Pewter for the people: Sculptor Michael Ricker no starving artist.

• Author: Caley, Nora
• Position: Attitude/Altitude - Michael Ricker Pewter - Brief Article

SCULPTOR MICHAEL RICKER HAD NO DIFFIculty making the transition from artist to businessman. He never struggled with how to write a business plan or hesitated to sell one of his pewter figurines to a customer who simply liked the way it matched her lamp.

"Ever since I was a kid I enjoyed selling stuff, everything from apples to cookbooks to Christmas cards," he says. And his salesmanship wasn't dedicated to school fundraisers. "It was just to make money to put in my bank," says Ricker.

So taking his artistic skills to market was no big leap for Ricker.

Today, his company, Michael Ricker Pewter, turns over $5 million a year in sales.

He makes and sells limited editions of whatever is popular. Right now figures that hark back to the national tragedy on Sept. 11 are selling briskly: a firefighter, police, and the Statue of Liberty. "You just never know what's going to be popular," he says. "A lot of it has to do with movies. When 'Dances With Wolves' came out, they bought wolves. Basically the woman starts out collecting, then her spouse gets involved."

Along with Sept. 11th-related figures, animals and angels are selling well this season, Ricker says. He also makes celebrity commemoratives, from John Elway to Dale Earnhardt, at prices ranging from $50 for a flute-playing bunny to $895 for the Elway.

But to make $5 million annually, Ricker must do more than make the figurines.

He has 25 galleries or distributorships across the...