A Cape Cod Artist

A "No Strings Attached" grant for $1000? How cool is that?

2011-02-12T15:42:00.000-05:00

The Awesomeness Foundation, which began in Boston and now has several other locations, is an organization that gives grants each month to help people get a project off the ground. It can be art installations, science projects, new ventures, etc. There are locations in Providence, NYC, San Francisco, Melbourne and more!
Got a great project that you need a little seed money to help get off the ground? Check out The Awesomeness Foundation.

Today

2010-12-31T09:41:00.000-05:00

Well today marks the last day of Capescapes Jewelry, LLC. The costs of renewing an LLC in MA is over $500 a year - more than it costs an incorporated business to renew - and it has been a major struggle to do that. Last year, I would have turned a small profit for my business if not for the LLC renewal.

How LLC's are handled in MA speaks volumes about how little this state seems to care about small businesses. The point behind an LLC was to offer a legal business registration that would be available for single owner businesses that was not suppose to be as cost prohibitive as incorporating. It is suppose to protect a small business owner and their personal assets if something goes wrong with the business - like a law suite by a customer. I understand now why so many artists in this state have never gone this route and have instead remain DBAs (Doing Business As) and risk the IRS auditing them because what they do is a "hobby".

My accountant was one of the few Republicans voted into office here in MA this last election as our local representative to the state legislature. I hope he remembers his promise to me to address this issue. We need to do everything possible to help small businesses right now and how LLC renewals are handled - including a $20 fee for submitting your renewal paperless! I just learned that in VT, to renew your LLC it costs a total of $20! Something is not right with this picture my friends of the Commonwealth!
I will continue to use this blog to inform and comment on working artists and on subjects like metal clay, and jewelry making as I will still continue my art work - but now it will only be for myself, friends and family as gifts. Maybe some day I will return to being a working artist because I would love to make at least part of my living by doing something I love.

Tuesday Talk with The President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities

2010-10-28T14:51:00.001-04:00

On October 20, in honor of Arts and Humanities month, the White House's "Tuesday Talk" featured a live discussion with members of The President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. The members involved were Tuesday Talk with The President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities visual artist Chuck Close, ballet dancer Damian Woetzel, and co-chairs Margo Lion and George Stevens, Jr.. I tuned in for the last half hour and knew I had to go back and watch the video of the discussion. The White House and Americans for the Arts spent several days soliciting questions as well as taking questions live from FB which the members spent almost an hour answering with some great ideas and examples of several programs currently in place that they believe should be modeled across the country.

One of the common themes were programs that use working artists, who do not necessarily have teaching degrees, to bring arts back into the schools. In addition,they talked several times about how artists are great for the economy. Chuck stated that artists are "shovel ready" and if given a small amount of stimulus money can make huge impacts in the economy and education. Also, they pointed out how by moving artists into economically challenges areas, these areas typically become socially and economically revitalized. Margo, tying these two concepts together - arts in the school and economic growth - discussed how with students exposed to the arts you get better prepared workers who think out side of the box, know how to think critically and how to pose questions.

I LOVED one of the question posed that the issue was not "getting students to think outside of the box, but rather outside of the oval" (the concept of breaking the tie of teaching to the testing). Chuck said the arts is the antidote to this idea that has taken over education. Kids are learning to think more critically and teachers are revitalized in their teaching.

The discussion was so informative and thought provoking. I encourage you to watch the video (tried to embed the video but could not so just click here to go to the web site). The web site does allow you to jump to different questions to see just that part of the video; however, if you can take the 45 mins to watch, please do.

Part 2 of Joanne's post of artist resumes

2010-10-18T09:59:00.001-04:00

She really does a great step by step on creating a resume for artists - order, content, and editing. Her post offers great tips for mid-career artists needing to cut down and clean up their resumes. Lose the non-major stuff (your show at the senior center 20 years ago probably can come off your resume now). Her recommendation is to leave that for your CV. Even if you are not an artist or you are but are also working in a non-artist job too (and so many of us are), her tips can be useful. So go check her post out Joanne Mattera's Marketing Mondays and then go see the rest of her blog too while you are there - great stuff and very cool art!

Wanted to share this interesting post

2010-10-11T11:21:00.000-04:00

Joanne Mattera, who is an artist and writes an awesome blog for working artists - including marketing tips every Monday - is writing a 2 part piece on the differences for artists of a resume, cv and biography. It has great thoughts and tips for all of us, not just working artists. Go check her post out at http://joannemattera.blogspot.com/2010/10/marketing-mondays-cv-vs-resume-vs-bio.html

This is one of Joanne's pieces on display at the Marcia Wood Gallery in Atlanta.

Some new earrings

2010-08-07T00:37:00.003-04:00

I made these earrings for my best friend whose oldest daughter I wrote about over a year ago (click HERE to read the blog post).
These are post-backed puzzle piece earrings to go with the pin I designed called Trying to Fit In. I used the dangling puzzle piece in the pin design as the template for these earrings - yet as a stand alone jewelry piece they remind one a little bit of the blue colored symbol for "Autism Speaks" as Asperger's is part of the Autism spectrum.
This is made from PMC silver and the posts are sterling silver that I did depletion gilding on.

The Second Week in September Designated "Arts in Education Week"

2010-07-29T11:49:00.001-04:00

This is a news release from Americans for the Arts. Get the word out to teachers and artists who might be able to offer their services to schools whose arts programs have been drastically been cut.

July 27, 2010—Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.Con.Res. 275, legislation designating the second week of September as "Arts in Education Week." Authored and introduced by California Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA), this resolution is the first Congressional expression of support celebrating all the disciplines comprising arts education. This is a very positive showing of support for arts education and comes at a key time when Congress is making plans to overhaul federal education policy.

The resolution seeks to support the attributes of arts education that are recognized as instrumental to developing a well-rounded education such as creativity, imagination, and cross-cultural understanding. H.Con.Res. 275 also highlights the critical link between those skills and preparing our children for gaining a competitive edge in the global economy. This is an important message for policy makers to acknowledge as they prepare to reauthorize federal education policy. To send a message to your member of Congress in support for arts education, please visit our E-Advocacy Center.

As a House resolution, the bill does not require signature by the President upon its passage. You can read the resolution here.

Americans for the Arts is planning an Arts Education Blog Salon for the celebratory week. The Americans for the Arts Action Fund’s 50 States 50 Days initiative will also be a way underway during this time. Resources on the Arts Action Fund website help arts advocates to use their arts institutions at home to convey their message about the arts in a setting that reinforces themes of economic development; jobs in the arts; arts education; and partnerships between artists, institutions, and local policymakers.

We realize that September 12 is right around the corner, so please get the word out to make the first Arts in Education Week a successful one!

Important survey for MA Artists - please respond and pass on!

2010-07-06T11:57:00.003-04:00

I just received this via MAASH and I think its important to make artists aware and get them involved in advocating for the arts. The survey takes less then 10 mins. to do and asks some great questions involved with arts, education and other needs for artists and art organizations.

- Gale

Please help us strengthen arts and culture in Massachusetts by filling out this brief survey. It should take no more than 10 minutes. You are also welcome to forward this survey to friends and colleagues.

http://www.tbf.org/SelectSurvey/TakeSurvey.asp?SurveyID=7LJ684435n31G

Our state's arts and cultural life has never been so important. Arts and cultural organizations educate our children, fuel our economy and give us precious moments of beauty, insight and community. To assure that our arts and cultural life remains vibrant and productive, the Boston Foundation and the board of MAASH (Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Science and Humanities) have joined with cultural leaders and interested residents across our state to describe and develop a strong and sustainable advocacy organization. Your views about what statewide arts and cultural advocacy should look like in Massachusetts is very important to the future vitality of the state's arts and cultural life.

Thank you for your time and attention to this brief survey. We look forward to your response. We will release our findings in the fall.

Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO, The Boston Foundation

Celeste Wilson, Chair of the Board, MAASH

Grants, Fellowships, Residencies for Artists, Writers, Composers, Filmmakers and Performing Artists: Mira's List

2010-06-16T12:13:00.000-04:00

Check out Mira's great blog Mira's List if you are looking for money to support your artistic work (artists of ALL kinds). This particular post of hers links to another blog site where Mira's earlier posting about finding money for your dreams is referenced and linked to. Check it out!
Grants, Fellowships, Residencies for Artists, Writers, Composers, Filmmakers and Performing Artists: Mira's List

-Gale

Quick post - Check out my other blog

2010-06-12T13:10:00.000-04:00

So I decided after my last blog was such a mix of stuff that I needed a blog for that stuff and keep this blog for its original intention - my jewelry creations, trying to be a working artist, and legal stuff related to artists. My new blog which covers all my other interests and just random thoughts is Dreams on the Coast.

I will continue to do my monthly or more posts to this site with information on being a working artist and my work in PMC and jewelry. I hope you go check out my other site and leave comments - we love comments!

Gale R

Louise Bourgeois 25 December 1911 – 31 May 2010

2010-06-02T10:56:00.000-04:00

Louise Bourgeois Obit

Stuff . . .

2010-04-29T14:39:00.035-04:00

I don't have much to write so I thought I would just share some of my latest things - this is both jewelry and hand crafted cards. Let the craft speak for themselves:

sea foam earrings

vintage floral button earrings

(made from an impression of a lovely floral button I found)

Butterflies on the beach

(I have shown this before - but I do LOVE this pendent
and the saphire in the bail. This can be used
as a pearl enhancer too)

Speaking of Butterflies . . .

A card I made for a card challenge where everything had to be stamped - no purchased embellishments allowed

This was a card I made for a stamping friend in NZ who was in the middle of a hot summer at the time. I was so happy with the way it turned out.

Made this card for my god-daughter's birthday. She is a teenager now and I wanted a card to reflect her maturity (FYI - this is my GD with Aspergers and I am SO PROUD to tell you all she was accepted into the summer program at Tufts Veterinarian School. Very tough as they only allow in a small amount of non-MA students!)

