Damn, I composed a long e-mail about this huge grey area and it was eaten by my computer. I'll boil it down to a couple of things. All business' are a balance of price, output, and quality. The workshop practices question has been out there for a few thousand years and is debated everyday in classrooms all over the world. Was Imhotep the first named artist or just the head of a workshop and architect? Is every painting signed by "Rembrandt" really a Rembrandt? Did Einstein really come up with all his theories without consulting anyone else? On the flip-side Is a Masi built by Brian actually a Brian Baylis, a Witcomb built by erichie a Richard Sachs? These are the questions scholars that discuss workshop practices struggle with every day.
I think each person needs to decide where they draw the line between builders and workshops. The reason you pay a premium for one of Richard or Brian's frames is because they also answer the phone, design the frame, sweep-up afterward and do everything in between. You're paying for the personal touch of the artist. When you buy a Colnago or Mercian you're paying for a name and the salaries of a batch workers. Somewhere in there is the grey area. Each person is going to put their defining line somewhere in that grey area and that's fine. I think this grey area deserves more discussion but I'll stop here and post this to the list to open the floor up for discussion. thanks, Brandon"monkeyman"Ives SB, CA