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Rustic Shows
Gatherings and
Art Shows
that are rustic friendly
Lake Home Shows
The Berkshires Arts Festival
Ski Butternut
Great Barrington, MA
July 4, 5, 6
Lakeside Living Expo
on
Lake Winnipesaukee
in New Hampshire
Books
Making Gypsy Willow Furniture by Bim Willow®
(paper back)
Books by
Dan Mack
So You Want to be a Rustic Furniture Maker?
Tips of the Trade by
Bim Willow®
a free E-book
Groups
Twig Furniture Group
Canadian Rustic Furniture Group
Workshops
Do you teach?
Spring Rustic News Letter
The early spring flowers pop their heads though the cold ground hinting that spring is on its way. Spring is the time of year that makes me feel like a young man again, only to be startled by the reflection of what appears to be my long dead Grandfather staring back at me in the mirror. It is the time of year to gather as much willow as I can before the fuzzy catkins fill the air, my nose and eyes with their cottony fibers. Spring is the time of year where as rustic furniture makers we get a chance to prove ourselves for one more year and seek out our fortune. I have spent most my winter in the same boat as many others == paddling up stream -- only for me it has been one armed paddling causing me to go in endless circles looking for the dry land where the early spring flowers are peeking up and where mountains of snow piles created by the snow plows dwindle into miniature rivers flowing down my driveway.
There is enough gloom and doom out there in the news about the economy, however in the history of rustic furniture it has been during the times of economic hardships that our livelihood has prospered or at least stayed stable. This is perhaps because the rustic furniture maker can take what no one wants and create something that people cherish.
This is our passion and our gift to the world -- often a reward greater than money.
In this news letter
· Networking together
· Rustic Books on the way
· Reinventing yourself
Networking together
I
have been working on two new websites
www.rusticnetwork.com and
www.willownetwork.com. Both sites are to become online
stores for rustic and willow furniture and furnishings. I am starting with
Willow Network first because it is the smaller of the two. I have over twenty
willow furniture makers who I will represent on this site. My initial thought
was to become a sales rep for these makers at the cost of 15% commission but I
am now thinking, ‘why limit it to just me doing the selling’?
I would like to turn these sites into a co-op type of site where we work
together selling each others work. How I see it working is that if someone is
willing to pay that 15% commission to another maker, why not send orders that
you could or do not want to fill to someone else and collect a commission? I
would gladly pay that price for more orders as others would as well. I am going
to set up the willow network as a proto type to work out the bugs on this
endeavor before I jump into the Rustic Network. With gas prices as high as they
are and shipping becoming outrageous, it is time for us to unite our efforts as
makers and also provide service to our customers. I would appreciate any and all
comments on this proposal. This will take time to work on and any help will be
appreciated.
Rustic Books
As many of you have heard, I have a contract with my publisher for six new books this year. One is to be called, Making Rustic twig Furniture, a ‘how to do it’ book on some of my work. Also, I will be working on four ‘how to do it’ books featuring twelve women in rustics. Lastly I will be creating a coffee table book, International Rustic Furniture Design featuring one hundred rustic furniture makers from around the world. If you have been invited to be in this book, please send the information needed ASAP. If you would like to be considered or need more information contact me at bim@bimwillow.com .
Reinventing yourself
Producing the same thing year after year is like the old Rock Band that gets stuck in playing all the same old tunes. The more successful bands reinvent themselves on a regular basis. This does not always work with the public and it seems that no matter what you try, you still end up having to play some of the same old songs. But to keep the passion alive in our work we need new challenges -- new ways of expressing ourselves. To keep one step ahead of the imports and those who simply copy our work, we are in a constant need to come up with something new. Although most everything has been done before, we can add our own twist to it to make it ours. I encourage everyone to come up with a new item every year to keep their passion alive and to offer something new to our public.