Had a lady call who wanted a sign for her husband's hunting camp in northern Michigan.  She thought it would be outside so that limited my wood choices.  I settled on, what i thought, was a nice piece of cedar.  Only had one little knot on the whole 8' 2x6 board as well as some nice grain.  So I thought.  We went back and forth thru email and settled on a design and I went to work gluing and making sawdust.  Cedar is messy i found out.  Finished piece is about 25 x 16 and carved from one piece of glued up (Titebond III Ultimate) cedar with 4 coats of spar urathane front and back.  She doesn't like it from the pics I sent.  Said she'd come over and look and probably take it, but she weren't happy.  I thought it turned out pretty good.  After all, this is for a male hunting camp, not an art gallery.  Talk about an ego buster.  

What's not to like????

Tell her it's okay someone else had a higher bid.

The sign looks good. The only thing that turned her off might be the gloss even though you went the extra mile to keep it in good shape if it does hang outside...

  Sometimes no matter what the artist does sometimes it will happen... my story

   My wife is the stained glass person in my family and she is good at it...this lady at her church wanted the cowboy church scene ....if you are not familiar with what that is, it is an outside setting where the cowboy is on one knee in front of a cross stuck in the ground with his Sunday clean clothes on with his new yellow shirt on. His head is bowed and he is holding his horse with one hand while he is praying.. 

  The lady came to get it and she just loved.  She said it was the best one she had ever seen using stained glass.. I put in in the back of her pickup and she was full of joy the whole time she was at our house... Well the next Sunday she approached my wife and said her friend told her cowboys don't wear yellow shirts and she was now un happy with the picture. She really made a scene there in the church... well wife didn't know what to do but some of our friends told her about a few times this lady did other strange things to other folks but she had been warned... Well it kept boiling in wifes head and finally wife made out a check  for the church  scene plus also for one other picture  she had bought a few weeks before and took them to this lady and said I want the things I made for you and gave her back all she had paid and said I was warned about you from the other church folks and did not listen to them like I should have.. then the lady changed her mind and said no she wanted to keep them...wife said I am not dealing with you no more.

   Things happen where it seems like there is no changing anything for both parties to be happy in your situation.

My last carving thingy was too glossy but when using lacquer all the first coats are gloss and only the very last coat is applied for the end appearance. So I can still change to a satin or a semi gloss finish with no problem. 
But lacquer is for inside only......

Some people have no taste. What did she expect, a portrait of herself ?

I'm liking it... a lot, well done!

Honest john go to my post, Got the scroll sawing done now to carve, and compare the last two pictures one with gloss and the last one with a satin finish. It might help you?

Where's it at?

Sorry for that. Its under Wood Carving by Smallpatch. I think its the second post down.

And it will be headed with, Got the scroll sawing done, now to carve.

Edited February 6, 20215 yr by Smallpatch

Saw it.  Great job!!  I've switched from gloss to semi gloss when using poly as a finish.  But I still like to see a little shine.  That's just me.  I'll put whatever the customer wants on, but have had very few requests for satin.

Did she say why she didn’t like it, after all the e-mailing back and forth? 

She didn't like the contrast in the wood.  She wanted it stained all one color.  Not on my watch with cedar.

2 hours ago, honesttjohn said:

She didn't like the contrast in the wood.  She wanted it stained all one color.  Not on my watch with cedar.

 

Walk away, say nothing.   If she happens to call and want you to make it again.  Hey, sorry but I am really busy with other projects.   

 

You can still do something with this, just put a nameplate over the lettering with couple of screws, BAM a gift anyone would want.  

I can just machine the text down - it's only .1" deep and put a generic saying on it like Pa's Paradise or Wishful thinking or something similar.  it's natural wood so there's nothing to match.  I have a trial one I did that has some chip out and a lot of flaking that can be sanded and made to look presentable with a good heavy finish.  i just sanded the text out of it.  It wasn't "custom" quality but I can make it look good enough to put in the village display with a sale tag on it.  This was more of a ego letdown I think.

10 minutes ago, honesttjohn said:

This was more of a ego letdown I think.

 

Nah, just a customer who didn't really know what it was she wanted.  It happens.  The craftsmanship of the piece is superb.  I am remembering a phrase, one man's junk is another man's treasure.  

I like it, tell her I said it looks nice. 

 

David

Well, she came to look at it today, bringing along a co-worker (male from the shop, thank goodness).  Decided it looked pretty good so she took it, thanked me, paid in cash, and even left a little tip.  Even sent a thank you email after.  Go figure!!!

7 minutes ago, honesttjohn said:

Well, she came to look at it today, bringing along a co-worker (male from the shop, thank goodness).  Decided it looked pretty good so she took it, thanked me, paid in cash, and even left a little tip.  Even sent a thank you email after.  Go figure!!!

Musta had a bad day OR she figured out your price was more than fair.

31 minutes ago, Ron Dudelston said:

Musta had a bad day OR she figured out your price was more than fair.

 

The co-worker probably told her something like it usually goes for a lot more, or if she didn't want it he'd buy it. 

So first you got dissed, but then you got complimented. All’s well that ends well  . I guess I can’t buy it, and ask you to turn it into a cribbage board, now.