Well that's all I have to share with you right now. Maybe something here will inspire you to create something in your medium of choice. Happy creating!

- Gale

Arts in Education call to action

2010-03-26T13:36:00.002-04:00

Taking my post today straight from an email a received from Americans for the Arts Action Fund.

"Arts education advocacy has had an exciting few weeks in Washington! Several times this month leaders in Congress expressed concern and raised questions about the future of arts education with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Secretary Duncan has appeared before several Congressional committees to speak about education funding and federal reform efforts. We need to build on this momentum by raising these concerns in the broader public forum, like your local newspapers."

"The questions to Secretary Duncan come at a critical time for arts education: The president's budget proposal calls for the federal arts education program to be consolidated with non-arts-specific education programs; Secretary Duncan has introduced a "blueprint" for reauthorizing education policy and has released new federal grants to spur reforms. However, all around the country, including in Massachusetts, we see arts education being challenged, reduced, and in many cases, being dropped from local school budgets."

"In the past few weeks on Capitol Hill:

House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-SC), based on questions posed by arts education leaders in his congressional district, asked Secretary Duncan about whether the arts were being put on the 'backburner.'"

"Senate Education Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) said that, 'Not every kid's brain is wired for math and science and engineering...some are more artistic, more creative, in music and in the arts...' and questioned Secretary Duncan about how arts education will be supported within the White House's new education 'blueprint.'"

"House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) during the Secretary's testimony on his FY 2011 budget request brought up his personal interest in music and how providing the arts in schools can help keep students who might drop out otherwise engaged."

"Secretary Arne Duncan responded each time that he has consistently heard about the "narrowing of the curriculum" during his trips around the country and how that the Administration is committed to strengthening arts education opportunities in the future."

"Americans for the Arts is preparing a major effort this year to support arts education in upcoming education reform initiatives and funding. As part of our outreach timeline, we ask that you take action now by taking two minutes to visit our E-Advocacy Center and send a customizable letter to your local news outlets supporting arts education both in your community and at the federal level."

"Next on the calendar is National Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, DC on April 13, where we will be calling on arts education advocates from around the country to contact their members of Congress on these very same issues."

"Help us continue this important work by becoming an official member of the Arts Action Fund. If you are not already a member play your part by joining the Arts Action Fund today -- it's free and simple."

Me again: If you do send a letter - Send it directly from your own email and really heavy duty customize it as I know our local "rag" (The Cape Cod Times) won't publish a letter if there is even a hint that it is auto generated (well that is unless its a Republican or Tea Party auto generated letter - then that is different).

- Gale

PS: Sorry for the gap in posting. Tax time drains my creative process every year. Am committed to more posting going forward so check back.

What you can do for Haiti - completely off Blog topic

2010-01-16T14:42:00.001-05:00

You can text donations for Haiti relief from your cell phone. In addition to your donation amount, standard text messaging fees will apply. This list came from the CNN web site and were vetted . . .

Yéle Haiti: Text YELE to 501501 ($5 donation)

United Way: Text HAITI to 864833 ($5 donation)

Intl Medical Corps: Text HAITI to 85944 ($10 donation)

World Food Program: Text: FRIENDS to 90999 ($5 donation)

UN Foundation: Text CERF to 90999 ($5 donation)

Clinton Foundation: Text HAITI to 20222 ($10 donation)

Compassion Intl: Text DISASTER to 85944 ($10 donation)

Intl Rescue Committee Text: HAITI to 25383 ($5 donation)

The Salvation Army: Text HAITI to 52000 ($10 donation)

Red Cross: Text HAITI to 90999 ($10 donation)

From Canada:

Salvation Army in Canada: Text HAITI to 45678 ($5 donation)

From the United Kingdom:

Disasters Emergency Committee: Text GIVE to 70077 (£5 Pounds)

From France:

French Red Cross: Text HAITI to 80222 (1 Euro)

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T00:17:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to make a quick post to say Happy New Year! I am looking forward to a new year of creating and finding new inspirations. My one recommendation today is to check out http://www.artistaday.com/. I have it on my arts iGoogle page as a gadget. Very interesting stuff shows up there. Check it out! Peace be with you for the New Year.

- Gale

I am so excited! Gift Certificates!!

2009-12-02T14:38:00.004-05:00

Just a short post to mention I FINALLY got gift certificates up and running. If you love my stuff and want to hint to someone to get something from my site for the holidays, tell them about the gift certificates. Just send them here and have them click on the image at the end of this sentance and it will bring them right to the sales site where the gift certificates are. (You do have to have a paypal account to use them).
Wooo Hoooo and happy shopping!
Gale

Promises kept and new projects

2009-11-30T19:30:00.004-05:00

Back in March I was working on a commissioned project for a friend to give to one of her daughters’ teachers who had made the youngest daughter love to read. This project was a pin that needed to look like a book. I had hoped to be able to also use this project to join a challenge on an online group that was a “from design to finished project” challenge. I posted my design picture here (here it is again to remind you) with the promise to post the finished pin. Well the pin was a challenge all by itself! Trying to make a hollow form in PMC that would not collapse on itself as the organic matter burned off had me doing a lot of mental gymnastics. In the end, I decided to fire the piece in two pieces, using paper clay to support the shape at the firing and then firing a separate time to join the top of the book to the base and the pin back to the base as well. I think the results came out pretty good – no idea how the teacher liked it or if she wears it . . . hard to know what happens to my jewelry that is given as gifts. So here is the finished pin. What do you think?

I also had my first home party this weekend. It was a lot of fun and several of my friends made a good dent in their Christmas shopping. One of my items - Modern Holly earrings – was such a hit that I had to take orders to make more. The orders are well under way plus some extras for more potential orders. Check them out (click on image for larger image and to purchase). There is a wonderful pendent that matches too!

Off to finish up on the earring orders plus work on a fun charm bracelet I had started and never finished in time for the home party.

Gale R

12/8/09 Updated to new picture of Modern Holly Berry earrings - better photo

Stand Up and Be Counted Survey Results

2009-11-04T20:46:00.001-05:00

The Artist Foundation of Massachusetts undertook a survey of working and hobby artists of all types in 2008 which I have blogged about both when I encouraged others to respond as well as some initial information released earlier. The survey was based on a similar one done in 2007, by Springboard for the Arts, Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, and the Minnesota Craft Council. Interestingly the results - while based on more participants here in MA - had almost the same results.
While the report is 63 pages, it is well laid out making it easy to read through the basics and even dig into some of the details without feeling overwhelmed. Some of the biggest findings were that most of the artists make their living from outside jobs because they can not afford to just survive on their art - especially now with the state required health insurance. Also, it is important to note that of those responding, over 80% said they vote regularly which make them a political force IF they organized themselves. To see the results go to http://www.artistsfoundation.org/.
One of the more interesting findings they had was about the economic base for the responding artists, I will quote directly from the executive summary:

Stand Up and Be Counted also provided valuable information about how Massachusetts artists are accessing grant opportunities. Although conventional wisdom is that grant awards support a significant portion of the artists community, Stand Up and Be Counted shows that that isn’t the case. Of the 2,264 respondents who answered the question, only 41% reported that they had ever applied for a grant; of those who said they had applied for a grant, only 35.7% reported that they had ever received one (or an in-kind donation for their art). Last, most of the grants awarded to the 791 respondents who answered the question were for less than $1,000, and 79% reported receiving grants totaling less than $4,999.

I have been following a fellow blogger who has a blog specific to making artists of all types aware of grants, stipends and foundations for artists, writers, crafters, etc., Mira's List http://miraslist.blogspot.com/ and this comment from the survey really struck me because Mira's blog has become so popular (based from a popular email list she had) due to how difficult it is for artists to find grants and other funding for their work. Also, there were comments on the survey from artists who lived in other countries for a time or who had duel citizenship about how they were supported and valued as artists in other countries. Wonder what it would take to change the attitude towards artists here? Let us try to use the power this survey gives us (knowledge is power) to make changes for artists.

Looking for inspiration? Part 2

2009-11-01T19:47:00.002-05:00

So in my last post I mentioned I had 2 things I did to re-inspire myself. A few weeks ago I stumbled across back to back programs on PBS called Craft in America and the programs were the most recent programs in a series that started a few years ago. The two programs were titled "Origins" and "Process". Each episode in the series (there are 5 in total) focuses on "a journey to the artist, origins and techniques of American craft". This is done by focusing on a few different types of craft artisans in each episode. Looking at the work of the potters, weavers, blacksmiths, glass-blowers, basket weavers, metal smiths etc. and hearing how they learned their craft or what inspired them to create was amazing!

I was so moved by the two episodes I saw that I had to know more about the series and I discovered that there were three other episodes shows before the two newest ones. You can watch the first 3 episodes of the series in their entirety right off the website http://www.pbs.org/craftinamerica/index.html. Each one is about 55 mins and are broken into segments so even if you can not sit and watch 55 mins at one time, you can watch a few sections and then select the next segment to start at when you go back to watch it later. Also, if you are an educator (not just art, but math, science, social studies and more) there are great study guides to use to go with the series along with some video segments not in the series - like the book artist talking about math skills she uses to figure out how to make the book look like she envisions it.

In the first episode "Memory", the blacksmith Ton Joyce, has some really inspiring and profound comments. He talked about blacksmithing being made up of portions of items that have been made by others in the past. He had found a very old item that had been fixed many times over by blacksmiths of the past. It reminded him of the patchwork quilts his mother made and that thought has inspired his work since then. He was commissioned to create a baptismal font and he asked the members of the congregation to bring in iron items that reminded them of their past and then made each item into a plate that was forged together like a quilt that made up the bowl of the font "the idea being that the babies are baptized in the ancestry of [the] entire community."

Go check the videos out and be inspired to really think about what your art means to you and where it comes from.

- Gale

Looking for inspiration?

2009-10-24T22:21:00.016-04:00

To try to get re-inspired after this summer, I did two things to feed my artistic soul. I will discuss the first one I did here and then blog about the other in a few days (don't you just love being teased?).

