The Walk Art Market in Zeist was for me a first market exploration at a well-attended art market, at the stand of our sculptors’ association ‘Guts en Klopper’. And that’s more fun to experience than I thought. Enjoyable. The audience was willing. Cheerful. The sun was shining and the announced downpour in the afternoon waited patiently until it was five o’clock.
The stand of the association ‘Guts en Klopper’ at the Walk Art Market in Walkart Park in Zeist.
I was especially curious which works visitors would find attractive. With that in mind I had brought the owl I get to make for the student association Minerva. Yes, the owl of Minerva, then. When the students contacted me through my website Wowwood.nl I was suspicious for a moment. Everyone knows the babble of Thierry Baudet, who after election victory announced that the owl of Minerva was going to spread its wings – a statement that incidentally originally came from the philosopher Hegel. But it was a serious request. Their old owl high in the association hall had seen better days. They wanted a new one.
After research on the internet I decided to follow the original mythological representation, the owl of the Greek goddess Athena, who served as the model for the later Latin goddess Minerva. An owl that must not only radiate wisdom, but also symbolizes warfare. The Romans had no problem with that combination. So: exaggeratedly large aggressive claws. Horizontal lines on the wings reminiscent of the stripes on a military sleeve. And the large hypnotizing eyes of the Greek original.
“Hypnotizing owl eyes”
Speed carving champion Dave Harmsworth extracted the owl from a tree trunk with his chainsaws based on my model in wax, in three hours. I took on the post-processing – carving, rasping, gilding – myself.
After the Walk Art Market I dare to confidently present that wild owl to the students. The enormous heavy sculpture of 22.5 kilos of cedar wood helped well to attract people to our stand. Fortunately. Nice reactions. Even a spontaneous buyer showed up. But well, not for sale. Already sold.
The Walk Art Market attracted no fewer than 6000 visitors in 2024: the owl of Minerva watched.
People enjoyed touching our sculptures. When we noticed that, we shifted our setup. The ‘enormous’ tactile form by treasurer Gerrit-Jan made from olive tree root came to lie at the front. We know how he had to chop to shape this rock-hard wood to his idea, with gouges that eventually looked almost like saws, jagged from the damage. “Because stones grow up with that root. And you hit those”, he said.
The end result after much fine sanding produced a magnificent surface that felt like silk. That was a good opportunity to attract people to us: “Feel how soft.” They were happy to do so. As if it were a smoothly worn ‘Amsterdammertje’, the classic domed street post in the capital, they stroked the sculpture.
“Do you love wood?”
Board member Pauline, who this autumn is going to move to an apartment, wanted to sell some of her largest pieces. And she succeeded. Abstract elegant forms, there was interest in those. But the buyers, with a single exception, didn’t buy it for themselves. They were gifts, for loved ones: family and friends. We often heard visitors say: “My house is already completely full.” Just like most of our own houses, by the way.
Another way to attract people was simply to ask a question. “Do you love wood” turned out to work well as an occasion for a chat. Because the question was usually answered positively. To then reveal ourselves to be a real ‘market vendor’ (an observation by chairman Tom) with: “Would you like to come make something with us?” Our small supply of ‘Guts en Klopper’ brochures was already completely gone by tea time. Curious how many new members we will gain from that.
One of the other stallholders at the Walk Art Market made a round.
It is frustrating to experience that visitors have little money to spend on our work. The 50 euros in travel costs for a locksmith are accepted without thinking, but paying the same sum for something that has been carved, sanded and planed for weeks is considered ‘too expensive’.
If you were to ask me now what kind of work visitors find most attractive, I wouldn’t dare give an answer. It was really impossible to predict. One headed straight for an abstract sculpture, another for figurative work. So I sold to my own surprise for 40 euros a failed bust, of a woman with roughly sanded away eyes, which I had called ‘American Justice’. The buyer found it a nice gift for a friend who is going to work as a lawyer in the United States.
“Wooden noses for the toilet”
My advice to all woodworkers is therefore: just keep making what you enjoy most yourself. Our great variety of expressions is perhaps also our strongest point.
I’m still toying with the idea of making a series of ‘gimmicks’ that don’t cost too much time, but are still fun to hang yourself in a special place in the house: wooden noses for the toilet. I have one at home myself and I still find it funny.
Maybe I’ll do that, maybe not. I didn’t start ‘carving’ to have to work very hard for very little money. We started wood carving for very different reasons, didn’t we?
Jan Bom, September 10, 2024
