dennis mitchell's Blog at LumberJocks.com http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:09:29 GMT Grumbles from the shop #8: Hanging it up http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/9530 Ya I’ve done had it. Guess I’ll see if Thos will give me a job herding tourist. Today I turned down a chance to do the Western Design Conference. After doing shows, galleries, etsy and a web site with very little luck I’m plum out of energy. (and money) When I started I knew of 12 different galleries that had regional furniture. Now I only know 3. Two are owned by furniture builders and the other one won’t even return my calls. I can’t even blame it on the economy. I think it is more a change in taste and how people shop. Then again my furniture could just be too weird! This has been something I’ve been trying on and off for 15 years now. My heart is heavy.

]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:09:29 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/9530 dennis mitchell dennis mitchell Grumbles from the shop #7: Another gallery done gone http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/9341 Tomorrow I set out to pick up my furniture from another store that has closed up. In the ten years I’ve been building furniture I’ve had my furniture in four different galleries. All of which have shut their doors. One of them more than once. This one lasted a year. The hard part is knowing how much heart the owners of these stores have invested. Let alone money and time. I see this and I know the American dream has died. What is the average? One out of ten small businesses survive? How old is that statistic? I think of all the construction companies I’ve worked for that have gone belly up. One out of ten would be generous. What I find interesting is every time this subject comes up it is assumed something was wrong with the business owners. Not with the system. These where good hard working Americans. “let them sell prefab crap at Target” Is that what we have become? I’ve been working on a large medical building with around 300+ cabinets in it. They who charge $10,000.00 a day, opted for the $1.50 non brand hinges from Taiwan as opposed to the $3.00 known brand. A savings of $450.00. I expect the hinges to fail within five years. Did I say the hinge plates got back ordered and the only place they have them is Taiwan. Capitalism based on low bid will fail. The American dream is already just that…only a dream.

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2009 21:15:57 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/9341 dennis mitchell dennis mitchell Grumbles from the shop #6: The world is her litterbox http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/8708 A few years back my cat decided to get untrained. She started crapping behind the furniture. It was pretty strange. The solution was to move her to the shop where she has access to plenty of sawdust. So I get to share my shop with cat crap. Wonderful. This cat loves to ride on my shoulders. She will sit up there while I’m cutting 4X8’s or at the miter saw and just purr away. She will also stand right under your feet or try to climb your legs while at the saw! This picture is her sleeping while I’m running the table saw.
Sleeping on the job
She use to be scared of every thing. People, noise, dogs…now days she has no fear. I figured out that she has lost her eye sight and her hearing. She is getting along in years. She does a great Stevie Wonder impersonation where she climbs up on something high and moves her head back and forth. Just like Stevie. Most of the time I take a break and get on LumberJocks she is sitting on my shoulders, supervising. I figured it was time you guys got to meet her. So folks meet my cat, Squeak. Shop forecat.

]]> Sun, 10 May 2009 19:11:13 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/8708 dennis mitchell dennis mitchell Grumbles from the shop #5: Taxes! http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/8414 Yep that time of year. Folks are having tea parties. The economy going south. I get to see my year end, bottom line, financial worth. I don’t think it will impress anyone. It sure made me wonder. This self employment gig has cut my income in half.
Maybe I need to tell you about one of my heroes. I have this buddy. Plays a mean guitar. He also is a craftsman. Does some very nice, high end, upholstery work in an 8 X 12 shop. A few years ago he was telling me how he “just gets by” on ten thousand a year. Poverty right? Yet he has a beautiful house in the mountains. Which he built himself..no mortgage. It is next to this great little trout stream. He has a few horses. Every few months he travels across the US to play music. Last year he traded a building a deck for a trip to Italy. His life is beautifully abundant.
So I guess you need to know living on half my income is making me damn grateful! Yep all you poor suckers doing that work produce consume dance. You have my sympathy. Let me tell you about my typical day. When I get out of bed…guess what no alarm clock! First I visit with the dogs, my wife, and all my buddies on Lumberjock. Take the nice stroll out to the shop and work for an hour…maybe two. Check the mail..maybe do lunch. Then back to the shop. I really try to get my full four hours in a day. On a good day I do my best piddling. Piddle on the house. Maybe piddle in the garden. Some days I piddle in the shop. The last few days I’ve been doing some carving on a bed for the gallery which shows my furniture.
Ya taxes suck, so I figure maybe I’ll just quit making so much Damn money. Life is too short!
Then again with my hectic schedule I still haven’t found time to go fishing! I’m going to have to fix that.

]]> Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:45:41 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/8414 dennis mitchell dennis mitchell Grumbles from the shop #4: Splinters http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/8185 I am pretty immune to the little buggers. I figure I can dig a splinter out with a Phillips screwdriver while running 4X8’s through the table saw. These days I’m having to use those special magnifying goggles just to see them. For some reason they are making them smaller these days. I think it has something to do with global warming. The other day I got the worst of my career. It wasn’t that big. Big ones are easy. This was a skinny little oak splinter about 3/8’s long. Somehow it managed to slide along the top of my finger nail and just disappear. Ouch it was worst than a paper cut and totally invisible. I wasn’t even sure it was a splinter. I’ve had them before under my finger nail…and I know why they call that torture. This one was just evil. I just sat there staring at my red finger with my magic glasses wondering if I’ve lost my mind. Where could it be? After digging for an hour or so (ok maybe just a minute) I did mange to locate it. An hour (felt like it anyway) after that I manage to get it out with tweezers. I can’t help but be damn grateful it’s a splinter getting under my skin and not some power hungry greedy incompetent boss with an inferiority complex and anger issues. Ya I LOVE my life!