I took a very interesting live online 90 minute class offered through Alison Lee's Craftcast - "Design: A Blow By Blow Approach with Tim McCreight". Now those that know me also know that I think Tim McCreight is a god. He is one of the original goldsmith/jewelry artists to work with PMC and he is also a major name in metalsmithing education, having written Complete Metalsmith which is available as a student edition, a professional edition and a ProPlus edition. This is the bench "bible" for most metalsmiths. The online class was a master class - which I am not - but as it was a design class and not a techniques class I figured with my art background I could at least keep up with the concepts. The other participants included names of metalsmiths I have heard of and seen their work in jewelry magazines (thank goodness there were no live mikes for us students so I could hide in the webinar masses).

Tim discussed how he was rethinking how he was creating metal work by moving back to a more basic organic approach to metalsmithing. He was using the hammer, chisel and punch to create his work (no saws, no fancy tools, not even anything more then hand polishing). He was allowing the process to dictate the design and having the experiments show him what the final design would be instead of envisioning a design and then trying to recreate that in metal. He said that we (artists) need to "provide an environment where the magic is allowed to show." How often do we do that for ourselves? So my mission over these next few weeks - give myself the environment to allow the magic to show.

- Gale

Note: I know I promised a few months ago to post the final picture of the book pin I created for a commision. I have not forgotten, just need to download the final picture and I will post it under new works.

In Memory

2009-09-30T22:09:00.010-04:00

My Dad, Halcyon "Rocky" Rockwell, passed away on August 23 after a 2 1/2 month struggle with infection, heart issues and Parkinson's disease. My Mom, Beatrice, who passed away 12 years ago, and my Dad are where my artistic base come from.
My Mom loved to paint and draw and had studied art in high school, in the building where I later studied art in college. She use to pull out her dry or oil pastels about once a year when I was growing up, and work on a drawing. When she retired, she decided to take up her art more seriously and started taking classes. She took a painting class from the local community college (She was so cute at 70 years old, having me go shopping with her for her college clothes). She also took a few classes offered to seniors to learn traditional Japanese brush stroke painting. Her paintings are in my kitchen and family room. Mom taught me my initial drawing when I was not even in school yet because I wanted my dog to really look to an adult like a dog, and my people to not look like stick figures.
My Dad was a custom picture framer when I was young and loved to show me the art work of some of the local artists he was framing (the pictures in my home were almost all framed by him). I learned to really appreciate fine art at an early age because of his work. When he later became a tool maker, he was picked to create two steel picture frames for a modern artist whose work was going up at MoMA in NYC, without the shop owner knowing Dad was a custom picture framer, until after Dad started working with the artist (wish I knew who the artist was). He was always my champion for learning new things. Dad and Mom encouraged me to learn to color in the color by number picture the use to be in the Sunday New York Daily News and once I got good at it, he got me a child size artists easel (a real one not the plastic kiddie ones they have today), and paint by number oil paintings - I was about 8 years old. He then got me the pre-stretched canvas and acrylic paints when I was ready to try painting my own pictures - I was in 6th grade. When I was in college and needed to mat some pictures for a student art show, he taught me the art of matting (of which I have forgotten half of the tips he gave me) and he made me mat my own pictures. When I moved to jewelry, Mom had already passed away (she would have been right there learning it with me if she had been alive) but my Dad was fascinated with the process - especially the precious metal clay work - and was very proud of my work.
I miss my parents very much and I miss their encouragement. I was blessed to have parents who loved art and who taught me as much as they could about art and craft work. I hope I can make something of my art that will be a credit to them and all they gave to me.
Gale
Proud daughter of Beatrice (1924-1998)
and Halcyon Rockwell (1927-2009)

Dad's illness and it's impact on creativity

2009-07-22T11:58:00.003-04:00

It has weighed heavily on me that I have not posted to my blog (yes the book pin did get completed and I will post updates and pictures of the final product soon). My 82 yr old father who lives with me became seriously ill at the beginning of June. At first it was suppose to be 3 days in the hospital for IV antibiotics and then home. Well 3 days became 10 days and home became rehab. Two days into rehab he went down hill rapidly and no one could (or would) figure out why this was happening, but it was clear he was leaving us. After a week or so of having him there but under hospice care, a wonderful nurse became concerned that the infection he initially had seemed to be showing up again, but in a different place. Her efforts to get him back on antibiotics appears to have turned everything around for him - but the road to recovery and home will be long now.
The effort to mange his care, the finances for it, and even the grieving I went through when he was at his sickest, had sucked all the creative life out of me. During the height of his illness, I could not even muster the energy and mental concentration to read the various jewelry and art newsletters, blogs and on-line list groups I belong to. Art did not seem like an outlet but a joy that I could not bring myself to allow myself when things in life were so serious. Normally, even when I am away from my craft table and workbench for a while, I am still actively getting input and mentally working on new ideas. But with Dad's extended illness - at one point he was barely eating and no longer communicating to anyone - I could not even handle anything that was related to my creativity. It was as if everything on that side of my brain function went numb.
Slowly, ever so slowly, I am fighting my way through the fog clouding my creativity. I am trying to read the newsletters and blogs again and a glimmer of creative thought is starting to occur. I am disappointed that the marketing work I was going to do for the business has gotten lost too but more importantly I am disappointed that I was unable to create at I time when that creativity may have helped my soul the most. I hope to be back at the table soon . . . and maybe this time of struggle will help me re-purpose myself and my work. Wish me luck!

Adventures in creativity

2009-05-31T23:21:00.010-04:00

Time got away from me again for a lot of reasons. Currently I am working on a commissioned work for a friend to give to a teacher who is retiring. She wanted a pin (as she is giving some other teachers some other pins I make) but this needs to look like a book. I am creating one as an open book and this has managed to be a major challenge. The book design is an open book and I am trying to reduce the silver quantity to make the price in line with the other pins - so it is a hollow shape. If this was a bead - piece of cake - but as a closed shape for a pin it has really challenged me to solve issue like keeping the shape from collapsing during firing without leaving the burnt forming material from being trapped inside. As I usually do pins as a double firing to fire the argentium pin back in place and not cause issues with the pin shape - I decided to create the book in two pieces. The first firing is complete and now the REAL challenge comes to get this all to come together, finished and sent off to NH before the end of the week. YIKES. The rendering for the pin is the picture above. I'll post my results later.

Artists as a political power

2009-03-30T23:02:00.008-04:00

I'm not talking about how your art can make a political statement, but rather how artists can have political power by speaking up and letting your government know what you think.

I went to a great working artists symposium on Friday at CCCC and one of the speakers was from The Artists Foundation/Artists Under the Dome. They helped sponsor the Stand Up and Be Counted survey last year which surveyed the artists of MA (see my April 2008 post for the details of the survey). They had over 3000 respondent's!!! The MN survey this was modeled on got just over 1000 respondent. One thing they have learned is that over 80% of the artists responding said they ALWAYS vote. This information is going to make the politicians for MA sit up and take notice. The survey details will be out in the next month or so and I will post more when it comes out.

Also, fascinating at this symposium was the work CCCC adjunct faculty Philippe Lejeune was doing on the Internet using the web as an art medium. Check out his web site at cccc.posterous.com to see some of his work. One of the most interesting sites he talked about was seesmic which is like twitter meets web cam. Its wonderful to see the web move beyond just the information exchange we think of now.

Here are some good sites to check out: The Artists Foundation (Boston) http://www.artistsfoundation.org/ , The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod http://www.artsfoundation.org/ , Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities http://www.maash.org/ , Artists Under the Dome http://www.artistsunderthedome.org/

Hope this gets your mind working . . .

Gale

More on the arts and the economic stimulas package

2009-02-07T23:26:00.002-05:00

I am going to post this update from the Americans for the Arts organization with just these comments - I expect McCain (I won't repeat what my WWII vet father calls him) would vote to kill the arts but I am shocked by some otherwise smart Democrats making the same stupid vote. I also noticed that I could not find a single Republican willing to vote to save the arts (Liberman does not count as he is an independent and former Dem).

From the Americans for the Arts:
Breaking News
On the afternoon of Feb 6th, the U.S. Senate, during their consideration of the economic recovery bill, approved an egregious amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that stated “None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center, and highway beautification project.” Unfortunately, the amendment passed by a wide vote margin of 73-24, and surprisingly included support from many high profile Senators including Chuck Schumer of New York, Dianne Feinstein of California, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, and several other Democratic and Republican Senators.
If the Coburn amendment language is included in the final conference version of this legislation, many arts groups will be prevented from receiving economic recovery funds from any portion of this specific stimulus bill. It is clear that there is still much work to be done in the Senate and in the media about the role that nonprofit arts organizations and artists play in the nation’s economy and workforce.
Plan of Action
1. Arts advocates need to quickly contact Senators who voted for the Coburn Amendment and express your extreme disappointment with their vote. We need these Senators to know that their vote would detrimentally impact nonprofit arts organizations and the jobs they support in their state. We have crafted a customized message for you to send to your Senators based on their vote on the Coburn Amendment.
http://capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=12612041
The correct letter, customized to each of your Senators will appear when you enter your zip code. If your Senator voted for this funding prohibition, you can send them a message expressing your disappointment and ask them to work to delete this language in the final conference bill with the House. If your Senator voted against the Coburn Amendment, you can thank them for their support of the arts.
2. We need as many news articles as possible this coming week to publish stories about the economic impact of the nonprofit arts industry and how the recession is negatively affecting arts groups across the country. Please click here to customize an opinion editorial to your local media. We have provided you with easy-to-use talking points.
http://capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=12427561&type=ME

HOW THEY VOTED-
How the Senate voted on (Yea means they voted NOT to include the arts in the economic recovery bill)

