Matt,
That is very beautiful, very large sculpture. Really outstanding work!
Sam

Those dimensions add quite a lovely focus to it. Love your freedom of media and design results that tickle our imaginations. bpfink

thanks Bruce, (and everyone)
sooo you just struck a thought, I remember 10 years ago when I was 20, thinking why do people wait so long to do what they really want. well they aren't waiting they're learning and surviving, at whatever need be until the means and opportunity may be grasped. Life is an interesting game we play. and I am sure many here would agree - opportunity doesn't always come most of the time we must search it out, over and over again.
Matt

So true my friend. Your statement really hits home. It's amazing how much blood, sweat, and tears we have to give just to be granted a chance at doing the thing we love, and that's just for the chance. Actually keeping it up requires a constant supply, lol, but it's all worth it in the end in my opinion.

Jake

Jake Balcom
Mettle Design
Lincoln, NE

Matt, I have gone back to the pictures over and over again and trying to come up with some great comments. I just cannot find the words to describe how great the piece is.
Any how very well done.

One question on the nameplate, why do you have limited addition stated?

www Metalrecipes -- heat and beat to the desired shape, repeat as necessary.
warren

aaahhh, well
from the artist in me, its for the sake of (some day) there only being 30 in the world. from the fabricator in me i think I only want to have to make 30 of them, hahaha.
really this is my next adventure- marketing. I have been told that the limited additions inspire sales.
this piece is the first of my reproducible, fabricated, multi-metal / media sculptures. all of witch I was planning on doing as limited additions.
but,
what do you think Warren (or everybody) is the limited addition a good idea?
Matt

Matt,
Just for what it is worth, in my opinion when I hear limited addition it applies to mass produced work (one shot short of copies)........like making 100 sculptures out of the same mold or 1000 prints from the same picture. I have never been a fan because I think art should be only made one time.
I guess if you can reproduce this piece another 29 times the same way then go for it, to share the cost of investment in the original design. (if one cost $30000, then when limited should cost $1000, LOL)

www Metalrecipes -- heat and beat to the desired shape, repeat as necessary.
warren

hahaha, well I guess after doing my big angel 'wisdom' and 740 + hours later. I found that without reproducing (as you said) to share the cost of investment I can't afford to just make one. I do agree that the one off is the most true to form. but I as all of us have to feed the family, and that is why I designed this around being reproduced, on the other hand each piece will be slightly different being that I doubt I could get each hammer-blow the same each time haha. I guess I just have to see how it goes and keep trying.
Matt

Hi Matt, I don't mind the idea of limited editions, especially if it's the concept/design and not exact reproductions, and I agree that having limited editions creates more of a draw, especially for #1. 30 seems like a lot, but no matter how many there are in the edition run, using the limited edition idea to lower costs only works if all 30 are done at once. If you end up doing 1 piece every 6 months for 15 yrs then I don't see the benefit. Unlike photography, printmaking, or casting, we can't just store a negative or mold and bust it out when someone wants an edition of a print or cast sculpture, we have to fabricate and finish each piece. Did you do 30 of these and/or do you plan on doing them all at once in the future? It's an intriguing business idea, I'm anxious to hear how it works out.

Jake

Jake Balcom
Mettle Design
Lincoln, NE

well basically - I only made the 1, it's the prototype if you will. from a business outlook if I can fabricate 3 at a time the cost to sales 'hopefully' should way out. to do all 30 at once would be an investment of time and material that i can't afford. so my plan would be that when the first order is placed then I will fabricate the next 3 and so on. but even this is under the presumption that the customer is willing to wait the time allotted for delivery, and/or I allocate the funds for the next 3. in any case there is no way to do one at a time or all at once, so the middle grounds must be taken. I also am anxious to find the result. as for the artist prospective I don't care if it is a run of 1000, like anything I do each piece is one of a kind and treated as such. and from the designer perspective, all of the major components are cut on the cnc and therefor the same, this keeps a congruency of the 1-30 to be of the same nature and integrity.
Matt

Matt,

Very few sculptors produce an inventory. The follow on "copies" are produced as they are sold. The exception is when the sculptor wants to exhibit the piece in multiple galleries they often will do enough "copies" provide one per gallery for exhibit.

The danger is people get hesitant when they see the original still sitting in a gallery a couple of years later and you are still on 5 of 30....or worse 2 of 30. It really depends on how you want to practice your role as an artist. My wife steadfastly refuses to do prints of her paintings, while have a series of sculpture pieces planned that definately will be done as limited editions of 25. Most sculptors turn large portions of the fabrication over to shops for the subsequent editions but maintain some degree of control over the final finishing of each piece.

Hope this helps...big thing is to create and then sell so you can create some more.

Bob