This year I decided to come up with some new show pieces so I could have exciting, attention grabbing jury images. With this goal in mind I sketched, designed, tweeked and re-drew on paper till I was sure I had a strong look.
Then I assembled the pieces using my chosen materials: dried paint films, leather, jasper, epoxy clay, handmade papers and canvas. One of the pieces I came up with was this one.
At work in my studio, I squirrel away for hours on end and come up with a plethora of crazy jewelry pieces. Sometimes at the end of the day I look at what I have made and think to myself "OMG who would wear that?! What was I thinking? Am I crazy?"
(I am, after all, an artist with an on-going internal dialogue and at times I need to tell it to shut up!)
The funny thing is, when I go to a show, and put those pieces out, someone comes along that is the perfect fit for the piece. It's like I made it just for her before we ever met.
So at my last show, the Butchertown Art Festival in Kentucky, I put this piece in my display case. And lo and behold, along comes this beautiful woman with her husband, looking for a truly unique neck piece. She sees it and there is an immediate connection. We look at several other pieces and also find the right earrings to harmonize the look. Then, after spending about 30 minutes in my booth, considering several options but still going back to the first one, they do the unthinkable. They walk off, empty-handed, into the crowd!
Then I assembled the pieces using my chosen materials: dried paint films, leather, jasper, epoxy clay, handmade papers and canvas. One of the pieces I came up with was this one.
At work in my studio, I squirrel away for hours on end and come up with a plethora of crazy jewelry pieces. Sometimes at the end of the day I look at what I have made and think to myself "OMG who would wear that?! What was I thinking? Am I crazy?"
(I am, after all, an artist with an on-going internal dialogue and at times I need to tell it to shut up!)
The funny thing is, when I go to a show, and put those pieces out, someone comes along that is the perfect fit for the piece. It's like I made it just for her before we ever met.
So at my last show, the Butchertown Art Festival in Kentucky, I put this piece in my display case. And lo and behold, along comes this beautiful woman with her husband, looking for a truly unique neck piece. She sees it and there is an immediate connection. We look at several other pieces and also find the right earrings to harmonize the look. Then, after spending about 30 minutes in my booth, considering several options but still going back to the first one, they do the unthinkable. They walk off, empty-handed, into the crowd!
I could go on about how many times per show I hear "I'll be back", or "I'll think about it" and then you don't see them for dust. Well, the next day they came back! They had walked the entire show, of which there was a good selection of jewelry artists, and decided to come back to me. She tried it on and yes, it was a perfect fit.
So one thing I love about doing shows is how I get to meet the customer. Like this woman, who I obviously, yet unknowingly, had in mind when I made the piece. It is hugely gratifying to me when this serendipitous connection is made. It inspires and motivates me to keep squirreling away in my studio on the rest of my new ideas and designs.
Would you like to see my other jewelry pieces? My shop can be found right here .
Or you can come to my next show and actually see, touch and try on pieces. That is July 25th and 26th at the Art Affair on Main in Belleville, Michigan.
I would love to read your thoughts, but I can't unless you share them with me!
Thanks for posting the link on Art Fair Insiders. This necklace was perfect for her right down to going with what she wore to the show that day. Thanks for encouraging us to do the designs we dream up even if we think no one will buy them. My husband keeps telling me to repeat the words from Mary Chapin Carpenter's song, "I take my chances every chance I get"! As I get older it is getting harder and harder to do shows especially when the financial reward keeps dwindling. There must be some other alternative to finding and meeting those special buyers. I'm trying to find it!
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