]]> Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:58:37 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/8185 dennis mitchell dennis mitchell Grumbles from the shop #3: Etsy update http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/8114 I’m going to throw a pity party and you are all invited. When I get some good news I’ll pass that along to. (First I’ll have to get my taxes out of the way). It has been three months that I’ve been running this Etsy shop. I know some artisans have done OK. I’m pretty sure if I dedicated the time and energy I would have had better results. First off the price is great. The time to setup shop and download photos is significant. I figure when all is said and done I’ve got 1/2 hour per project. At a shop rate of $35.00 and hour….I’m not getting paid for my time. By the way this was just an experiment. I didn’t expect to make much. Call it market research. Testing to see if my baskets or cutting boards would sell. The answer is no. Not a single sale. I’ve checked out the stats on a cutting board, 27 views. In the same time frame the one I had on lumberjocks got 495 views. 75% of the visits I got on my etsy site where from lumberjocks. My conclusion is that, once again we have more hype than substance. I would have been better off photocopying a flyer and posting it in the local Laundromat.
Just so you know I’m really getting a kick out of being a grouchy pessimist. It warms my heart.

]]> Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:54:44 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/8114 dennis mitchell dennis mitchell Grumbles from the shop #2: Support your local cabinet maker http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/8092 One more time someone told me I was too expensive so they got their cabinets at Lowes. Did they ask me for my price…No! They just assumed. The reality is every time I’ve bid against Lowes and apples were apples my bid was cheaper. I guess we can get brain washed. I’ve even seen that prejudice here at Lumberjocks. Yes most shops have gone after a high end clientele. It might even be hard to find a local cabinet maker who would do “low end” work. We even have a tendency to believe we can’t compete. I know I’ve been surprised at how much cheaper I am than these big box stores. Then again I don’t have that high over head. Heck I wont even charge you $50.00 to measure your kitchen.

]]> Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:49:03 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/8092 dennis mitchell dennis mitchell Grumbles from the shop #1: Shaking my head...we'll never learn http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/7606 I spent the day installing cabinets, I built, in a manufactured home. Kinda like spreading caviar on wonder bread. Actually it was a sales office. They were busy. I guess the depression is driving folks to these “bargains”.

My sister bought a 12 year old one down in Nevada. In 12 years the outside trim was falling off. All the windows failed. The roof leaked and needed replaced. The dry wall was cracking. This was all just normal wear and tear. I’ve done a bit of work in them before and am shocked at how cheap these things are. I’m really shocked that people keep buying them. They are not that inexpensive.

In my part of the country it is illegal to build on many pieces of property, but you can put up one of these fancy trailer homes. Sometimes I think the government is really out to screw us. They sure want to control every little detail.

I put a spiritual value on the craftsmanship of my work. When I build something. I’m building for families and generations. Today I saw my work go to help tear down America. We buy crap and the worst the economy gets the more crappy crap we buy. It’s not because it is cheaper. My cabinet bid was cheaper that the guy who was getting his cheap prefabs from HomeDespot. We have quit buying from small family size companies. That is what has driven them out of business. Not that Walmart is cheaper. We swallowed the lies.

The average American would never consider buying from a local furniture builder. That means that the local furniture builder has stopped trying to build affordable furniture. I see stuff imported from Asia, built by guys making $2.50 a day, selling for more than i would charge. I’ve seen the look of contempt from folks who could not believe that it would take me 4 weeks to build a piece of furniture.

I might just sound like a bitter old man. Would you believe I’m a very lucky guy. I’m one of the few that get to live the real American dream. Not the Donald Trump I’ll f the next guy till I’m filth rich dream. When did ethics quit being part of business? No I’m talking about working to live, not living to work. We idolize the entrepreneurial spirit, but crush the reality of it. Maybe this has turned into a political rant, so I’ll shut up and go dream some new furniture designs that will never get sold.

]]> Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:29:45 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/7606 dennis mitchell dennis mitchell swallows #3: Swallows at the Western design Conference 2008 http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/5887 The Teton Range is the backdrop for the 2008 Western Design Conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

I can see why the fur trappers gathered here for rondevu. What a great place for a gathering of craftsmen and artist. One of whom happens to be sporting a fancy Lumberjock tee shirt.

Setting up I’m amazed at the quality of work I’m seeing. (and a bit intimidated) This is a world class collection of craftsmen. That night I get to go to an artist reception at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. I’m already humbled by the work I’ve seen and then I get to the museum. Somewhere before woodworking I studied wildlife art. Not only do I get to be with the modern masters of western furniture and design. I get to be with generations of Americas best wildlife artist. They just happened to be having a retrospective of the works of Robert Bateman. (He’s the Sam Maloof of wildlife painters) To add to my sensory overload the museum is also showing it’s own little furniture show. Sort of the best of the best. Just awe inspiring work. Check out David Lamure if you want to see some beautiful pottery.

I’m not sure where artist get this reputation as premadonnas, maybe Hollywood or New York, but out west they tend towards humble and friendly folk. Just the camaraderie is enough to keep me coming back.

Check out the Western Design Conference web site and click on the links to the different artist web sites. I can’t even begin to describe their amazing work. My camera work doesn’t even come close to capturing it.

The organizers have put on a great show. I only hope Jackson Hole can appreciate what they have in their own backyard it would be a shame to lose such a treasure. Speaking of treasures I here is my piece. What a great place to be mediocre.

]]> Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:16:59 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/5887 dennis mitchell dennis mitchell swallows #2: swallows revisited http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/5480 My swallows came to visit this morning, so I thought I could show off a sneak preview of what they inspired. In my last blog I talked about them visiting my shop and me changing my design to honor that occasion. This is a cherry carving painted with acrylics on a purple heart back ground.
This is the drawer face.

This is part of the chair back.

]]> Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:35:22 GMT http://lumberjocks.com/dennis/blog/5480 dennis mitchell dennis mitchell