BriarWorks and Todd Johnson Pipes

[georged]

Sas is correct on every point.
Cosmic is being obdurate (as usual).

 

[npod]

The new word on the board is obtuse

 

[jpmcwjr]

But obdurate is a better word! Most people- who aren't obtuse- know what "obtuse" means!

Meanwhile, Jackson Pollock's "Number 19, 1948" looks like a hobo puked on a house painter's drop cloth, and sold for $58.4 million. Probably because the first schmuck who bought a Pollock piece paid way too much for it, and then doubled down on the avant-garde bullshit spiel instead of admitting he got taken for a ride by a drunken, no-talent hack.

So, I take it you're not a fan of Jackson Pollock??

 

[woodsroad]

No, he’s just being obtuse.

 

[ashdigger]

I pay what I pay for craftsmanship and because the carver I buy from is consistently consistent. That makes it worth it.

 

[aldecaker]

"So, I take it you're not a fan of Jackson Pollock??"
Nah, he was a good shit. Not like that poser that rooked idiots out of millions by painting soup cans, for God's sake! :rofl:

 

[saltedplug]

Andy Warhol deeply impacted the course of art history, as well as American culture, both for Americans themselves and the international community at large. He brought the concept of consumerism to the foreground and further popularized the use of art as a reflection of society, but also as social commentary. When you look at art from different eras, you get a unique insight into the people of the time. Warhol showed us the darker side of the post-war economic boom and allowed viewers to question values, high art, and beauty.

from: https://www.invaluable.com/blog/andy-warhol-biography/
In his essay "The Painted Word" Tom Wolfe observed that appreciating modern art required an ideational context. I don't like it, but I know better than to dismiss it as I don't have the eyes to see it.

 

[ashdigger]

Modern art is pure bullshit. I think it is absolute trash. I feel sorry for the pretentious idiots who enjoy it enough to act like they like it.
I also hate pretentious douches who drink wine and pretend they know about hidden flavors.
But, nobody asked me or hopefully is relying on MY opinion.

 

[pipehunter]

I also hate pretentious douches who drink wine and pretend they know about hidden flavors.

The irony is rich, as we go on about aged tins of tobacco. But I like seasoned wine and tobacco, so what do I know. I also like Jackson Pollock.... :D
On to the main topic, Sasquatch pretty much nailed how I see the situation/market. I haven't bought a BriarWorks pipe yet, but I've been tempted a few times. My willpower will fail one of these days I'm sure.

 

[saltedplug]

Wow, that's a lot of opinionating opinion, and I especially like it because being absolute it obliterates grey, and I can't abide grey, just absolutely despise it.

 

[ssjones]

Go to a pipe show, see the pipes, learn what makes a pipe adequate, good, or great, from an aesthetic and technical point of view.

Great point, you really do have to handle these kind of pipes in person, to appreciate the nuances that separate them from factory-grade pipes. A pipe club is also a great way to experience high end pipes. At the Philly club, there's always a few guys with some uber-high grade pipes. I dont get there often these days, but I never pass up the opportunity to check out a high grade when invited.

 

[aldecaker]

I wouldn't deny that Warhol impacted the course of art history deeply; I also wouldn't deny that Stalin impacted the course of statesmanship deeply, if ya know what I'm sayin'.

 

[pipehunter]

^ LOL

 

[kola]

I wonder if TJ ever survived after commenting that other pipemakers carve "turds." Or something of that nature.

 

[sasquatch]

Lots of pipemakers carve turds, and all pipemakers HAVE carved turds at some point in their career. Calling a spade a spade is not a crime. What happens is guys carve turds, their grandmothers tell them how specially talented they are, and THEY BELIEVE IT. Then when they run into someone who isn't impressed with their grade-8 shop project, they get mad. Happens every day.

 

[ron123]

I would guess that if you took a bunch of pipes from across the price spectrum, mask their stamping and logos, and turned Todd Johnson (as well as many high grade collectors) loose on them and challenged them to arrange the pipes in order of price from high to low, they would all get most, if not all of the pipes, arranged in correct order.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Ron, I'd take that challenge if someone would like to line up my pipes. It would be interesting to see what someone came up with, as many in my collection that seem like very expensive pipes, were not, and visa versa.
And, it's funny that a side flip I made about art turned into a side discussion. Even more funny is that as a working artist, I never give Warhol or Pollock a thought; however, at their very mention will get a few pipesmoking guys all pissy. You can get a Warhol for a couple of hundred bucks. The last auction was for one of his Brillo sculptures, and it sold for $300. A Cambell's soup can goes for about $250. His very philosophy was that if you mass produce it, you keep prices low. I'm not sure why that makes someone fru fru. Ha ha.
But, you can still buy watercolor landscapes and other Impressionist art, which was what the art world was before these "Modern Artists." So, your prized art styles are still going strong. Why let Pollock or Warhol piss you off. How other people want to spend their money is up to them... right?

 

[lordofthepiperings]

To the OP.... the calabash in question is a multi-part pipe, including a magnetically seated insert bowl. Quite a bit more work to make than a regular pipe. Therefore more expensive.
To make a one-off version takes more time, more skill, most likely more expensive materials, and add whatever "name tax" you want for whatever maker it is.

At the West Coast Show Briarworks had a dozen or so of their briar calabashes on their table. I noted to Pete that I was wondering if they had dissolved the line, because I hadn't seen them anywhere in quite some time. Pete stated that in fact they hadn't made any in quite some time, because they're so hard to make. You have to have a sizable block of briar suitable for it. On top of that it's a rather time consuming process to make them, so BW has been mostly focusing on other lines lately instead. He did say they were working on some to send to SmokingPipes, the full calabash and some more just the bowls in different finishes.
I'm sure Todd takes even more time on his than the BW team does and as was stated he's using more expense stem materials and what not. Todd studied under the Danish masters which I'm sure is part of the reason his pipes garner high prices. I'm sure part of the reason also is because of the quality of his work alone. I want to say someone once explained that the high end carver prices ballooned out because the Asian market was willing to pay even higher prices for pipes from the masters. Once you sell pipes in one country for $1,500 or more it would only make sense to raise the price everywhere else.
For me to acquire a Todd Johnson I'd probably have to hit the jack pot, spend my entire tax return, or somehow be able to bump my budget from its current $500 ceiling and find one on the estate market. I've seen Todd's pipes in person and he has amazing lines, phenomenal finishing, and wonderful stem work. I'd love to acquire one eventually, but if I don't I'll still appreciate his talent.

 

[laniromee]

I wonder if TJ ever survived after commenting that other pipemakers carve "turds." Or something of that nature.

It's beyond me why so many people got so offended by his rant. It was surely strongly worded and maybe I wouldn't have expressed myself in that exact manner, but it ressonated a lot with me and I'm not a pipemaker. He didn't say every pipe that wasn't carved by him a turd, he called every lazily made pipe "with lots of attitude and no skill" turds.

 

[saltedplug]

I think he has a talent for being abrasive, which talent I perhaps derived by skewed data, that is, attempting to talk to him about bowl coating, during which I found his tone arrogant consistently OTT. But I will say that to his credit, he was willing to talk about the topic, which most pipemakers won't go near.