Kratzer Komments

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Kratzer Komments

Kratzer Kraft Booth

Why do I have a booth, go to shows and sell my turnings? I didn’t start out with selling in mind. I was looking for something interesting to do in retirement. I had dabbled in wood carving and woodturning in years past and enjoyed the processes so I thought I would dig into them a bit deeper.

I bought books and searched the internet for wood carving and wood turning information. I bought some carving tools and a beginner lathe. I did a few carvings which I really enjoyed. (See Carvings gallery) but I found the time to produce a finished piece could be quit long. I may do more carving on my turnings in the future. Time will tell.

As I got more into wood turning and involved with the local guild http://www.ovwg.org/ I discovered I really like the process and had a bit of natural talent at the wood lathe. Working at the lathe is very satisfying and finished pieces are much quicker to produce. That can be a good or bad thing.

One day my wife Hannah said “You have 82 wood turnings sitting on my kitchen counter. You need to get rid of some of them.” (See photo below) At about the same time someone at a club meeting offered to buy one of my pieces that I had brought for “Show & Tell”. I was amazed at what she offered and paid for the piece. I had just moved from ‘amateur’ to ‘Pro’ status.

So the solution to my excess production was to sell. Friends and relatives can only take so many wood turned gifts. You can’t sell without a store front so I applied to the local annual Loveland Juried Art Show and was accepted. That meant that I needed a tent, tables and shelves. Thus the process of becoming a vendor began. Art shows are a big pain to set-up and tear-down. So I looked for a more permanent outlet and came upon the Loveland Artist Studios on Main http://www.studiosonmain.com/ As they say: The rest is history.

I still have a bit of a problem as it seems that I make about twice as many pieces each year as I sell or give away. Thus, my inventory keeps growing both in number of pieces and size of pieces and my booth space stays the same. I need more display space and or more customers. Compare my first booth to the latest for shelf density.

Click on any photo for a larger version and start the slide show.