While my work is much admired and oohed and aahed over by friends and family members, my braching out into
medallions has been marveled at by all concerned. I have loved and enjoyed the last fifteen years, creating works for
various people, but for the first time, I am enjoying some financial gain from my passion. I can't seem to make medallions
fast enough and every one I have installed on various auction sites has been snapped up in no time at all.
While it's tempting to raise the prices of the medallions, if for no other reason than to drive down demand,
I hesitate to do so. While I am not making a large investment in materials, there is the matter of the 25 to 30 hours
invested, and I suppose that has to be reimbursed in one way or another, I feel that those of you who have marveled at the
various designs and patterns should not be gouged as a reward.
Therefore, I fully intend to keep prices as low as possible while still producing one or two a week....after
all, I did this for many years with little financial reward whatever. I guess I owe you that much.
And for those of you who have encouraged me to demand much more, let me give you some background.
I do not plan to hire help; I do not intend to invest in expensive equipment nor do I intend to ask for
thousands for a particular medallion. I fully expect to continue building them and selling them as cheaply as possible,
if for no other reason than......I love doing it.
I cannot begin to tell you the pleasure I receive when someone gushes over a finished piece, but the real pleasure
is in knowing that someone will enjoy the fruits of my labor long after I'm gone. The real pleasure is in the creating,
not in the financial windfall.
But let me tell you a little about the creative urge and where the various medallions find their beginnings;
I am not copying others, but I do rely on patterns that I find in nature, in designs by architechs and by pieces created by
craftsmen who lived years ago. For instance, the receeding box pattern was borrowed from the dancefloor I saw in the
Lindenhoff, a centuries old castle between Munich and Garmisch in Bavaria. The pinwheel effect was inspired by a garden
in Spain and the 16 pointed star was influenced by a ceiling design in San Simion in California. From the sunflower
to the work of ancient craftsmen, ideas are everywhere.
But let me tell you some of the processes that I must go through to bring some of these patterns and
designs to life. As you know, I don't own fancy and expensive laser cutting equipment; simply the basic woodworking
tools that most woodworkers have in their basement. A joiner, a planer, and most importantly, a table saw.
Let's consider a sixteen pointed star for a moment; since each point of the star containes two pieces, this
means that each piece must be cut at exactly 10 and a quarter degrees.
