To follow up on last week’s minor update, I want to give a more detailed report on production for The Varlet as we look towards the fall. As I usually do, I’ll first give a bit of insight on things in general and I’ll have production estimates and projections for those waiting on custom orders in detail below.
Following a very eventful early summer, my focus for the rest of the year is to get production on as steady of a pace as possible. Granted, we are still facing some challenges worldwide and of course I am mindful of them. However, with cautious awareness I am feeling the need to forge ahead and am also feeling the need to make some short term plans.
The early part of the summer was challenging, I felt that the last couple of runs were completed a bit slower than I would have liked. Of course, with everything going on it was somewhat expected. I spent a great deal of time and energy securing supplies, including hair, during the early summer. Importing especially was very time consuming, which is usually a somewhat difficult process but this time around was magnified in complexity. That said, my supplies for the essentials, hair, resin, adhesive, are now in good shape for the foreseeable future, and so I can focus on turning these raw materials that I have into brushes for you guys.
I’ve been feeling more confident in my casting process, and am enjoying working with more colors. It is something that I hadn’t worked too much on for the first few years, but I do feel that I can focus more on filling out the color pallette now. I’ll be adding Blue531™ and Terrazzo™ to the options page shortly, and will be updating the page as a whole as well to help it reflect the custom pieces that have been shipped this year.
With regards to time estimates, I have worked on a projection out until the end of November 2020. As is my policy, these general time frames are only best estimates and am still placing a priority on the construction level of the brushes over any strict deadline. Without a doubt, however, if I am to continue to take my craft seriously it’s the next milestone for me to reach. The next step for me is to be able to deliver these pieces on an accurate schedule. Furthermore, 2020 has been a year for the books no doubt, and in recent months I’ve felt it was somewhat unwise to make plans too far out in advance, but at some point life has to go on, or at least one must make plans for it to do so. As such, I’m outlining a plan which will aim at giving those interested in a brush a solid time frame.
Projections thru end of November
For September thru November 2020, I have laid out a schedule for construction on a monthly basis. I am aiming to start work on each month’s run near the beginning of the month and ship them by month’s end. I’ll also give a short report for August, though it is already on path to completion.
August 2020 - The current run of brushes is entering final stages of production. I have delivered progress reports to all of those on this run individually with more to follow as production wraps up, and have estimated completion for the end of August.
September 2020 - I am starting to take order payments for brushes to be constructed in September. I’ve set the list of orders for this run and have begun to send out purchase emails, the remaining emails will go out by tomorrow at the latest. Construction will start as soon as possible, and hopefully I can get a bit of a head start next week, with casting of handle material and hair sorting while the August run cures. I am shooting for completion at the end of September.
October and November 2020 - I’ve set the list for each of these months and will begin sending out emails to those on the order request list to let them know in which month their brush will be constructed. Those emails will be out by tomorrow at the latest. As usual, I am not taking payments for any brushes on these two runs as I do not anticipate starting work on them right away.
As of 2:15pm Pacific on 8/21/20 all order requests received thus far will be slotted into one of these three runs, so if you have submitted a request prior to this time you will receive a time estimate by tomorrow, 8/22/20, via email. If you don’t receive an email from me by tomorrow, please contact me.
Order Request Confirmations
I’ve recently begun to send order request confirmations for request forms that are submitted. I still have not been able to automate this process, so am doing this personally for each individual. This is something I was regrettably not able to do for every single request that came in early on, though I have always encouraged folks to message me to confirm if they were unsure. Along with recent efforts I’ve made to improve my communication with potential patrons, this is something I’ve been doing consistently within about 24 hours of a request coming in. I hope this gives those looking for a custom brush more assurance and improves the experience, as I know it can be an exciting process and want to ensure it is an overwhelmingly positive one.
That is all I have for now! Hope everyone continues to be healthy and safe.
Thanks,
Aldo
