another monday....

i'm down in the studio and thanking all of you for a successful 1st web show... and the first thing to do is look at my very low supply of wood... and head off to the lumber yard to bargain today's prices...

strangely, for 2 years i have had an issue with my wood... it all began...well, in the beginning i guess...

the wood that is used for each game board is baltic birch... at one time it was called russian birch, but due to politics (the cold war), "they" felt, over here, that is, that the word 'russian' just might not be a big seller, so the name was changed to 'baltic'... it is indeed from the baltic regions... norway has the best birch on the market - but the prices are unaffordable... 2nd is russia - and the prices skyrocketed.

here is a short history lesson on the last two years of trying to obtain my baltic birch...

2 winters ago - russia didn't have a good freeze over the waters... so last year - little wood was available and the prices therefore doubled...understandable...

so when i ordered wood earlier this year - i'm thinking there will be a surplus....since they were not able to bring it back the previous year, and they had a good freeze...one would think anyway... but this year the price is being driven up even more...



one lumber store will tell you one thing.... and another one, another... so here is what they are saying... russia is sitting on the wood, yep there we go again....to keep the prices higher....russia is trading with other countries....yep, they are mad at us again... everyone seems to have their opinions... all i know is that last year my concern was that the people were not getting paid in russia - since they were not able to do their work, my concern was that children's stomachs would suffer through the change in this weather, their dads not being able to drive over the ice...it would drive up my prices - but i could deal with that, they would come down again...



the increase of wood over the past 5 years, has gone from $18 a sheet to $39, and since i haven't gone to see them yet this morning - who knows what it will be today... the sheets are 5' x 5', smaller than a regular sheet of wood...but, oh so nice.

i do believe - if politics were taken off the table, countries would see that the people of each and every country have the same goals - to provide for their families..., (i do believe i can hear the john lennon, imagine song in the background right now) and that we can work things out... for so many years while i'm working with this wood - i do think of all the hands that touched each piece, from the seed planter, lumber jack, trucks, ships and eventually on to me - in another set of mountains that seems like worlds apart... i cannot do what i do if it weren't for them - i guess that is what the big guys call export/import...and where the power structure is - i just look at it from the people to people view...

for my artwork - i choose the highest quality wood that is available and affordable and is not endangered, more costly because it is less prone to disease over there than our american birch- so less flaws will appear... the shipping costs on top of that raise it on up... but i like the idea that so many people are involved in this process for my game boards, how many hands touched this one piece of wood before i myself put my hand print on the back of each piece...my hand print is symbolic to me for it is humbling to know i cannot do what i do without the help of the world...

so when we do hear of problems with trade with other countries....don't forget the 'little guys' on each side... and i know - this isn't a 'political' blog - which i have stated that i wouldn't talk politics - and i'm not, in my mind... this is just fact based life in my studio in the appalachians...