how long does it take you to carve _____?

I don’t generally like disclosing how long it takes to complete a carving for a few reasons. Carving time does not quantify how much work goes into a completed piece. Before the carving even begins there is the design time at the front end of a project, which is sometimes quick, and other times takes much longer. There is also the time outside of the carving that I spend thinking about it and looking at it while it’s in progress. I sometimes take my work home with me in between sessions so that I can observe it and passively plan for the next day. Long story short, I can’t possibly track all the peripheral time that goes into a piece and so, I don’t disclose a time for the sake of giving an inaccurate impression of the energy that goes into it.

How much would _____ cost?

This isn’t a question that I can properly answer early on in the consultation. Generally, I want to gather all the relevant details that the client wants included with a through consultation and I will ask including the customer’s budget. Once I get a budget I can give a better idea of what I can provide within it, or we can redesign to fit within it. In some cases the budget is not realistic and we decide not to move forward.

Sometimes people don’t want to give a number for whatever reason. In these cases I will provide a cost range and leave it to the customer to decide. In some cases I can stop carving at the low end of the range, and the project often benefits from being able to go up the top of the range in order to fill out the features more fully.
 

Where did you learn to carve?

I am self taught. If you check my Roots page you can read more about how I got started.