Paul White in his home shop in East Sandwich, Mass. has plenty of physical examples for clients who stop in.

WHITE from previous page

blanks are priced at $145 to $525, depending on the style.

can’t get, so you usually end up compromising.”

White figures he’s made about 60,000 signs over 30 years. He currently makes about 40 signs a week and will gross about $250,000 in 2006. The signs sell for $200 to $50,000, depending on the amount of elaborate detail. The eagle

Appreciative clients

White’s business has naturally grown with more exposure and word of mouth, the trickle-down effect of savvy business networking. When he first started about 95 percent of the work was on Cape Cod. Now, about 40 per-

cent of his clients are from New England. Others are from all over the United States and even a handful of foreign countries, some of which he has to look up on the map.

White has competition from imported carvings, which sell for less than the wood needed to make his signs. But he’s comfortable in the belief that his clients aren’t going anywhere because

 

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they appreciate handcrafted art.

“The people who don’t own an original piece of artwork, don’t know what one is and would never care to own one — we don’t see too many of,” he said.

Clients are mainly business professionals, those who understand how good signage can help them. “We don’t sell a lot of fancy, hand-carved signs to people who are selling discount doghouses. They’re not who we represent. We get higher-end people: insurance companies, doctors, lawyers and restaurants,” said White.

Before starting any design, White sits down with clients and explains what might look best and why. Objects, such as a chair for a furniture shop, stand out to those passing by.

“If you can put something on that catches the eye quicker than just lettering, it helps the business a great deal.”

A new Web site, launched about a year-and-a-half ago, has really helped with sales.

“At first people wanted to talk on the phone, now we sell eagles directly. We have sold eagles to people without even talking to them, which kind of amazes me,” he said.

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Demand high, help scarce

White established The Paul White School of Woodcarving 25 years ago and has taught thousands of people from all over the world. He used to teach his basic class 10 weekends a year, but now offers it only five weekends a year.

“We used to have a lot of older people that did it as a hobby and I think people are just busier,” White said.