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I
began my career In art in the early 1990's selling miniature
acrylic paintings (3 x 2 inches) on the street to tourists.
I would paint all morning then go downtown to sell and start
all over the next morning. I made a good living but could
not see myself selling on the street the rest of my life.
Not that I was used to a comfortable life. Living on and
sailing sailboats for a living is not what I would call
comfortable living. Glamorous maybe, but not comfortable.
So I decided to sell only at craft shows. Not everyone wants
to buy a painting no matter how small , so I decided to
diversify. I had always liked boxes so I bought some exotic
hardwoods and started to make small boxes with sliding dovetail
lids. This expanded my audience and sales increased. Someone
said to me that I could make more per painting if I made
prints, so I went to a print shop and they gave me an outrageous
figure to print one painting. I said, "Why so much?"
and they said because it was in color. Black and white they
said would be next to nothing to print. This set me on a
career as a pen and ink artist and I had over 40 limited
edition prints out by the mid 90's.
With my reputation in hand I took up a hobby. I bought a
small Delta lathe and armed only with scrapers started to
make perfume bottles with glass inserts to give away as
gifts. I liked doing this so much that in 1997 I took the
plunge and bought a Oneway lathe. Initially I thought that
I would be someone who made only functional items for the
home but a chance meeting at a craft show in 1998 with native
artist Harris Smith changed my thinking. We collaborated
on thousands of pieces right until he passed away in 2005.
My work reflects my love for indigenous art; it's simplicity,
and it's power. At the moment my work incorporates a mixed
imagery from the region in which I live. In the future I
will be meshing in others as well. My work can also be seen
at www.douglasjfisher.com |
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