Woodworking Museums

It might seem like an oxymoron-being one of the nation’s premier handcrafters of wooden jewelry boxes, as well as an online entrepreneur who e-tails the majority of my products.  The evolution of the handcrafting world and its migration to online marketing may sound like a strange juxtaposition, but in fact, has become a significant contributing factor to the sustainability of the craft industry in the US.  I should know; my business wouldn’t be here today if I had not made the transition.  If you are in the craft business and have not created an online presence, read on.

A little background may be helpful, as my career path was somewhat unique.   In the mid-80’s I dropped out of law school and moved to a monastery in the northeast.  Lucky for me, it had an incredibly well-equipped woodshop. What began as a contemplative hobby quickly evolved into a vehicle for me to explore and express my connection to spirit. As I entered into a quiet and meditative state, details that might escape others’ notice became prominent and called for my attention. My love for the spiritual qualities of balance, beauty, and getting things “naturally right” helped me through the difficult years of mastering the disciplines of woodworking.
My passion for woodworking soon found an outlet when I was asked to create some designs for jewelry boxes for a friend. As I experimented with various design features for the jewelry boxes, I began thinking about the possibility of making a living by building containers for precious objects. A vision of making outrageously beautiful pieces that would that would touch people’s hearts and remind them of their interior lives began to take hold in my mind. In 1994 I moved to Durango, Colorado and started my business, Russell Pool Fine Woodworking. My prototypes for jewelry boxes quickly became popular as I began to wholesale them to high end craft galleries and museums around the United States.  

In order to reach as many galleries as possible, I attended numerous juried wholesale shows, such as the Rosen Group in Philadelphia and the American Craft Association show in Baltimore.  I also attended some local retail shows in the southwest.  While I was successful in attaining my goal of having my boxes sold in the very best galleries in the country, I found that despite hard work, long hours, and outstanding product, it was difficult to make ends meet and to justify the amount of personal and financial investment.

In 1999 the world wide web, as it was called then, was just beginning to be taken seriously as a marketing tool.  I began to imagine what it might be like to sell directly to the customer instead of through galleries.  While it concerned me to give up the security of the standing orders each show generated, the business to business marketing model and accompanying margins simply were not sustainable.  I decided to create a web site and my wife and I worked together to design, write copy and create product photographs.  I felt a bit like an explorer in the New World, not a lot of maps and no one in my situation to ask for advice from.  But the business case for the site was compelling-selling my products directly to customers at twice their wholesale price made the margins a lot more workable.  The site went live that fall and I spent most of the Christmas season on the phone selling product-my site delivered solid financial results.  And the rest is history.

Here in Durango I still spend a lot of time focused on the work I love best-making stunning wooden products, getting the details right, and talking to customers who are looking for something more than the drab, machine manufactured designs that populate most of the web.  I have also had to learn a lot-about search engine optimization, for example, and how to work with web designers and other marketing experts who can ensure that I continue to use cutting edge technology in service of the enduring legacy of handcrafting.  Handcrafting and online e-tailing-it is an odd juxtaposition and yet without it, my work as a handcrafter would have been curtailed many years ago.

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Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – The Marriage of Crafts and Technology

While enjoying your travel, it is also interesting to visit some educational places like the museums. Generally, when we speak of museums, many of the travelers would think that it is a boring kind of experience. However, why settle to those less interesting museums? Listed below are the few of the most unusual and interesting museums in the world that I am sure every traveler would enjoy visiting.

Museum of the medieval tortures in Prague – this museum is perfect to those who love to know the historic way of punishing people who have did something wrong to the government. Visitors in this museum will get the 45 minutes chance to be introduced with the 60 instruments use in torturing with the full details of how the said instrument work during the torturing and the next event happened to the person tortured by the said instrument. At the cost of $12, you will learn a lot from this amusing and unusual museum from Prague.

Museum of Bad Art in Boston – this is the home of those terrible painting artwork. Well at least if you knows nothing about art, you will now see the difference between a good and a bad work of art. For sure, those who are not knowledgeable with painting will definitely find it still beautiful and artistic. You might think why there is a museum for bad art. Founder Scott Wilson has apparently got a good taste for everything that stink that is why the moment the horrible “Lucy in the Field with Flowers” painting by an unknown author appeared he have thought of creating a museum wherein the said painting was the masterpiece. If you love paintings, visiting the Museum of Bad Art will let you enjoy about 400 works with no entrance fee.

The Three Musuem Of Sex in Amsterdam, Paris, and Iceland – In the red lights district of Paris you will see The Parisian Musee de l’Erotisme that is located in a seven storey building in Quartier Pigalle. This sex museum is famous of its numerous sex shops, and the cabaret Moulin Rouge can also be seen in this place. You will also see various erotic items in this place including those coming from South Africa and Asia.

Seeing all these erotic items will only cost you $12 for entrance. In Amsterdam on the other hand, you can visit the Museum in Amsterdam or the Venus Temple wherein various paintings, sculptures, manuscript and unusual erotic toys are presented. You will definitely find them ticking and exciting. See these items at $5. In Iceland, get the chance to visit The Museum of Phallology, which is located in a small town called Husavik. In this museum you will see about 250 kinds of phalluses, all natural, dried, and hung on the walls or been preserved in alcohol. People say that these are phalluses of every mammal in Iceland.

Founder Hjartarson started his collection in 1974 that also includes salted horse penises. If you will visit the museum, you will see one empty glass, this is intended to host for a human’s example and has been already granted to the founder of the museum. At $7.50, you will see all of these phalluses.

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