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I guess my question is how do you decide what part of your work is production line. I do jewerly, for the most part it is wire wrap. I do want to get into casting and silversmithing. I have given this subject some thought. I guess I'm just stumped since none of mine seems to fit or does it? But I do want to make a living out of it, knowing that production work can help you through the lean months.

Jane

My production work is a anything that sells well enough to make me want to repeat it. Production work doesn't mean that everything is exactly alike.

If you're going to do production work of anything, do the thing you love doing most. The goal should be job satisfaction AND a healthy income doing the thing that's most creatively stimulating. Otherwise, why bother? Give the ultimate scenario a chance before you settle for less... and don't assume that production work is somehow a lesser beast than anything else. It's a lie that too many artists have bought into.

Thank you Marty and Dani,

You have cleared up some misunderstand by myself.

Jane

One year ago I faced the same problem. After listening to other glassies at ausglass03 conference I decided to only focus on what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it.(spare time permitting)
This still hasn't happened yet, but it will within the next year. We're setting up a separate business which is for my wifes passion of cooking and doing the books.
For me I felt that production lines would turn into a job where it would be always meeting deadlines and quotas or worse still nothing selling when you want it to. To date my glass is either kept, given away or sold cheaply(earlier days) just to at least get a sale, this track record also frightened me. - haydo

I think you've raised an issue we've all had to face, or at least those who make a living doing glass. I've found that there are certain things my customers will buy and things they won't. If I want to eat regularly, I need to pay attention to that. But that's a business decision.

There are things I really like doing and I make certain I have time to do them or go more nuts than I already am. So I suppose the first question to deal with is what you have to make to feed yourself? Beyond that, if you can't have fun, go find a grocery store with shelves to stock overnight; that's sure to leave you time to do the kind of glass you want to do.

Good luck,
Jerry

Thanks Haydo and Jerry,

Agree about what does what have to feed one self. Right now I don't know! But it is a question I wil have to find out before making any type of move to do it full time. Maybe one it can be done. If not then it's a nice hobby.

Jane

I heard a glass artist give a lecture this last year where he compared production work to a performance artist doing the same performance over and over. Just because it is the same theme doesn't mean it is always the same. Do you think musicians totally regret having to perform the same songs over and over for different audiences? I thought this was an interesting comparisom. I'm not sure for myself exactly how this develops, but I do a lot of "one-offs" and a lot of production but try to find ways to make small changes within the production ware to keep it from getting too boring. Tenn. tom

Ya know...I just gotta respond to this, because what was just said sparks a response. Look at the Broadway plays like "Cats", "Mame", whatever...plays that have lasted ever so long and why?

I think it is because the design, presentation, message of the work is so fresh every time it is seen or experienced, that new audiences appreciate it as something right out of the oven, and it is again a "new experience". When it's good, it's GOOD. And there will always be an audience to appreciate it.

I have tile designs that have been out there for almost 15 years, and they are still my best sellers. Every viewer has a new set of eyes. - Barbara

It's unfortunate Barbara that my post knocked production, my intention was to point out that like our glass we are all individual requiring different needs. It's important to know your limitations as early as possible in regards to your contribution to the kilnforming movement.
Mine was that I am attempting to escape from what I had been doing for the last 20 years, same ol', same ol'. For me glass isn't a business, it's all about cooking, it's what makes everything worthwhile. - Haydo

I felt this was 'so pertinent' to both these threads she says smugly that I'm posting it twice, yikes . . .

Dennis Brady wrote:Many artisans refuse to do production work, some do nothing but, and others have found a comfortable compromise between the two. With few exceptions, the more production oriented the artisan, the higher the income.

"If it isn't worth doing copies, it isn't worth doing any".

Dennis, this philosophy is something all artists need to read and understand. thanks for writing it so concisely.

The word "production" has been given such a bad rap hasn't it! We've been doing the dreaded production dance for many years. Sure we make multiples yet our work has grown and evolved. You would be amazed, nah maybe not, how many turn their noses up or scrunch their faces when we talk about how many of a particular piece we make. sure we work small yet that hasn't stopped us for defining and redefining and continuing to make each tiny piece better over the years, and we've got the rogue's gallery to prove it

I believe that once an 'artist' has developed a style nothing is truly one of a kind. There is a voice that runs through all the work by that particular artist isn't there. It's more about finding that particular voice and quality of work that is more important, to me, than trying to be able to do only one of a kind work and I personally believe that when the focus is put on finding that 'sweet production spot' instead of finding a particular thread or voice the person is simply chasing that tiger's tail. People recognize our work not because it's one of a kind but because of the quality, vision and the joy it gives. And on that high falutin note . . .



thank you Calvin and Hobbes, for setting all of us straight

Thank you all for the views on production work. I never thought about music and ect. The views here I have enjoyed very much. They have given me a lot of think about....production work....what is it really!

Jane

Haydo,
I had to chuckle when you said you were going to start a business for
your wife's passions of cooking and doing the books.

We've had multitudes of executives who have stolen millions of dollars
and gotten away with it. Perhaps their wives shared your wife's passions but carried them too far. Maybe, they cooked their husbands' books!

Good luck in your new endeavors. You are indeed a lucky man. Good
food and someone to do the books for you. Do you know how many
excellent artists list as their top desire someone to do their bookkeeping?

Nita

Thanks Nita, We have started with a great idea with good intentions. Time will tell if I get the balance I'm looking for to pursue my work in the studio.
For now I'm getting to know my Espresso machine and giving people who want to know an appreciation of what kilnformers do. - haydo

Have I got a problem? I love my own pieces that convey who I am at any particular time but am being hounded to tell how much I sell a piece that I'm detached from, as in that it doesn't say anything except experiment.
I say to myself, make it better and sell to people who love my nori rolls.

How many nori rolls should they buy?My wife shakes her head and says your a bloody artist. As in escape from all responsibility.....blah..blah

regards, Haydo