Hey Nathan,NathanA wrote:Todd,
I appreciate your candor and I have a few questions. And I am not trying to be an ass, I am asking these in all seriousness.
1)What do you consider a "pipemaker of any note"? Does it have to be someone who sells their pipes for thousands like you or can it also be someone who sells consistently in the 100-200 dollar range?
2)At what point did you consider yourself to have it figured out, both in terms of number of years making pipes and the number of pipes made? Was your first pipe a certified masterpiece or did it end up in the junk heap?
The reason that I ask is that I have no aspirations of being a master artist. I don't believe I have that innate artistic talent you were talking about. But I do believe (maybe mistakenly) that I have the determination and the ability to learn and adapt so that I might someday be able to make quality pipes that, hopefully, will make the hobby pay for itself and maybe one day be a source of some extra cash, but certainly not as a sole profession.
So I guess what I am driving at is two-fold. First, you have seen my posted pipes. I know the first few were bad, but I think I have made progress. Am I one of the ones who legitimately is wasting his time? (You can be honest, I won't be hurt. And even if you told me to quit I would probably continue just for my own benefit because I love the process, whether Todd Johnson wants to smoke one or not.) And second, what learning curve timeline should one reasonably adopt? If after a couple of years pros like yourself are still not commenting because the pipes are so bad and there is just too much to criticize, is it time to jump the shark?
Thanks for the advice.
First off, I don't know if I've seen your pipes or not, so don't take my lack of commentary on them one way or another. I don't often look at the Gallery section of the forum. I will occasionally get a PM from Rad or Jeff or someone else that says "hey, look at this guy's pipe. It's really good." That's when I typically go there and check something out.
In response to your first question, I don't really consider that there's a "bar" to clear. Rad doesn't sell pipes for thousands of dollars, but I've told him time and again how impressed I am with his shapes, with his stem work, with his business savvy, and just by him, in general. Rad has developed a strong reputation within the pipe smoking community for high quality pipes with exceptional smoking properties. Rad makes and sells at least twice as many pipes as I do each year, so whether or not they cost thousands of dollars is irrelevant.
That said, consistently selling handmade pipes in the $100-$200 range doesn't say a great deal about one's skill level. It doesn't mean that hundred dollar pipes can't be exceptional, but usually they're not. Likewise, $4000 pipes aren't necessarily exceptional, but typically the market wouldn't value them so highly if they weren't.
Regarding my early work, it was crude and very much unexceptional. I knew it at the time, and I know it even more fully, now. Everyone has early work, and I've seen Nordh's that, had I made them now, I wouldn't have let them out of my shop. It's unavoidable. We all have a learning curve. The key to improvement, however, is knowing and accepting that your work is not where it should be, not close enough to the ideal in your head, or on your workbench. Just keep making pipes until you think you might know something about what you're doing. Make them until they're somewhere between decent and good. Once you get to that point--if you ever do--the critiques will start to make a difference in your work. If you can't tell that your pipes are bad, you're probably not going to get good. If you've been making pipes for three or four years, and they're still not very good, then you're probably not going to get where you're trying to go--at least not without some serious, direct, hands-on tutelage.
If, however, you're making pipes just for fun and all you care about is selling them for briar money, then all the above is completely irrelevant. I've said it many times before, and I will repeat it again here, making pipes should be fun, and if it's not then you know you're doing something wrong or that pipemaking just isn't for you.
In response to the question about Roger's pipes, I would simply say that anyone who has an eye for this should be able to recognize skill, talent, and creativity irrespective of the particular form or style it takes. I personally love Roger's pipes and the whimsy that's so apparent in them, but even if I disliked the forms I hope I could still recognize Roger as someone with great vision and a keene design sense--which he clearly is.
TJ
we've spent too much time on this. As the chief instigator here I formerly request we all move on. Pleeeeeeeease.
