flux of the brain, not the bench

Well, I did it. I mailed off applications to shows in California that I have never attended before as a vendor or as a show--goer. I cannot decide if I am of a mood to be hoping yes or no to the jury verdicts. The venues sound like places I would just love to visit, BUT are they profitable?? Dunno.

This season is all about exploration, and pushing that envelope. It has been years since I did retail, and my brain is all aflutter about new concepts to create. My calender is in a constant state of change, taking on new shows in new places. So, everything old is new again or is it just confusing? There. Bezeling up some opals now seems rather comforting compared to actually sorting out my head this day....thank goodness everyone else in my household has concrete schedules to hang onto!

Petoskey

Lookee!!!! My new consigment store sent me some Petoskey Stones to work with and said "just be creative with them" and I was. It always feels good to make something with a stone I have never worked with before. The challenge was to work with the texture and not overpower the neutral tone of these stones with bolder colored accent gems.... I love bright color and neutrals are hard for me. Hey, I think I might like them now!

Question:
How does color come in to play in your work? Is it a side thought or a formal element or not a consideration? There, brain food or at least an appetizer. Have a good time at you bench today--metaldreamer

out of the box

Morning all,

I went to a knitting group this past Wednesday to check it all out. The ladies were hilarious and the knitting was really more fun than I anticipated. I had not really done this craft before and thought branching out might help with my jewelry brain to take a sidestep and loosen up a bit. Well, I got tangled up in my thread, met really neat people, and sold jewelry??? If you make jewelry, most of us wear it too and I did. My favorite pair of earrings were yanked out of my ears and passed around and felt of ;it was off from there. I really did not do it on purpose, sometimes you do, other times you don't. Well, this particular day sent me home with a handful of custom orders and a bashful gratitude. I also came home with a new potholder that I felt more than proud of--I actually untangled my thread-yahoo.

So, get out of your studio a little and try a new craft/hobby. It might lead you to a new way of thinking, new people, and hey, maybe, right back to your studio in a roundabout way. Getting out is fun!

brain snarl

Hey there,

I have been bombarded by the season of Christmas. Every year at this time I take a deep breath and do not get to come up for air until March 1. I prepare and have my supplies, stones, silver, etc... I make extra pieces in the summer months, and STILL.... anyway what hurt my head was dealing with wholesale and retail. I am a Libra and like things balanced and my scales tipped over; ergo no blogging whilst I righted my ship. It occurred to me that others go through this as well and might have their own take on how to balance.

I had a slow spell retail wise, so I went out to peddle my wares at the local shops in the area. I visited 18 stores and waited. Four days later to my pleasure, two stores decided to purchase outright and I had 4 others that said come back after Thanksgiving. Wonderful. Well, this coming weekend I have a retail show that needs mondo amounts of stock. Great, except I just sold a significant amount of pieces this past week. STILL no problem, I was estatic to be working.

As I sat down to the bench to work, I zoned out making bezels and realized I wanted to expand my wholesale line. I am going to BMAC(Baltimore Market of American Craft) for the first time this February. I have done wholesale before, but this economy makes it a whole new ball game and I want to plan for all scenarios. Remember, I am supposed to be working on making enough new pieces for my show this coming weekend, and not pondering the ether.....

Next thing I know, I have paper and pencil drawing out designs, configuring my booth, making lists of things that need to go to BMAC instead of just making my pieces for the Christmas show. I pulled myself up short and realized what i was doing---procrastinating. Arggghhh I hate it when I don't do the task at hand. I got over myself and grabbed some metal and stones and got cracking.

The moral of this little rant is, "the best made plans of mice and men" don't always make pretty jewelry. I had too many things on my mind and it created mediocre pieces. I made designs I had previously made before instead of pushing for more, and better. I let the economy talk filter into my hands and made cheaper designs. Instead of twisting metal; I twisted my head.

Alright, I leave the floor to all of you. Do you have brain snarls? Do you contemplate things better left to another time while working? What are you solutions?

have a better post turkey day,
the demented jeweler

The bench

This is where I work, play, and live. Notice my furry friend Marcus. He just loves to help...

Anyway, thought i would post the actual spot where i do things. Wish i had more tools, but on the other hand, minimalist tools really help out design wise. I have more freedom to explore the design issue versus the process. I love process driven concepts, but i get bogged down in the business of how i am making "it" instead of the what i am making.

When i get a new tool, I have to do it on my off season in order to have the time to play around and see what it is capable of. It takes me weeks of experimentation. My brain goes into overdrive and i don't sleep well--the gerbils are busy in there.... It takes me quite a while to incorporate new concepts into the stash of tricks to pull on when drawing up the new designs. I need to have the process of using the tool down well enough that i don't have to concentrate on how to use the darn thing so I can work on whatever is at hand to make. I hate being caught in the middle of making something and have to say, now HOW do i get there. For some this is why they make with their hand in the first place. The urge to solve the puzzle is paramount. I make things because i want the object itself and happen to enjoy the process of solving the puzzle as a bi-product of getting my sparkly pretty thing. So here is my question to go with the post:

Are you process driven or object driven?