Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Home Making MIxed Metal Jewels

Our two spring fairs are done and were both very successful for us as well as pleasant and easy. A big thank you to both Chico and Los Altos. We've taken some time off from making jewelry as I was getting ready for one of my book sales in Caspar as well as organizing the annual flea market at the community center there. All went well but I'm glad my life is a little simpler now. We started working in the jewelry studio again tonight and will be focusing on making jewels in the upcoming weeks before our two summer shows in Mendocino in July. I hope to be making bracelets soon as I have a number of people interested in them. You might think that I'm in charge of what I make but that's not exactly the way it is for me. I sit down at my bench and it sort of happens to me as much as me deciding what to make. So far this year it has been mostly pendants with a few rings but I think I feel bracelets coming. I've found that if I try to force things to happen the work doesn't go as well. If I just sit down and let my hands start making what they want I find that I make better pieces, I'm happier, I'm healthier and I make more money. Well, that seems like a winning combination of factors to me. It's also true that I can always sit down and make beautiful jewels that sell well but I'm not always creative, which is trying new things and jumping into new and uncharted territory. Creativity is not something I can turn off and on with a switch, I can only try to be ready for it when it comes and practice certain things that help it arrive. When it comes it's kind of electric and exciting and ignites my passion and sometimes leads me into really interesting new areas of work.