Akaka (D-HI), Nay Alexander (R-TN), Yea
Barrasso (R-WY), Yea Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Yea Begich (D-AK), Yea
Bennet (D-CO), Yea Bennett (R-UT), Yea
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea Bond (R-MO), Yea
Boxer (D-CA), Nay Brown (D-OH), Yea
Brownback (R-KS), Yea Bunning (R-KY), Yea
Burr (R-NC), Yea Burris (D-IL), Nay
Byrd (D-WV), Yea Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Cardin (D-MD), Yea Carper (D-DE), Yea
Casey (D-PA), Yea Chambliss (R-GA), Yea
Coburn (R-OK), Yea Cochran (R-MS), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Yea Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Corker (R-TN), Yea Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Yea DeMint (R-SC), Yea
Dodd (D-CT), Nay Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Durbin (D-IL), Nay Ensign (R-NV), Yea
Enzi (R-WY), Yea Feingold (D-WI), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay
Graham (R-SC), Yea Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Gregg (R-NH), Not Voting Hagan (D-NC), Nay
Harkin (D-IA), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Inouye (D-HI), Nay Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Johanns (R-NE), Yea Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kaufman (D-DE), Nay Kennedy (D-MA), Not Voting
Kerry (D-MA), Nay Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea Kyl (R-AZ), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay
Leahy (D-VT), Nay Levin (D-MI), Nay
Lieberman (ID-CT), Nay Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Yea Martinez (R-FL), Yea
McCain (R-AZ), Yea McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Yea Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
Merkley (D-OR), Yea Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea Murray (D-WA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea Reed (D-RI), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Nay Risch (R-ID), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Yea Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay
Sanders (I-VT), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Yea Shaheen (D-NH), Nay
Shelby (R-AL), Yea Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Tester (D-MT), Yea Thune (R-SD), Yea
Udall (D-CO), Yea Udall (D-NM), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Yea Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Warner (D-VA), Yea Webb (D-VA), Nay
Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay Wicker (R-MS), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Yea

Stand Up and Be Counted Artists Survey & Comments on the Economic Stimulas package

2009-02-03T16:44:00.007-05:00

In April I posted about an important artist survey here in MA. I have received an email that the deadline has been extended until this Saturday (9 Feb) to accommodate some artist organizations that are running programs which include having artists complete this survey. You DO NOT have to be a "WORKING ARTIST" to participate in this survey. You can be a full-time, part-time or "hobby" artist. The survey is called "Stand Up and Be Counted" and is going to be used to show the state legislators that we are a constituency to be recognized. It is modeled on the 2007 Minnesota "Artists Count" survey. To take this survey (only takes a few minutes) go to http://www.artistsfoundation.org/ There is an optional section on your 2006 reported income but you are in no way obligated to complete that section. They also break it up into sections so if you only have time to fill in section One your survey still counts!

At a time when the Republican Senators down in Washington are claiming that putting stimulus money into the Endowment for the Arts is wasteful and should not be part of the economic stimulus package, it is more important then ever for artists to make themselves heard. The claims of these Senators make it appear that artists who make their living, or part of their living off of the arts are not really "working" and that any stimulus to help them during this economic crisis is not helping to create jobs or put money back into the economy. Every time I heard their comments claiming this was just pork barrel waste by the Democrats I wanted to scream "So what you are telling all the artists, musicians, dancers, and actors of America is 'Go get a REAL' job'". If you are an artist reading this who is represented by one of these Republican Senators, please email them or call them right now and make it clear to their staff that YOU are a voting constituent and artists are listening and watching what they are saying. Tell them to leave the money for the arts in the package before too many working artists are forced to give up their work and go into the regular work force to compete for jobs that the rest of their constituency are competing for. FDR knew he needed to keep artists working and not needing to compete for regular jobs - why can't these fools understand why that money is actually important to everyone?
Gale

Rose Art Museum Closing

2009-01-30T22:26:00.004-05:00

I saw that Brandeis was closing the Rose Art Museum and I foolishly assumed it was another sign of our economic implosion (thank you George Bush). However, I received this email from the Mass. Arts group which was a letter from the College Arts Association:

The College Art Association (CAA) was shocked and dismayed to learn of the decision by BrandeisUniversity to close the Rose Art Museum and sell its entire art collection for operating revenue.
CAA supports the Codes of Ethics of the American Association of Museums and the Association of Art Museum Directors, which clearly state that works of art in museum collections are held as a public trust and that any proceeds of sales must only support the acquisition of new works. However, perceiving an entire art collection as a disposable financial asset and then dismantling that collection wholesale to cover other university expenses is deeply troubling for all college and university collections.
The closing of the museum at Brandeis will be devastating to the academic community, not only affecting our colleagues at the museum and students and faculty in the Department of Fine Arts, which offers programs in both studio art and art history, but also depriving the entire arts-loving public in New England and around the world. The teaching of art and art history in higher education is untenable without the direct study of physical works of art, and it appears the Brandeis Board of Trustees has disregarded the kind of scholarship and creativity that have been the hallmark of CAA members for nearly one hundred years.
According to news reports, neither Brandeis University nor the Rose Art Museum is on the brink of economic collapse, nor are they unable to maintain the collections. Given that no clear explanation has been offered on the school’s financial exigencies, the closure of the Rose Art Museum and the sale of its collection appear to be in violation of professional museum standards and of academic transparency and due process; the decision also demonstrates a lack of academic responsibility and fiduciary foresight. We appeal to the Trustees of Brandeis to revisit and reverse their decision.
Paul B. Jaskot
Executive Director, College Art Association
Professor of Art History
Department of the History of Art and Architecture
DePaul University

What in the world is Brandeis thinking? I understand even the museum's director had not been made aware that the museum was under consideration for closing. I smell a rat . . . I am sure the Rose family who donated the money to create the building and open the museum would be less then pleased with the Trustees' decision. I know I'm not.

Gale

My new line of jewelry

2008-11-30T20:19:00.006-05:00

I mentioned this summer that I was struck by the monarch butterflies I saw at the beach. Out of that observation came an idea for a set of sea based jewelry, some with butterflies as part of the design. I really liked working with the sea shell molds (see below), paua shells, and butterfly molds and I plan on doing more items using these.

The paua shells came from a challenge my friend Anne made to me to find a way to bring these into PMC designs as they can not be fired in place and are odd enough in shape that a standard bezel process would not work that easily. I read how some other PMC artists were attaching odd shaped items to their pieces and I came up with a plan using paper clay as a base mold of the paua shell that could be fired in the kiln. Because I needed the metal extra strong, as I would be hammering it on an anvil after, I fired the PMC plus at the 2 hour PMC standard rate to insure the silver was fully sintered. I am very pleased with the process and will continue to explore using these shells. The one I have pictured here also has a separate bail with a lab grown Sapphire that the main pendent hangs from to give it movement.

I had a lot of fun using the cold mold to create shell molds as well as molds of vintage buttons which I have made into earrings. I can't wait to find more things to mold. Should be a lot of fun finding items at antique stores to mold and create pieces from those molds.

I will be adding these to my web site shortly, but you can contact me if you are interested in any of these pieces before they go up online.

- Gale

Buying Handmade/Handcrafted

2008-10-01T09:40:00.008-04:00

Yikes! Is it October already?

Much has happened in this last month. I am working on a whole new design line that I will have available for Christmas shopping. The price of silver dropped for a short time so I invested in more silver wire and metal clay so I can keep prices down. And then I got a new job! I will be working for The Emancipation Network http://www.madebysurvivors.com/ which is an international organization that fights slavery by empowering survivors and high risk communities by giving them economic alternatives and education. The products these survivors make also help build the abolition movement in the US. I just did an orientation there yesterday and they have some really beautiful things.

I really want to encourage people to make a commitment this year that they will buy handmade/handcrafted gifts for the holidays. Go to local craft shows, find local artists and artisans, check out Etsy and buy hand crafted. It's a great way to make your money go far and help your local economy.

Gale

Where have all the flowers gone?

2008-08-30T19:21:00.008-04:00

Nope, this is not a post about the end of summer. With a birthday in mid September, I have long held to the idea that summer really does end at the autumnal equinox and not Labor Day. Late summer and earlier fall here on the Cape can be amazing. The light on the marshes and over the dunes is spectacular and the cranberry harvesting is beautiful.

Actually, my post today is about art as a means to move people politically and socially. I just got through re-watching the PBS American Masters special on Pete Seegar. His work to reacquaint the world with folk music and then using it to make people socially aware of the injustices around them was an amazing blend of love of his art and love of his country. That was the idea that struck me when they talked about his Kennedy Center award and used "Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There is a Season)" as the closing part of his tribute there (Ecclesiastes 3, verses 1–8) . I didn't catch who said it (I think his son) but they said the words of the song really described his life - from being black listed in the 50s to hailed as an American treasure in 1994. There is a time for everything and America finally got it that all he did he did for love.

Even today he uses his music to help make people environmentally aware. He used his music (and his sloop Clearwater) to help make people aware that the Hudson River needed to be cleaned. Today the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater organization he helped to found works with school children to make them aware of the environment issues and how they can help to make a difference.

I see a lot of pieces that artists - especially jewelry artists - make to sponsor a cause. But how many of these pieces actually make you think about the cause itself? Often we make art for art's sake, but Pete reminds us that art is a powerful tool for change.

- Gale

Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There is a Season) - Pete Seegar

To everything, turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of peace, I swear it’s not too late

A month of adventure

2008-07-30T11:19:00.008-04:00

I only wish it had been artistic adventure . . . my Dad went into the hospital and was diagnosed with Parkinson's. It's taken up some time in my life but these last few days I have started to take some time back for me.

I have started reading Randy Pausch's book "The Last Lecture" in honor of his passing last Friday (see http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture/). I took it down to the beach and ready chapters in between soaking in the sounds of the surf, the children playing and the gulls calling. The book is a wonderful addition to his lecture and I know I must take his lessons and use them to get around, over or through the brick walls that I am placing in front of me. I have to ask of my different dreams how badly do I want this and how do I obtain those dreams without allowing the brick walls to stop me.

