When Someone Says “Too Expensive” — We Smile. Because We Know.

It happens now and then — someone picks up a piece, runs their fingers over the polished wood, sees the shimmer of resin, and softly mutters, “Too expensive.”

We smile. Not because we’re dismissing them, but because we know what goes into it.

See, we price every piece at Sarkanys Rising to be as fair as possible — not inflated, not mass-marketed, just honest. But “honest” includes more than what most people realize when it comes to the value of handmade artisan work.

That bowl? It started with a chunk of reclaimed wood that once lived as a tree in someone’s Arizona yard. The resin that brings out the beauty in the grain? Dawn (that’s me) uses polyurethane for most pours, unless we’re using stabilized bone or wood scraps — then it’s epoxy. Stabilizing means vacuum chambers, pressure pots, and sometimes an oven I cannot use for food anymore.

There’s also mica, pigments, pen kits, lamp bases, jewelry findings, shipping charges, taxes, and tools. Oh, the tools. Rex’s shop looks like a mad scientist’s lab with a 3D printer and laser cutter tucked among the chisels and lathes.

But what we never charge for — and couldn’t, even if we tried — is the time.

Rex will spend days refining a single piece. Sometimes, weeks go by just conceptualizing a design. And sometimes, after all that, we scrap it entirely because it doesn’t feel right. (Art is like that — it doesn’t always behave.) This artisan mindset understands that true craftsmanship can’t be rushed.

Me? I wrestle with resin for hours, then wrangle paperwork for days. That’s not hyperbole. It’s just what it takes when you’re committed to creating handcrafted art that stands apart from mass-produced alternatives.

And in the end, what you receive is something real. Human. Not perfect, because we aren’t machines — but filled with love, laughter, and a little bit of stubbornness. (Especially from Rex, who I’ve been known to gently wrestle the finished piece away from because he’s never quite sure it’s done.)

The difference between handmade vs mass-produced isn’t just in the process — it’s in the soul of each piece. When you choose one of our reclaimed wood gifts, you’re not just getting functional art; you’re getting a story, a commitment to sustainable gifts, and decades of woodworking stories embedded in every grain.

So when someone says, “Too expensive,” we don’t get defensive. We just nod and think: you’re not our person — not yet.

Because the ones who do get it — they see more than just a bowl or a pen. They see the story, the soul, the hours behind it. They’re not just buying something. They’re joining a journey with Sarkanys Rising.

And to those folks? Welcome home.