In the eye of the beholder?

[shed9]

Have to agree in that the name calling is uncalled for, however the critique of the artwork itself is totally fair game.

If you imprint a rough sketch of a fairy onto a nasty bit of ply offcut and then advertise it on Ebay for £110 you are going to take some heat, especially from other people that work with wood.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The current mood in society says we're all unique and special snowflakes, and therefore all our efforts deserve serious attention and unalloyed praise.

Personally I think the pendulum has swung too far, and we need to be reminded of the hard reality that achieving anything worthwhile requires rigorous application and long hours of practise.

I commented to a friend, a musician, how someone made an instrument look so easy. His reply - "have you any idea how many tens of thousands of hours it takes to make something that difficult look that easy?"

 

[Mr_P]

I would like to say Thank You Mr Rafael Zetter. Thank you for proving that it doesn't matter if you are an adult, you can still be as spiteful as a 4 year old. Yes, it was wrongly listed on price, and actually a first piece ever attempted, as I'm sure we've all done.

Funny it was listed twice and the one linked to was the cheaper at £110.

£180 here BIN
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fairy-faerie- ... Sw3ydV4XRf

A few tips for you,
You can definetely adjust the price of Buy it Now's after the start and I'm pretty sure you can adjust auctions downwards as well.

Stay clear of Disney copyright infringement, ie tinkerbell and snow white. Heard tales of people having accounts suspened.

Most practice pieces end up in the bin or stuck on Mummies fridge door.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I see it's been taken down. Lost or broken. He's probably safe, though - it didn't look remotely like Tinkerbell.

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

The current mood in society says we're all unique and special snowflakes, and therefore all our efforts deserve serious attention and unalloyed praise.

Personally I think the pendulum has swung too far, and we need to be reminded of the hard reality that achieving anything worthwhile requires rigorous application and long hours of practise.

I know what you mean but sometimes I think the exact opposite. We live in a world of professionalism where things are expected to be perfect. It's the mindset that says it's not worth making your own table because you can probably buy a better one from oak furniture land, or it's not worth knowing a few songs on the piano or guitar because you can put on a cd by someone better than you. There is a certain satisfaction to be gained from actually doing stuff. A lot of people get stuck into only doing the one thing they earn from and pay professionals to do everything else, maybe there is some wisdom in this, I hardly see myself as being in a position to be a life coach, but personally I like to know how things around me work and how to fix/make them.
Sometimes at work I refuse to do jobs on peoples boats if I think they should do it themselves. I had a customer the other day that wanted to me to "install" a new battery. She was going to call a mechanic in specially (from 5 miles away) but as she was in the dock she asked if I could do it. It involves loosening three 1/2" nuts and lifting the battery out, placing a new one in and tightening the nuts. Somehow she had convinced herself that the "installation" required a marine engineer. I showed her exactly what to do (she even owned a spanner!!) and made her do it.

Having said that do I consider the piece in question to be worth anything like £110, well no, but what's the harm of someone putting it on ebay, no one has to buy it and most likely no one ever will, and if they did it would be their choice

Paddy

 

[heimlaga]

I think it is a pretty good practise piece. It might even deserve some praise..... if it was called a practise piece and sold for 3 pounds to cover the cost of the material.

 

[custard]

it's not worth making your own table because you can probably buy a better one from oak furniture land

Good points...but just for the record, I regularly make tables that are about a gazillion times better than anything from Oak Furniture Land!

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

it's not worth making your own table because you can probably buy a better one from oak furniture land

Good points...but just for the record, I regularly make tables that are about a gazillion times better than anything from Oak Furniture Land!

For sure YOU do, but you're a professional furniture maker. It's the mindset that it's not worth trying things outside of your speciality that I'm discussing. Or that it's not worth doing anything that isn't perfect. That said I am also a great believer in doing things to the absolute best of your abilities and that properly learning skills take time and dedication. Actually I'm losing my track of what I'm trying to say, I just felt bad for the guy being upset and being called a half wit.
It's also worth considering that criticism should be accepted and learnt from. When I first kitted out a narrow boat I was dead proud and everyone told me it was great. A friend of mine saw it and his first comment was that his woodwork teacher would have been disgusted because the brass screw heads were not all aligned, I felt a little miffed, but now I always align my screws, this was more useful to me than all the positive comments.
Paddy

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

There is a certain satisfaction to be gained from actually doing stuff.