For two days running I have seen a beautiful monarch butterfly flitting about the beach. It's a sight that seemed so unexpected but it has given me an idea for a piece of jewelry. I have to make myself sit down at the table and do it. I have really started forming more concrete ideas on jewelry that are completely beach themed, separate from my beach glass work. I also looked at the storm fence and beach grass growing on the edge of the beach and thought there had to be something that can come from those wonderful images too. All it took was looking up from my reading and really taking in the moment I was in to see things that inspire me to create.

Are you in the moment?

Gale

This and that (or where the heck did this month go?)

2008-06-23T21:41:00.011-04:00

Well I had great intentions to post to this blog more often this month and suddenly here we are at the end of the June. I got to go see my friend Erin's work (http://www.freebird-designs.com/index.html) at an artists/craft show at the new art center in Yarmouth, MA. Her work is very delicate and pretty - not sure how well it was appreciated at the show - but she does well over on the Vineyard. Hoping to catch up with her there in about a week as I hope to go over and visit with my friend Betsy for a day while she is staying at the family "farm" (which sounds more like a vacation compound).

Erin telling me about this show - Celebration of the Arts Festival - reinforced an issue I have with arts and crafts shows down here. The Cape, which prides itself on having a great artist community, continues to fail those artists in getting word out about these shows. Most of them you almost have to stumble over to find.

Last year the Cape Cultural Center http://www.cultural-center.org/ was still in the midst of a multi-year adaptive reuse preservation process from its neglected past as an abandoned old bank building. The work they did on the place is amazing! I got to see some before and afters and the work they have done there is amazing. Last year's Celebrations of the Arts Festival was held under a tent with money from it used to help continue the restoration work. This center is a wonderful venue for artists privately mount a show of their work for a reasonable fee in a fabulous space. The Center's staff and volunteers help man the shows with the artist recommended to be there for the weekend. If a group of artists rented the space it could be one really fabulous place to have your art seen and even possibly sold! Yet, even my art friends who have friends in the various art guilds here had no idea about this show or about the space.

The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce and their Cape Cod Arts Association have tried to make the arts here a part of the reason to come to the Cape. However, when they want tourists to spend $20 on a book - current only for that year - to find out about artists, artisans, shows and galleries they are missing the point. Even the Massachusetts' Artist Trail has books for $10 and a banner on members shop doors that can't be seen until you stop and go into the gallery or store. I know there is a better way and I am hopeful that Betsy will be able to put into play this summer a better method for tourists to find artists and events (yes we have a theory on how to do this and when she gets it going you will hear about it here). In the meantime, the shows and galleries here are left to pay fees to the Chamber for little results.

The Hyannis Artist Shanties are back - and you would be surprise at how few people who live here - let alone visit - know anything about them. Called "Harbor Your Arts" http://www.harboryourarts.com/ it gives juried artists and artisans a place to show and sell their work at the Harbor docks during the summer. They have most shanties with a single artist for the whole season but have one shanty with weekly rotating artists. If you are here on the Cape - living, summering or just visiting - make sure you go check them out.

- Gale

Note: See Clare's comments below regarding the artist trail books. When I went to purchase the book from the Chamber at an event last summer they were asking $19.95 (I was shocked) and the MA Artisan's Trail Guide book was on sale at Collections just last month for about $10, so I would be really pleased if tourists can easily find these books for $5.

Artists, training, education and the importance of continued learning

2008-06-01T17:27:00.007-04:00

A few months ago, on the Orchid forum a debate regarding "trained" jewelers and metal smiths and "self-taught" got pretty intense. Goldsmiths were one of the first groups of artisans that organized into Guilds during the Middle Ages. To protect their trades these groups organized the precursors to the modern unions with set regulations on training, apprenticeship, journeymen and masters. The groups became so powerful that they began to have major political impact during the Renaissance and could determine who could practice their trade. I mention this because if you go back and look up this debate, that started with a request from a woman in the U.K. for some ideas on learning design techniques, you can almost still hear the faint rumblings of the old Guild system in some of the responses. There were a few gold and silver smiths who felt the only way to truly be an artisan in this field was to go through a formal program of training at university or a recognized jewelers school. Any one else was just a "crafter" or "hobbyist". I wrote about this discussion in my post of March 10, where I listed Karen Christian's great response and wonderful design exercises.

While I had formal art training as a part of my undergraduate degree, I do not agree that it is the only way to becoming an artist. In fact I do very little of the art I was trained in - oils, pastels, pen and ink, etc. and have spent the last several years working in more tactile mediums like collage art, beading, wire work and now silver smithing and precious metal clay. The only time I studied anything remotely related to these mediums was in high school art. That said, I did not just pick up a few books and wing it. While I definitely bought books to learn from, I enrolled in classes - adult education, single class offerings at craft and bead stores, and PMC classes at Metalwerx. I hope to take some more classes in glass slumping and more metal smithing soon. Why? To improve my skills, expand my knowledge and enhance my business. I may even take some business courses to help directly with marketing and managing my business.

In discovering a wonderful jewelry artist (Michael David Sturlin), I found this great article in The Crafts Report April 2004 where he was one of the artists quoted. It is called "What Does Arts Training Have To Do With Selling Your Work" by Suzanne Wade http://www.craftsreport.com/april04/feature.html. Sturlin started off self-taught and after several years started reaching out for formal training. He said it had a profound effect on his work, his productivity and his earnings. I have no idea what his earlier work was like but his work now . . . amazing! Here are his two sites: http://www.goldcrochet.com/ and http://www.michaeldavidsturlin.com/ (my advice - sit through the intro on the second site). He taught at Metalwerx a few years ago - before I knew about them - and I hope he comes back some time soon.

Well happy June every one! Gardening to finish tomorrow!

Gale

Inspiring pictures of the Kalash Tride

2008-05-22T12:03:00.009-04:00

The Kalash tribe is an indigenous tribe of Pakistan that has kept their old ways and their polytheistic religion. I came across some amazing pictures of them and find the colors they use, their adornment - especially the women's jewelry and dresses - were inspiring. Here is a link to information regarding them http://www.nwfp.gov.pk/kalash.php. The pictures came from a blog on citizen sugar http://www.citizensugar.com/1641958 but I saw no citation or acknowledgement of the photographer. I will continue to look for whose pictures they are and note that here when I do.

I am thinking that creating necklaces inspired by these amazing beaded necklaces - albeit with a Cape Cod twist to them - is a great way to go. With some of the new things I have learned from my PMC class I think that this all can be combined into something very unique and wonderful. I love the layer upon layer of twisted beads that end up looking almost like a collar. The colors used in the trims of their skirts, tops and hats are so vibrant. They remind me of the colors of a Cape sunset. I will show you what I come up with when they are ready.

In the mean time - enjoy some of these pictures and see what they inspire in you!

- Gale

PMC Certificaion (or OH the Wonderful People You Meet Doing Metal Clay)

2008-05-14T16:01:00.006-04:00

I delayed my posting here because I took a 3 day class up at Metalwerx in Waltham, MA to get my Rio Grande PMC Certification. The class was taught by Chris Darway (http://www.darwaydesign.com/) who is one of the "ground floor" people using PMC and is an well known jewelry instructor in his own right. The course requires the students to complete 7 specific projects as well as do some additional add-on work (soldering and patina work for example). The projects had us working on everything from carving and molding, to creating a very traditional geometric design to creating a pen with a screw-on element (picture above right).

While I loved all the learning that went on and have some new tricks up my sleeve now (expect a change in some of my work), it was my fellow students that I enjoyed the most.

I got to reconnect with two people I met in my initial Intro to PMC class with Cece Wire. Dan and Erin were the two people I thought were the most connected with the clay during the first class and seeing them this weekend proved my instincts were right. Dan does a lot of traditional metalsmithing work and has a lot of knowledge to draw on. Erin has her own jewelry business which she has decided to do full time (http://www.freebird-designs.com/). She has been a regular for the last few summers at the farmers market over on Martha's Vineyard. She is now going full tilt with the arts and crafts shows. Her wire work is very lovely and mixing PMC with what she currently does will really be exciting to see.

The new faces were interesting to get to know. I think Amy has turned out to be the most interesting. I knew she had studied pottery and art but she bills herself as a stay at home mom. THEN I checked out her web site that she very meekly said something about when we were all sharing emails and web sites on the last day. Amy designs the most amazing handbags for her business Brown Bags Couture (http://www.brownbagscouture.com/). Christine and Ellen were two friends from the western part of the state and who are already planning to take more classes! Lori has her own jewelry business (http://www.modadimagno.com/) and does a lot of wedding jewelry - but her "other life" has her in marketing which made me think that when she tires of the traditional rat race she should go into marketing consulting for artists and artisans.

I always feel like I grow so much when I get to be with other artists. Its why I like visiting with Anne, another metal clay artist who lives near me that I met through the yahoo group Metal Clay Gallery and why hanging out with Betsy always helps get my creative juices flowing. What do you do to get your creative energy recharged? Please share your comments.

Gale

Artists Foundation Survey - Stand Up and Be Counted

2008-04-26T17:46:00.004-04:00

Short post today - but very important, especially for MA artists. The Artist Foundation in MA is currently running a survey for all artists (full-time, part-time and "hobby" artists). The survey is called "Stand Up and Be Counted" and is going to be used to show the state legislators that we are a constituency to be recognized. It is modeled on the 2007Minnesota "Artists Count" survey. To take this survey (only takes a few minutes) go to http://www.artistsfoundation.org/ There is an optional section on your 2006 reported income but you are in no way obligated to complete that section. They also break it up into sections so if you only have time to fill in section one your survey still counts!If you are not from MA you might want to look at this survey and push your state's arts organization to conduct a similar survey.

Gale

Design what you know

2008-04-13T23:32:00.012-04:00

Based on the concept used by writers to "write what you know", design what you know really means design your art from what lies deep inside of you. The best art comes from designing from your heart.

