ONLINE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Joe Dallorso: A Woodturner Obsessed With the Functional and Practical
by Noelle Backer

Joe Dallorso at work.

A few years ago, Joe Dallorso closed his landscaping business to pursue woodturning full time. He has since sold his work to people from every state in the U.S., and from Europe, Japan and Australia. From his one-person studio in the western mountains of Maine, he sells his work through retail shows, some wholesale venues and through his Web site.

"Obsessed with things functional and practical," Dallorso says he likes to think of his salad bowls as reminders of simpler times ... as simple, beautiful objects that can bring joy in today's material society.

TCR: How did you first become interested in and get involved in woodturning?

JD: Around six years ago, I saw a guy on PBS turning a bowl, and I went out and bought my first lathe. Woodworking, in various forms, had been a lifelong hobby.

TCR: How did you pursue it?

JD: I'm basically self-taught. I have attended a number of turning demonstrations and have a friend who's been a lot of help, but I never took a formal class.

TCR: When did you begin selling your work, and through what venues?

JD: I started selling my work at little local shows. I didn't know if my work would sell or how to go about it at all. [So, those shows were good places for me to learn the ropes.] Everything is like a game. You have to know the rules and how to play. Being good just isn't enough.

Ash with sporadic Heartwood Cherry Traditional Rim Curl Maple Round Rim Natural edge Cherry Burl. Approximately 9" diameter by 3" deep.

TCR: What inspired you to close your landscaping business?

JD: I was a landscaper for 20 years. I was tired of it, the economy was bad, and I [had] paid off some expensive leased equipment. It seemed like a good time to get out.

TCR: Were you financially prepared for the transition from one business to the next?

JD: No. My wife quit her job as a manager at a high-tech company. We sold our house and used the equity in the first home to pay off the mortgage on the second, and have been totally debt-free for about eight years. At first we worked part time and fixed up our house, but now she has a full-time job and I [turn wood] full time.

Turned bowls

TCR: Who is the market for your work?

JD: Retail customers are usually 30-55, women or couples, they always have a certain "L.L. Bean look," and are definitely well-off financially. I also wholesale to shops. I tell them they need an American Craft Council type of clientele [those who understand and appreciate high-quality craft]. Probably the same profile for most people selling upscale crafts.

TCR: How do you reach them?

JD: I do about eight retail shows a year. I look for a show that is in an affluent area or attracts upscale tourists like here on the coast of Maine in the summer. I've been to the Philadelphia Buyers Market as part of a group booth. I [advertised] in Niche magazine, and I have my own Web site.

TCR: Do you ever get bored with making bowls?

JD: I get real tired some days and swear I'm quitting, but the next day I'm back at it. I think bowl making is more like an obsessive-compulsive disorder than a business. That's what makes someone an artist, the need to make something.

TCR: Have there been major turning points in the five years of your woodturning business?

JD: I don't think it was one point. It was the gradual developing of a skill gained from doing something over and over, like the evolution from apprentice to journeyman to master. I like to think of myself more as a craftsman following in an ancient tradition rather than as an artist anyway.

DETAILS

TCR: Do you have health and/or studio insurance? Who is your provider? JD: I get studio and travel insurance through State Farm for $280 year. [I have] no health insurance. TCR: Where do you get your materials? JD: I use Meldos oil on my salad bowls from the Livos company (http://www.Livos.com). I buy my logs locally. TCR: What other resources have been helpful to your career? JD: I belong to the American Association of Woodturners and the Maine Woodturners. American Association of Woodturners (AAW) 3200 Lexington Ave. Shoreview, MN 55126 Ph: (612) 484-9094 E-mail: aaw@rtpnet.org http://RTPnet.org/~aaw/ For information on local AAW chapters, visit the local chapter listing on AAW's Web site at www.rtpnet.org/~twnc/aawlocal.html. My Web site designer: www.maine-web.com. Not only is that a 'feast' site but it was super inexpensive.

TCR: Do you see any disadvantages or advantages specific to woodturners?

JD: The great advantage to bowl turners is a built-in audience. It's a traditional product insulated from fads and trends.

The disadvantages are health concerns. I turn green wood, kiln dry the bowl, and re-turn it and sand it. No matter what other turners say, bowls turned to finish in one step will warp and crack just like antique bowls do. It's worth the extra effort to do something right. But, there is a real dust problem. I've spent over $1,000 on dust control.

[Another problem] is repetitive motion. I have a tennis elbow sort of thing, and had wrist problems, but it seems to be getting better.

TCR: What has been the most difficult thing you have encountered in your line of work?

JD: The repetitive motion thing. It limits me as a production turner. I can only make around 500 pieces a year.

TCR: What, in terms of business insight, have you learned to do or not to do over the years?

JD: Having been in business [for myself] before, the one thing that strikes me about the craft world is that it's way too expensive to sell your work. I hold retail shows to a high standard. I take the booth fee plus hotel (would any business person other than a crafter consider camping out to save money?), and mileage on my truck at 30 cents a mile, and the total of these should be less than 50 percent of my sales at a show, and preferably more like 25 percent, [because] I can stay home and wholesale at 50 percent.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Joe Dallorso http://www.mainewoodbowls.com E-mail: woodbowl@somtel.com

TCR: Has your Web site affected your business?

JD: I see it as a "no lose" situation. I have a great site designer who built a super fast site for a very, very reasonable price that I'll pay off with just a few good sales. I'm not really looking [to attract Web surfers], although a woman living in London found just my site and wants to place a large order for a store she's planning to open this summer.

The Web site is [primarily] a follow-up tool for people I meet at shows. I want the business from friends and relatives of satisfied customers. It's also a good way to show gallery owners different styles and woods.

Noelle Backer is senior editor of The Crafts Report.

MAY 2000: TABLE OF CONTENTS