Absolutely, and I agree with pretty much everything else in your post too.

But there are practice pieces, there are pieces good enough to keep yourself (or give away to family & friends), and then there's stuff good enough to sell. To me those are three definite strata.

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

Fair point Sporky.

Custard, to be clear, I can make tables much better than oak furniture land (although perhaps not a gazillion times better) and the impression I get of your work and attention to detail and accuracy from your posts (which I always read and hope to learn from) is that your work is probably close to a gazillion times better than mine, and a site faster to boot. I really wish you had a website as I would love to see your workshop and more of your work, you may find it helps with sales and profile. Saying that I don't have a site for the dock because we have more work than we can handle as it is.

Gazillion doesn't get pulled up by the spell checker, is it actually a word?

Paddy

 

[custard]

Fair point Sporky.

Custard, to be clear, I can make tables much better than oak furniture land (although perhaps not a gazillion times better) and the impression I get of your work and attention to detail and accuracy from your posts (which I always read and hope to learn from) is that your work is probably close to a gazillion times better than mine, and a site faster to boot. I really wish you had a website as I would love to see your workshop and more of your work, you may find it helps with sales and profile. Saying that I don't have a site for the dock because we have more work than we can handle as it is.

Gazillion doesn't get pulled up by the spell checker, is it actually a word?

Paddy

Hello Paddy, under the metric system a gazillion is a little bit more than a bazillion!

Funnily enough I am looking at starting a web site, I hope to have it up and running by the end of March. I've got the domain name sorted, and I'm pestering clients to give me access to past pieces so I can have them photographed. But I'm not entirely clear why I'm doing it, other than people keep telling me that's what I should be doing!

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

Hello Paddy, under the metric system a gazillion is a little bit more than a bazillion!

I always get them the wrong way 'round.

 

[lurker]

it's not worth making your own table because you can probably buy a better one from oak furniture land

Good points...but just for the record, I regularly make tables that are about a gazillion times better than anything from Oak Furniture Land!

The problem is very few people would appreciate its better than oak furniture land.
I made something for a friend of erindoors who told me it was "really good, as good as something that she could buy in John Lewis" I know she meant well but I thought it was a damn insult, :evil:

 

[NazNomad]

I made something for a friend of erindoors who told me it was "really good, as good as something that she could buy in John Lewis"

People think that if a company can waste £7 Million on one advert, they MUST sell awesome stuff. #-o :lol:

 

[CHJ]

Gazillion doesn't get pulled up by the spell checker, is it actually a word?

Regularly used in North American communications to add emphasis and represent an unspecified large number, I've heard several variations of spelling on the theme at times.

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

People think that if a company can waste £7 Million on one advert, they MUST sell awesome stuff. #-o :lol:

What makes you think the money was wasted?

 

[NazNomad]

How many more people were aware of a store called John Lewis after the advert aired?

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

A little off topic but all this talk of John Lewis makes me think of a little second hand fridge shop in Stoke Newington, North London, called "SELL FRIDGES"

 

[Bm101]

Gazillion doesn't get pulled up by the spell checker, is it actually a word?

Regularly used in North American communications to add emphasis and represent an unspecified large number, I've heard several variations of spelling on the theme at times.

As opposed to "Nah.I'mF'inBrassicPal". More commonly heard in my house since Christmas. I believe it has lingustic and fiscal roots in Old English possibly dating back to Pre-Early Anglo Saxon as an oral tradition. First literary reference was in 'Beowulf'. After landing in Denmark, the Geat Beowulf is asked by his man to 'pay for his round' at the bar after defeating Grendel.

'Are you F'in' kidding me mate!?! I just chopped that hairy fellas mums arm off!!! I am Beowulf! And anyway. Nah.I'mF'inBrassicPal. I'll sort ya out tomorah mate. Be a good lad and get 'em in. Come Friday I'll put it on your wages.'

'By the way Rannock. Have you heard of John Lewis?'

'No idea Guv. Couldn't afford if I had. After this last Christmas I'mF'inBrassicPal'

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

How many more people were aware of a store called John Lewis after the advert aired?

Was that the aim?