I started playing around with the idea of jigsaw puzzle pieces as a basic shape for some jewelry based on ideas in Cece Wire's book on Metal Clay Creative Metal Clay Jewelry. As I played around with this concept, I started seeing the corner of a puzzle with a loose piece. I have childhood memories of the card table going up in the living room after the Christmas tree came down and Mom, Dad and I would start working on some 1000 piece puzzle. We always put the edges together starting at the corners and then the first piece to go in not part of the edge or the corner always seemed so difficult to find, So often we tried to fit in a piece that looked right but was just a little different then the one that really fit there. A the same time I was mulling these thoughts in my mind, I also became aware that the organization "Autism Speaks" uses a symbol that looks like a puzzle piece that also looks like a person.

My beautiful and bright oldest god-child has Asperger's Syndrome http://www.autismspeaks.org/navigating/index.php, a type of highly functional Autism. She has a high IQ, plays the violin, can tell you everything and more about the environment and grey wolves, is a Girl Scout, and always makes me smile when we see each other. But she had to work hard to learn to fit in socially - with her mom and dad's strong efforts to make the school system address her needs while still recognizing her intelligence. The design I had in mind came together, the piece I created is a pin from PMC with one loose piece hanging from the three puzzle pieces making up the corner. The hanging pieces "almost" fits right but not exactly. I call it "Trying to Fit In" to recognize my god-daughter's efforts to learn how to handle the social challenges that Asperger's present to her. I am proud of all she does and continues to do as she grows in talent and social skills.

This was my first pin and I used a technique new to me to make my own pin back from sterling silver. I had a few challenges with attaching it and finally decided to use depletion to bring up the silver in the pin back (using heat to raise up a layer of fine silver on the surface of the sterling) and then fire it in place with more PMC. I learned a lot with doing this and will make this pin again now that I have worked out the challenges I had making this. When I wear it and people comment on it, I use it as an opportunity to talk about my jewelry designs AND Asperger's Syndrome (and to brag about both of my God-daughters).

So what have you created from your heart? I would love to hear about it - please feel free to add your story to the comments section.

Gale

http://www.capescapesjewelry.com/

Trying Metal Clay for the first time

2008-03-28T15:56:00.017-04:00

I noticed a lot of people who are interested in trying out metal clay but because they are not able to take classes they are teaching themselves, and they go into a panic the first time they are going to try a project. There are several great books to read in advanced if you have not done so already. When you get to your first project relax and remember when you are starting out to KISS (Keep it simple sweetie).

Let me suggest what Cece Wire calls Kamikaze Earrings. She uses these as her first project in her Intro to PMC class. I still love mine - they look very "finished", are easy to make, require very few special tools, teaches you a lot of the basics and most importantly gets you past the scary first time stage. No slip is required. I recommend these for any one stepping out for the first time in PMC - especially if you are trying to learn this on your own. A variation of these earring are on page 16 of Rio Grande's 2007 PMC catalog .

You need:

Metal Clay (PMC+, PMC3, or one of the low firing Art Clays)
A non-stick work surface (there are lots of options but plastic page protectors are easy to find and work well)
A small container with olive oil (teaspoon or less) Badger Balm is also great to use.
A small dish with water
Texture (can be a texture plate, rubber stamp, piece of slate, plastic sheeting for needle point or what ever)
A needle tool (looks like an awl)
A shape template (like your kids use for geometry class)

-or- the last two items can be replaced with a shape cutter (smallest cutter for fondant, shape cutters sold for polymer clay [new - not used on polymer clay], etc. )

Playing cards
A plastic roller (the acrylic rollers for polymer clay work - again not used on polymer) or PBC pipe of the same size
Cocktail straw
Fine grit emery board (the pink at 350 is good)
French earring hooks
(optional - hot plate, mug warmer, or dehydrator with a Teflon sheet on it)

Firing tools:

Metal Clay programmed Kiln or Creme Brulee Torch

Finishing tools:

Small Brass brush
Burnisher (optional)

Assemble everything you need first.

Using a "dot" of olive oil (just dip the tips of your fingers in) rub it into your hands, then another dot to rub down your roller and your texture.

Take out 8 playing cards and make two piles of 4 and place them on your work surface a few inches apart (4 cards thick).

Take out your clay and leave the packaging it comes in handy. Place the clay between the two stacks of cards and use your roller to roll the clay out evenly. Unlike pie dough you can't just turn your roller to roll things out each way. Instead, turn your work surface and reposition your cards on either side of the clay. Continue rolling until your clay is even - don't spend more then a minute or two on this.

Press your oiled texture into the clay. And if the texture is not even - heck press again where you missed - it will make it look interesting.

Cut two identical shapes - if you are using the shape template place your template on the clay and holding your needle tool straight up and down (90 degrees from the clay) trace around the template shape. Then repeat for second earring. If you are using a shape cutter, cut them out like you would shaped cookies.

Now just like cut out cookies, pull away the excess clay and tear the excess clay into smaller pieces and layer them together (don't ball the clay up as it will give your clay air holes for your later projects). Place this clay back in the plastic wrap placing a dab of water on the clay before folding the wrap all up. Use your fingers to knead the clay in the plastic a little to get the moisture in. Put this back in the resealable pouch and close it up tightly.

Now breathe . . .

Take the cocktail straw and holding it one straw diameter from the edge, press into the earring shapes to create the holes for the earring wires for later. The clay will usually stick inside the straw which you can flick out with your nail - save this as the beginnings of your clay for making slip :-)

If you are going to allow these to air dry then WALK AWAY NOW!! Otherwise, pick up your work surface with the earring on it and flip it over with one hand and hold your other hand out to catch the earrings. Gravity should do most of your work for you. Leave them upside down in your hand and walk over to your warming plate. Close to the surface - flip you hand over and drop the earrings on the plate (think of flipping burgers or flapjacks). Okay - now walk away!

Allow the earrings to dry completely (called greenware in pottery), If you are unsure if its dry place the hardened piece on a mirror and pick it up - if a water vapor formed its still not dry. DO NOT try to fire a piece that is not dry - it will get destroyed when you fire it.

Once the pieces are dry, use the emery board to smooth the edges of the earrings - similar to filing your nails. Do this over your work surface and save the powdered clay (more clay to make slip from!!!). Greenware is some what fragile and will break if too much pressure is applied or if you drop it. However, it is strong enough to stand up to a lot of filing and even gentle drilling if needed. Hint: if you place the earrings back to back and sand them at the same time you will even out the shape and size. Also, if you hold the emery board at a slight angle against each individual earring you can create a slightly beveled edge.

Now fire:
In a kiln place the earrings texture side up on the kiln shelf. The newer metal clays can be fired at 1650 F for as little as 10 minutes hold (whole cycle takes longer) or as long as 2 hours like the original MCs. The low fire clays can be fired at even lower temperatures if you have added fireable gem stones or glass, are using a wood clay base, or mixing with gold clay but for this project the 1650 F at 10 minutes will do just fine. If you have to program your kiln yourself - that's Full power to 1650 F then Hold 10 minutes.

For torch firing I highly recommend you view the video on the PMC Guild site under "Getting Started". There are also downloadable written descriptions. The video is a must see http://www.pmcguild.com/gettingstarted/video_clips.html You do not need to be a member to see this video.

Allow the earrings to completely cool - either by air or by picking them up with brass tongs and dropping into water. Remember these are at least 1290 F hot (temp when torch firing) so USE CAUTION!!

The earrings will appear white - that is not a residue but rather the silver with an uneven surface. You can get a nice matte silver finish by using dish soap and water on your brass brush and brushing the heck out of the earrings - front and back! You can then take the burnisher and rub it over the earring edges to give it a more finished look. Now attach them to the earring wires and enjoy!!!!

Gale

Trying Karen's Design Exercises

2008-03-22T16:43:00.008-04:00

My post of March 10 had a wonderful series of design exercises from Karen Christians of Cleverwerx and the founder of Metalwerx here in MA. Karen posted this exercise in response to a member's question on Orchard (part of the Ganoksin Project) about what steps to take to learn jewelry design. Earlier this week my friend Betsy was off for the week from teaching and tutoring at the college so we decide to go play one day (Betsy also happens to be the owner of my web site hosting company http://www.oneweb.com/). We headed up to Turo, MA (almost to P-town) to go to The Atlantic Spice Co. (http://www.atlanticspice.com/) which for all our years here on the Cape, we had never gone to visit. It was a beautiful sunny March day so I printed off the exercise and told Betsy to bring her camera.

After a heavenly hour sniffing, looking and poking around the spice company's store, we refreshed ourselves with some dried apricots from there and headed north on 6A towards P-town. 6A in that area is were you find all the wonderful beach cottages and old houses on the bay. We stopped at the same places and looked at the same scenes but our results were so totally different. I had decided to focus on textures and general design images and Betsy was focusing on shadows and general design. Betsy is a painter, mostly water colors, but enjoys dabbling in other arts and crafts.

I wanted to share with you our two sets of pictures so you could see just how two different people looking at the same thing two different ways can come up with two different sets of photos. Betsy photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/liz.ecm/EasthamDesignExercises and my photos http://picasaweb.google.com/gmrcapescapes/DesignExercise.

I can't wait to do more of Karen's exercises and post photos in my journal to start using them for design. If you decide to try this photo exercise and would like to share your pictures please email me with the URL for your photo site or post it in the comments section.

Gale

Metal Clay groups fundraiser for American Cancer Society and The Marrow Foundation

2008-03-15T15:50:00.007-04:00

Here is the press release for a great event. There are a few bracelets that will be raffled and you do not have to be present to win. To the right is one of the bracelets being raffled. Each one will be a little different and for $5.00 USD you might own one of these lovely bracelets and help two wonderful organizations in memory of a fellow artist.

Gale

Charms for Charity

Last summer, the Metal Clay community lost one of its own when Robin Whittemore, a talented jewelry artist and active member in the Metal Clay community, lost her courageous battle with cancer. Robin struggled with breast cancer and after six years of chemotherapy, radiation and medication, she was then told she’d required a bone marrow transplant.

