[TheForge] Knitsteel / etsy.com & artist websites, sharing in the community

[Ben Barrett]

Agreed -- maybe you are talking about a different site, but I hve been
noticing etsy.com, especially since I have been trying to do a very
similar thing (but on a smaller and more local scale).  Sorry to talk
tech here, but in support of artists making money, do many folks hear
good things about etsy.com?  Any other similar ventures I could look
into?  My idea is to allow artists who are not good businessfolk or
marketers an easy outlet to sell their work, one where they (or their
"agents", but not me or folks who run the website) do all of the
active work once it is setup (receive payments, ship items, add new
items, etc).  Etsy seems to be working great and I've considered
joining them instead... so I'm really curious on the subject.  If it
seems off-topic/OT, please just reply to me off-list.

A related subject, is the problem of wanting to share as much
HOWTO/DIY info as possible, as well as showing off all sorts of art &
history, while maintaining some [small] amount of traditional
exclusivity within the field.  For instance, getting people to still
pay for workshops, which I think *will* happen since many folks don't
have the resources to try something new on their own (and/or don't
feel safe).  So far, what I've been seeing all fits -- I can make some
cheap tools myself, or pay someone else for really good tools... and
my own growing experience begins to close the gap.

For perspective, where I live there are weekly "open shop" nights that
usually happen at the same workshop, that are very informal and
unstructured.  This does wonders to promote a strong community and is
how I got started in smithing -- just wanted to take a moment to
promote this idea to TheForge again; it seems like a lot of trust &
commitment to arrange, but it sure helps keep the ideas rolling & we
all help each other out a great deal, in the end.

thanks for tuning in,

ben


On 10/2/07, lee robbins <naturadoc1 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> -YOur site is great.
> i especially liked the chasing tools and the image of
> the temper colors on the tool. nice shot
> it makes me want to do repousse
> Lee Robbins
> Flying tortoise forge studio
>
>