one who gets bored quickly, and only makes just one!
• The "production liner" - one who makes things in parts by the dozens, and never really puts too much time into anything and not too much attention either.
• The "micro-manager" - who aims for perfection, and will continue to work on the same piece until it becomes so time consuming, that it is too expensive to sell.

We have a little of all of them in us, but have spent most of our time making things to sell.

Then, we have had to figure out how to sell our work.

One of the main problems we face as crafts people who make everything we sell, is having enough inventory. Our time is very precious. There is not enough time, and our work is physical - we stand all day with saws and sanders, hand planes, carving knives. We have to merchandise our wares, whether we are online or in our gallery showroom. We wear a lot of hats, and sometimes two or three at a time.

So, the upshot is:

You can find our items in our little shop at mile marker 34 on Highway 68 in Coker Creek, Tn

We make it a point to be consistent in our treatment of customers wherever you find us.

Designs by Baerreis

Baerreis-Art-Craft-and-Collectibles/Hair-Stick-Page

Truth

.

When our children were tiny twos, it was important to me that they know their name and address. We had lots of little games in the car. We would talk about the Colorado River (and the Colorado Liver and the Colorado Peas!). They counted.

One little routine went: I would ask,"What's your name, and where do you live?". They would answer, "(their name), Austin, Texas, USA, World, Universe!!" and squeal with laughter. I am talking about very small children who understood they were part of something much bigger than our little house and family.

As they grew, they understood accountability. They had a great deal of freedom, and their discipline came from within.

They had rights.


It is not so complicated. We have rules, mores - most of it is common sense.

What I don't understand is leaders who declare themselves to be moral and upright when they turn their face away from extreme injustice. Didn't they have mothers who taught them about truth? Right and Wrong? Accountability? I really just don't understand.

Kitchen Catalogue

I have been taxing my brain(s), right & left - getting pictures and listings of things I sell online.

Today it is my EBAY Store. Click on the link above to view some of my new listings:

(Pretty, and FUNCTIONAL, too!)


I also have these available on my web site:
Designs by Baerreis

True Colors

I have been thinking that maybe people really need a board like the "Freeboard Forum" which just closed.... I find that I haven't the time to keep up and blog, and although I always think I would like to write this or that, the reality is that I don't have that much to say, unless it is responding to someone else's comments.

I believe few people understand "freedom". They limit themselves to political definitions learned in grammar school. In our country, we also confuse "freedom" with "patriotism".

Many people think they are free, when in fact they remain bound by convention, fear and expectations. True dialogue,is mutually respectful, and rare. Dialogue requires that we listen to other's points of view, and consider the ideas and perspective. While listening, we are not busy composing our response. That comes after. We all tend to make assumptions, jump to conclusions and make uneducated judgments about each other. When a comment is made which could be considered radical or dangerous, (by some) our response is often to postulate and protect the image we want to project.

I think the freeboard reached a point at which some people, who had not experienced open dialogue began to express their real opinions in a forum which had a range of perspectives. It is easy to discuss ideas with people in agreement with you; but expressing dissenting opinions may make some feel vulnerable to some form of retribution or kharmic payback. Maybe a few were uncomfortable with the harshness and reality of their words - maybe when they read their own posts, their own unpleasantness frightens them and they resort to attack rather than standing for what they believe.

I say if you have the mindset of Carl Rove, then stand up and be who you are. He does not apologize.

Maybe it is a developmental thing. After years of being one persona in public, and another in the privacy of their own alone "space" (wherever that might be). Showing our true colors in public is somewhat like putting our face in the water the first time before we learn to swim!

Some take naturally to the water, and some recoil from it, and may never go any further. Those that do, can float, experiencing weightlessness in the water - taking in the sun and watching the clouds go by - free of their burdensome weight. Experiencing freedom of thought is empowering and nurturing. We absorb the elements of air, water and sunshine while we swim in water, and we can learn and absorb ideas, knowledge, and wisdom from clear thought shared in dialogue. Freedom is like that.

We can be different from each other. We can disagree. We can grow in our natural directions. What is right for me is no more or less ok than what is right for you.