Robin inspired the group with her uplifting spirit and love of life. Sadly, she died during the summer of 2007, leaving a legacy of courage and charity among her friends and colleagues.
Now Metal Clay artists from around the country have decided to honor Robin and their own loved ones who have succumbed to this disease by raising funds to benefit the American Cancer Society and The Marrow Foundation.

Metal Clay is a new way of working with silver, gold and platinum. It is a moldable metal that transforms from a clay-like state into pure sculpted precious metal jewelry with the heat of a torch or kiln.

Dozens of Precious Metal Clay (PMC) and Art Clay artists have created handcrafted charms for bracelets and necklaces, which will be raffled to raise money for cancer treatment and prevention. Members of the Metal Clay community have donated every aspect of this project, from making charms and bracelets to designing and selling raffle tickets and donating Web site space and credit card fees.

This is your chance to own a unique work of art created by the nation's premier Metal Clay artists. Raffle tickets are only $5 each or five for $20 and all proceeds will be donated to the American Cancer Society and The Marrow Foundation.

These pieces of fine jewelry will be raffled on July 20 during the PMC Conference 2008 at Purdue University, but you do not have to be present to win. Tickets can be purchased at the conference or in advance at www.wholelottawhimsy.com or at www.medacreations.com. Tickets and directions for payment submissions can also be printed out from http://www.pmcguild.com/ or http://www.artclayworld.com/.

Each ticket purchased brings with it the chance for a special piece of fine jewelry but it also brings us one step closer to a cure. Visit http://www.pmcguild.com/, http://www.artclayworld.com/, http://www.wholelottawhimsy.com/ or http://www.medacreations.com/ to do your part.

For more information, contact Holly Gage of Gage Designs, metal clay member and project coordinator, at hgage1@ptd.net.

Creativity and Design: Challenging myself

2008-03-10T19:19:00.008-04:00

With the price of silver rising to over $20 a troy ounce (it was under $10 just 2 years ago) I find I am being more cautious about just jumping in and creating new silver pieces. My instinct is to make only what will sell easily - which means making simple items that use little silver and will keep prices down. But then I do not grow in my skills and knowledge. So how do I do some of both?

I stumbled on a challenge the PMC Guild gave its members in Fall of 2000 which was published in Spring 2001. Called the "1 lump challenge" it challenged the members to see how many items they could make out of .9 oz lump of PMC+ (PMC use to be packaged differently then current packaging. This would be equal to one 28 g package). The items and resulting jewelry were as varied as you could image with the winning necklace and earrings being made from 244 individual pieces coming from one 28 g package of PMC+ and the second and third place winners creating over 100 earrings each. This challenge - to be creative, artistic, and yet get the most from a limited amount of MC - really has put my mind into a planning whirl. One of the earring makers stated that at $5 per earring pair (when silver was lower then it is today) she was making over $200 profit from one lump of clay. I suspect that similar profits could be made from the same exercise and I am going to give it a try! (Go to Studio PMC No. 13 on the PMC Guild Studio archives to see the winning pieces)

A rather lively (okay almost heated) discussion was taking place in Orchid - the Forum for the world famous Ganoksin project - about jewelers having to be traditional trained or self-taught. Because I can see and understand the value of both, it was alarming to see how there are still so many traditional jewelers who believe that ONLY going through a full-fledged metal smithing and jewelry design program would do. They felt anyone who was self-taught could only create inferior work. This attitude was what actually gave rise to the Guild system during the middle ages and also led to the systems downfall. Wikipedia had a great comment on this "European guilds imposed long standardized periods of apprenticeship, and made it difficult for those lacking the capital to set up for themselves or without the approval of their peers to gain access to materials or knowledge, or to sell into certain markets, an area that equally dominated the guilds' concerns" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild). I suspect this is also why many traditional metal smiths dislike Metal Clay because it allows someone with little or no training to rather quickly create jewelry that is as complex and creative as traditionally made jewelry that took years to master the required techniques. Into the fray stepped Karen Christians, who I know of as she founded Metalwerx here in MA where I have taken my PMC classes at. After suggesting that the woman who was looking for advice on learning jewelry design that she get together with other metal smiths and jewelers in her area and create their own class room environment, Karen offered a great design assignment:

Here are a few tricks I use for design. You will need a bound sketchbook, A4 if you are in Europe, "Journal size" if you are out here. In the US, I use: www.ragandbone.com. They make high quality journals which are handmade, beautiful and rugged. Decorate the cover with a photo etched plate and rivet. Everything I suggest should go into your book.
1) take 15 photographs of just the shadows of things. You begin to isolate edges and negative space.
2) take 15 photographs of hinges, gates, door knobs and forged iron balconies. Here you look at curves, geometry, construction and gestural flow
3) find 15 examples of jewelry work you really like and put it in your sketchbook. With each example, writ out what you like about it and what you would do to change anything if you could.
4) find 15 examples of jewelry work you don't like. Critique it to your hearts content. Is the piece cohesive, is the craftsmanship poor, are the elements mismatched, does it look like a workshop project?
5) take 10 photographs of an egg and make them look all different
6) pick up a found object off the ground and create a body of work that reflects the essence of the found object
7) framing. Cut out 2 "L" shaped pieces of light cardboard and use them as a "frame" to isolate parts of a picture. Capture just and [sic] eye and nose of a portrait, or a scene from nature or in a building. Use the lines from this as a reference point for your design.

To read all of Karen's comments click here http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive/200803/msg00365.htm

I dropped a note to Karen about her great comments and design assignment. Karen stepped down as the head of Metalwerx a few months ago to start Cleverwerx (a high end jewelry tools business) and I found out that she will be starting a blog and a tips section on her new website. When she does I will post it here. In the mean time I am going to get my camera and start my assignments!!!

Gale

NOTE: If you are a jewelry artist (including MC) you should add the Ganoksin project to your favorites and sign up for the Ganoksin Orchid Community http://www.ganoksin.com/.

More information about pricing

2008-02-27T17:01:00.009-05:00

The pricing question keeps coming up on the PMC group in Yahoo! and I wanted to post an answer here that I gave based on one artist's concern about being newer at MC and so there for taking more time to create items then she thought she should. The concern is that in trying to make sure that you "pay yourself" the price for your jewelry does not some how turn into something so outrageous that you are no longer competitive.

Lynne Richardson wrote a great article called "Jewelry Pricing: The Time Factor." http://tinyurl.com/2hzzjt that Rene Klingenberg posted on her web site "Home Jewelry Success Tips". The issue of time for jewelry artists is difficult not just for newbies but for any level artist. Some times things don't go as planned or a design does not work the way you thought it would in your head. You have to find ways to factor out the learning curve or mistake correction issues - called Cost of Quality in the manufacturing world - and only account for your time that really goes into the piece (like you can't count the kiln time while your are throwing in a load of laundry during the firing LOL - okay so my studio is downstairs next to my laundry room).

As for being slower because you are newer at the task (like sanding) this is where charging a fair and reasonable price for your time fits in. Like in any business - if you are new - you should be paid a lower amount per hour then some one who has more experience or some one who is a master at it. One writer in the jewelry business talking about pricing suggested that if you are new to the field you might only charge $10/hr for your time while some one with more skill should charge $15/hr and a master might charge $20/hr. This makes some allowance for the slower pace you might have tackling a new technique.

So how much are you paying yourself?

Gale

Pricing - or how much am "I" worth

2008-02-21T21:43:00.014-05:00

So we have decided who our target market is and from that we have hopefully determined what things we create that will be appealing to that market. We even excitedly create some pieces that we "hope" will sell. Translated - I hope they like ME. Our work is part of our soul and our mind. Even when we create a chair, photo, painting or piece of music for possible sale, it is still a reflection of what we feel people will want to buy that we create. We take it personally because - face it - our creations are personal.

Now we face the difficult task of pricing our work. Especially if we are new to selling our work the task of coming up with a price for our efforts is terrifying. After all - aren't we just a "wannabe" artists? No one could possibly want our work, or if they do they don't want to pay a lot of money for it. So we make a HUGE mistake and try to guess at how much it should sell for based on mass produced overseas items that are similar to our work. Let me ask you -- how is something created by a machine or created by hand using a set formula and pattern by poorly paid overseas laborers any thing at all like what you have created? It's made from the same basic material and it serves a similar function but after that . . . ??? For artists the best (or should we say worst) example of this is on the Etsy site. I have seen artists who still think they are just "crafters" putting prices on their creations that can't even pay for the supplies that went into the piece let alone pay them for their time, their expenses and allow them to make a profit. Then for the artists who decide to use that site to offer their work but who correctly price their work, these artists end up losing out to the artists underpricing their work. One artist on the MC group I am in said she was leaving Etsy because her clients who knew and bought her work through other venues would go out to that site to look at her offerings and end up distracted by the lower priced items.

When we place a price on our creations to be sold we have to remember we are NOT placing a price on us but rather on a material piece that represents our creativity. So how do we accurately come up with a realistic and accurate price?

Over on the "Sites to check out" on this blog is a site called Home Jewelry Success Tips by Rena Klingenberg . Rena has found great articles from all over on running a jewelry business. She has a section on pricing jewelry, which contains various articles from different sources on pricing formulas as well as subjects like - if cutting prices help with sales, how to price haggle with customers, factoring in design and experimentation time and other great articles on the value and worth of your creations. Read them all. Then pick a pricing formula that works for you and you feel comfortable with. I picked one, did some calulations of some pieces I had and then went out on the web to other artists offering comperable work (who I knew understood the worth of their work) and found the formula I had picked out was right on target with their pricing (I was a little lower because as I am newer at this business I "pay" myself at a lower rate).

Okay - trying to get stuff together for my accountant so best stop avoiding it. I'd rather be creating but this is part of having a business too. Later . . .

