Jay Rogers

		Cambridge, Mass., woodworker Jay Rogers says he began making boxes when he was a teenager after reading about Japanese puzzle boxes. Yet he says his first attempt was “intriguing though not very attractive.” Throughout the next 20 years he developed his skills designing and building puzzle boxes and portrait boxes -- personalized works meant to honor an occasion or person.
Grand Staircase Jewelry Box – Closed				Grand Staircase Jewelry Box – Open

TCR: How did you first become interested in and get involved in working with wood and how did your work evolve from where it started to the work you create today?

JR: Actually my father was a very good woodworker and tried to teach me when I was too young, so I was initially turned off by it. But, as a teenager I got interested in puzzle boxes and ended up designing and making them. I made my first one out of painted balsa wood, but the results were not very satisfactory, so I moved to basswood, and finally took a woodworking class so that I could use better materials.

So I came to love working with wood after all. Now I use mostly hardwoods and exotic veneers for my boxes.

TCR: How have you pursued your career? Can you provide a brief timeline of when you got started, and how your career has evolved?

Inner Landscape Box

JR: After my stereotypical midlife crisis -- when I realized I couldn't keep teaching high school music and that what I really loved was using my hands -- I decided to try making my living at box-making. That was 20 years ago. I began with puzzle boxes, but the work has gone through many metamorphoses, as things will over 20 years.

To me a box can have almost any point of departure; a box is always suggestive, metaphorical, deceptive. I made boxes that looked like crystals and geological formations, boxes that looked like architecture, boxes that looked like origami, boxes based on the human body, boxes based on sculpture, boxes that looked like someone pried up a corner or tore open the end or the top started to warp.

The "fooled you" part of puzzle boxes is still with me, I'm afraid. People usually aren't sure at first how to open my boxes, and often they don't realize they are boxes.

TCR: Who is the market for your work? What is your strategy for reaching them?

JR: I've never really been able to pinpoint my market. It's just people who like boxes, sometimes to put specific things in, but often just for the fun of looking at them or opening them.

A lot of architects and engineers seem to like my work and artists of course, but also housewives -- mostly urban dwellers, quirky people. They all seem to have a good sense of humor. I guess that leaves me without a very coherent strategy for reaching them.

TCR: Where does the bulk of your business come from? Is it wholesale shows? Direct to gallery sales? High-end retail shows? Commissions? How do you make your living from this art?

Divided Top Boxes

JR: The bulk of my business is high-end craft shows. I don't do wholesale, as much of my work is limited edition or one-of-a-kind, and all of it is labor-intensive enough that I can't afford to wholesale it. I'll be in a gallery if it's a box or container show.

In the fat years it wasn't hard to make a living at it. Right now it's very difficult. Like every other craftsperson I'm exploring how to use the Internet to increase sales, and trying to learn how to manage my own Web site.

TCR: Have there been major turning points in your career as a wood artist?

JR: When I've decided to explore new ideas and make brand new work I've experienced major turning points. Then I tend to back off from the shows and a whole new body of work evolves.

I've had about five radical changes in direction. Each time it feels like jumping out of a tree and it always takes my audience a couple of years to catch up with me. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as a process, but it seems to be how I need to do it.

TCR: Do you see any business challenges specific to artists who work in your medium? How have you overcome these?

JR: I think wood is under-appreciated in the craft audience these days and I think people often don't understand how labor-intensive woodworking really is. People who aren't educated about crafts see things cheaply turned out from overseas and they don't understand why we can't sell at those prices.

So I feel part of my work -- and this is why I like to do craft shows -- is to educate the audience: have a brochure that explains the process, talk to people about what goes into the making, try to give them a sense of how much goes into each funny little box.

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

River Box

JR: It's difficult when something really sells well for a long time and you're finally really sick of making it and you have to say, "That's it. This is my last one!" and start making things that you're not sure anyone will buy.

It's difficult, when you're really depleted or really broke, to walk into your shop every day and say, "What can I make today that will be new?"

It's difficult not to be able to plan more than three or four months ahead, and it's difficult to have a bad show and not have another one ahead for months.

Self-employment is not for the faint of heart. But, there's nothing like making things every day!

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

JR: I've learned:

• When I see some really beautiful wood just to buy it, and as much of it as I can.
• To treat my customers the way I would want to be treated by them.
• Not to get so worried about money that it dampens my creativity.
• To remind myself often why I chose to do this with my life.

TCR: How has the Internet affected your business?

JR: So far not too much, but more and more people ask about my Web site or check it out before coming to a show. And, yesterday I had my first inquiry about how to buy a box on the net, so I guess it's coming!

TCR: What is the next step for you?

JR: Exploring Web site and Internet sales. Investigating some architecture-based ideas for boxes.

TCR: What is your show schedule, and where is your work available and through whom?

JR: I'm still waiting to hear from fall shows. But my work is always available from me through my Web site -- www.jayrogersboxes.com -- or you can pay me a visit in Cambridge, Mass., and see the latest designs that haven't made it onto the Web site yet.

Jay Rogers - Unique Boxes
Cambridge, Mass.
(617) 492-8624
www.jayrogersboxes.com

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