And when people act out and attack others for their ideas and positions, it is back on them - they hurt themselves. I believe this.... Reality is in our perceptions and dreams and our interactions with one another, our world and our maker.

I say to all who have different opinions from me - I will try to listen, at least once to your arguments - and only ask that you listen to mine.

Thanks Mary Lu!

YO YO YO YO YO

Driving up our mountain from the post office this afternoon I was struck with YO. So strong that the song started coming

YO, Spring is not too far!!!
The sap says YO,
The limbs of the trees stretch YO, YO, YO,
The buds are thickening, the air is warm today,
Nature dominates
The trees are singing,

stomping

dancing

eagle soaring on air currents

spotting rabbit nurture for his eggs,

rose bush echoes YO, YO, YO,

earth says YO-om! YO-om! YO-om!

Intensity of late winter preparations so verbal that even I can hear...

YO-YO-YO

patterns of nature

beats of the heart

breathe in breathe out

inhale YO YO YO

exhale YOYOYOYO

It will snow again, YO YO YO

but the earth in East Tennessee is warming

Yearning for the seed to sprout

YO YO YO YO YO YO I sing with the trees

YO YO YO I sing with the earth and the rocks

YO YO YO YO I sing with the sky's streams of golden light and silver moisture

YO

The mood fits the day

Well, I have a knack for prediction. Monday, I felt the impending crisis and wrote about it in my first post. In the evening, we had several electrical surges, and I got the computer turned off before it blew up. A little later, on checking emails, I received a scathing message from a relative, to which I did reply. I told Phil that email was burning the wires as it came through. Then, as if to calm them all, an uncle died this morning. Now all attention will be directed that way for a while.

We dressed the wood for the harvest table today. Really nice hickory and maple. I think I may stain this one, as it is to be rustic; It is hard to look at the wood, and see the grain and not want to polish it.

I feel lucky to work with wood. The grain in wood is like the sky. You look up, and see a beautiful pattern of light, cloud and color; look away for a moment, and it is gone, only to be replaced by an equally stunning display. I am soothed by the predictability in nature: Patterns in wood, shadow and light in the sky, current in the water, flames in the fire, air blowing through the trees....The patterns seem infinite, yet somehow always familiar.

I have to believe that one thing that seperates us as humans in nature is our ability to change the patterns of our lives. We are born, dependent, and knowing nothing but our family. We think those are all there is. Sometimes, it is so important to change our life patterns, not to dishonor or disrespect, but rather because we come to know better.

To blog or not to blog...

I can't believe it is already February. I have a list of projects that is even longer than at the beginning of the year.

Today was beautiful in our mountains. Crisp in the morning with a touch of frost; then up into the 40's and sunshine! Even so, the mountains have a grizzle of snow.

We have been revamping and cleaning our little gallery/showroom this week. Took everything out except what we wanted to keep. Phil says we stretched the walls! Next week, we start making in ernest.

This January is the first one since 1997 that we were somewhat normal... if any are ever normal.

So, how many thoughts when looking at a blank page. It is easy to find words in response to another when writing. One says, then another comments, then soon it is a conversation.

When left to only the thoughts in my own mind, it is hard to know where to start. So many things on my mind...

• diet - Phil is diabetic, so we spend a lot of time keeping his sugar from whacking by eating right. We don't get enough exercise, and keep putting off walking, but we committed to 9:00am this Saturday with at least one other person.
• online venues - I am so behind in my work, yet here I am writing for cyberspace. maybe this will organize my thoughts.
• family - dysfunction rules in the family I grew up in. Unfortunate, lots of denial, and crises... one is looming.
• juggling - designing, making, selling - that is what I do. So nice not to have a job.
• current events - kind of like the dysfunctional family i grew up in - denial, manipulation, insanity, if the part offends - cut it off.

So, i think i will start out there. and see where it takes me. i used to write poetry, and illustrate them. i love to doodle with numbers and lines and alphabet letters, let them flow into picture - poems. i think i will just let the immediacy of the words flow.

my name is martha, and i am a craftswoman.

http://www.climbingbear.com