Gale

Some thoughts on being a working artist

2008-02-05T19:14:00.000-05:00

I thought I would take a break from the business and marketing side and talk about being a working artist. How many of you are afraid to call yourself an "artist"? An artist is Van Gogh or Mozart or Yo Yo Ma - it's not me! I just _________ (fill in the blank with: play, dabble, craft, make messes, goof around) and I am just a __________ (crafter, student, homemaker, retiree, nobody). Did that hit you right in the gut - especially the "nobody"? Yet you are drawn to paint, write, draw, sing or in general create. It is part of your very soul and you feel empty not creating. But no one would ever want to pay money for what you create.

After I returned to creating from ten years of barely picking up a paint brush, charcol or pencil - I was happy again but called myself a crafter. Yet the things I was creating with rubber art stamps was not basic cards or gifts - the work had started to become something more. I was doing altered books and other forms of collage work, mixing colors and textures - creating images that said something from my heart and soul. But then I struggled to do work that fit what was the popular styles making it into the magazines because THOSE people who got published were artists! My work fell short because it was not my work, my heart, my soul . . . just a poor imitation of someone elses heart and soul message.

Then two ultimate smack downs . . . after sending on some cards to one of my favorite aunts who is an artist but who had never seen my collage work, she said to me "That's not really art you are doing now is it dear?" At the same time I had worked for a month to create a series of stamped items for a magazine entry that all told a story - some pieces individually were wonderful all alone but as a collective group it was something that I was very pleased with and yet not a single item I submitted was accepted let alone the whole work. I let my craft table grow cluttered and just did simple cards for friends' birthdays and for Christmas. I started playing with the beads I had bought to accent my art and taught myself basic beading - at least I could make a few crafty gifts for friends. I played with wire wrapping things. I helped make craft items for the church fair - after all I was just a crafter. It was when I decided to take a silversmithing class locally and then lucked into being able to take a PMC class with Cece Wire that I remembered I was an artist inside. Cece and Leslie (my silversmithing instructor) both made a point of reminding us were were NOT crafters - that they were teaching artists (or artisians).

Does my self-doubt and experiences remind to of things that happened in your life? Are you feeling - even now - like you are a bit of a fraud? Do you sell you items at craft fairs for prices that barely cover your supplies? Are you still calling yourself a crafter even though your work is all original designs and creations?

I want to recommend two books to you - not just to read but to MAKE a part of your life. The first is a long-time popular book The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. Written for writers, it works for any artist who needs to revive their creative spirit - regardless of if it has laid dormant for decades, or if you are just experiencing a creative block. You might wish to modify the morning pages into the morning paintings or the morning score or what have you but sometimes the writing for us non-writers helps break through our mental barrier.

The second book I just discovered through a recommendation from one of the members of the Metal Clay Gallery group on yahoo - Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Not a very long book, you will find yourself reading and rereading sections. This is written by two "working artists" - where I get the term from for the title of this blog post.

"This is a book about making art. Ordinary art. Ordinary art means something like: all art not made by Mozart. After all, art is rarely made by Mozart-like people; essentially-statistically speaking-there aren't any people like that. Geniuses get made once-a-century or so, yet good art gets made all the time, so to equate the making of art with the workings of genius removes this intimately human activity to a strangely unreachable and unknowable place. For all practical purposes making art can be examined in great detail without ever getting entangled in the very remote problems of genius."--from the Introduction

If you do nothing else for yourself this week - go out and get Art and Fear. If you have a child or grandchild studying art - go out and get them Art and Fear. If you have a freind who is an artist that does not seem to believe in themselves - go out and get Art and Fear!

We'll chat more about being a working artist in later blogs.

- Gale

Who should I be selling to?

2008-01-29T15:46:00.000-05:00

Who your target market is will have some influence on what you actually design. If your target market is teens and young adults into Goth, you shouldn't be designing jewelry that is delicate and full of bright colors. If your target is 25 to 40 year old moms because you are going to be doing mostly home shows and local crafts fairs then you want you designs to be affordable and also offer items that will appeal to them - like a mother's pendent or classic earrings that they can wear to a soccer game and out to dinner.
Because I live in a vacation/resort community I felt my target market should be 30 to 60 year old professional women who may live here or be visiting, works full time and wants pieces that they can wear to work and out to dinner or out and about on the weekend. The have some money to spend but are not high fashion jewelry shoppers (with the huge price tag that kind of jewelry demands) but rather bridge jewelry wearers - jewelry of mostly precious metal and semi-precious stones or high quality crystal. I also need to offer some designs that are reflective of the Cape to appeal to visitors and even residence that want something that represents the Cape to them.
I was already doing designs for friends and craft events that included wire wrapped beach glass. To me it was very symbolic of the Cape and I loved the look, but it was a little too organic (aka crunchy). I spent 2 months of my summer researching what was available for venues to sell jewelry in and I spent time looking at what other beach glass jewelry was out there. The items I saw at stores and galleries all remind me of boxes from the bakery wrapped in string. The designs seems more organic then even what I was doing. Looking at who I wanted to market to - I could not imagine a professional woman wearing one of these types of beach glass pieces. They seemed more for a younger client. If I had not determined who my target market was, I might not have realized I needed to search for a different way to design the beach glass pieces.
In searching for a more stylish way to wrap beach glass I found a great tutorial on wrapping stones that I thought would work. I did a prototype and started wearing it around. People LOVED it! When I went to a craft show and a well established wire wrap artist here complimented my work and started examining it a little TOO closely I knew I had found something that might work. I have made a few pieces and to do a little market research I took pictures of some of my work including the wire wrapped beach glass and every one I have shown them to have made more comments about the beach glass then most of the other pieces. I think I might have a hit but we will see.
So who is your target market? What kind of pieces would they want to buy? What is the best venue for selling your work to these clients?
Gale

Defining your market

2008-01-27T13:01:00.000-05:00

The two things that seemed to be most important in the initial creation of a business in the arts or crafts field is knowing who you are planning to market to and what is already out there in the market place. Defining your customer base is very important. If you don't do this then you are creating products that are all over the place. Ever walk into a display at an arts and crafts show and wonder what exactly is this person selling? You can tell (some times) they sell woodwork, painting, jewelry, or what ever but the products seem to be a hodgepodge of items for children, bric-a-brac and artistic items. The other extreme is the artist who has 100 items of basically the exact same thing. We have a wonderful artist here on the Cape that makes jewelry from a type of shell that is fairly unique to this area - which she mounts on sterling silver for necklaces, bracelets, earrings. For variation some have man-made gem stones and some don't. That's it . . . she does nothing else different or new with the shells. So once your customer has bought what they want they have no real reason to come back to you to buy more unless its a gift for someone else.
In my last post, I recommended reading HBI's grant information to help get an idea of what you should do to get your jewelry business off the ground - I have put a direct link on this blog under links to check out. In their Hints and Tips section they have an article on Targeting Customers. It is a great guide and walks you through how to come up with a target customer base and how to come up with ideas unique to that base. If you are thinking about starting a jewelry business I highly recommend doing this exercise. Okay, okay - I know that doing this is not nearly as fun or exciting as learning a new wire wrap technique, figuring out how to mount unfireable gems in PMC, or creating an ethereal necklace from beautiful beads and crystals. However, if you are serious about wanting to start a business of creating and selling your jewelry this is a key step. This will be an important component when you get down to writing your business plan.
BUSINESS PLAN?????? What the heck is that????
We will talk about that in days to come and all the reasons that having one is important.
Based on your target group, you need to research what is currently being offered both in your area and on the Internet (because your business world is now automatically a national business if not a global business). If you live in a rural area with a limited customer base, if you move often because your spouse's or your regular career requires it, or if you have family or personal reasons that you can not work outside of the home then Internet sales may be your thing. If you live in a tourist or resort area (like I do) then you may also want to do local shows during the "season"; however, you need a way to continue to do sales off season. My next post I'll talk about the specific steps I took and what conclusions I have made - as my first year of business continues I will keep you posted on what I have found to be right and wrong about my conclusions.
Have fun . . .
Gale

And so it begins . . .

2008-01-26T20:44:00.000-05:00

It seems like I have spent as much time researching the steps to creating a jewelry business as I have working on jewelry. Maybe more . . .

After having responded to so many posting in the different groups I belong to about struggling to start a business, start a web site or pricing your work - because people who have been in this business a while seem to have forgotten the struggles and fears of doing this for the very first time - I thought I would put some of what I have learned into a blog. I also thought this would be a great opportunity to share with other struggling working artists my own struggles (and hopefully triumphs). After all don't we all feel better when we know we are not alone in our fears, worries and self-doubts.

Recently I privately answered another persons posting on the PMC group in yahoo about what we had done in starting our handcrafted jewelry business so lets start there:

I spent over 2 months of researching the areas market, what was available on the web, going to craft shows in the area and determining who my market should be. I signed up for Tammy Powley's online e-class at about.com on starting a business and made sure I read all the related articles she suggested. I also found http://www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com/index.html which was helpful (great articles on pricing you work).
For me I decided that as I am doing the part-time and am a computer person that selling on the Internet would be my primary method. I am also going to do some crafts shows and some home shows with friends. Those methods work the best right now for me and my life. You may decide that farmers markets and craft shows are you thing, or selling to a gallery is better for you. Take the time to do some market research for the area you live in and determine who you want to sell to. Also read http://www.halsteadbead.com/Grant/ This company offers an award each year to an up and coming jewelry artist running a business. Read what they have to say about what they look for in their winners - even though you probably would not be going for this, their thoughts on what makes a solid jewelry business is great!Finally - talk to an attorney and an accountant if you are going to do this. I found out from my accountant that setting up as a DBA would make me prime for an audit as we are in a "hobby" type field and the IRS is going after people they think are not really in business but are just using the EIN# for a tax break.

I am not sure if my email helped her but maybe it can help others. See where I have gotten so far with my business (Capescapes Jewelry, LLC at http://www.capescapesjewelry.com/). I will continue with these thoughts . . .

Gale