Our Greatest Assets

Today was a fabulous day! I knew waking up today that I would be having company over, so I got out of bed extra early and cleaned up the disaster area which was my studio/office and the hair ball that was the rest of my house. I just love a clean house, but when I am in the midst of a busy streak, like I am right now, cleaning becomes a very low priority. My entire desk was nothing but a mess of stones, wire and plastic bags and I would just sit hunched over working on my lap, cursing because I kept dropping everything or sitting on my tools. But I just couldn't bear to spend the 15 it would have taken to just put things away. Some call this laziness, I call it an uncanny knack to focus solely on work and lunch. Naturally I would never let the outside world see that I am such a dirt ball so I clean for company. Cleaning for company is the best! I love entertaining as much as the bi-product which is the drive  and ability to clean your whole house in under an hour!

My reward was the company of two fellow artists. Talking to them was a treat that I do not often get. This little community I have found myself in is something I value so much! I have been working as a jewelry designer and a small business owner now for about 5 years, full time for the last two years solid, and in doing that I have so longed for the camaraderie that I have now found.

This past fall I had the opportunity to go back to the University of Evansville to speak to the senior art students.  I told them all, be confident in what you do and how you work because when you graduate, your artistic sounding board is essentially gone. It is something I wish someone told me when I was approaching ex-art studenthood (like adulthood...but not quite). It came as such a shock to me when it finally dawned on me that days were spent alone in one room with no one to talk to other than my dog...who is great to talk to but is not as skilled on giving feedback.

The full time, self employed artist is perhaps not as rare of a breed as it once was thanks to the surge of people coveting all that is handcrafted, but we do work in special circumstances that others do not. I was told by one of my artist friends this morning that when she was in art school artists were so competitive with one another. This, I am sure, is still very true in many ways and places but you can find people out there who are there to support you and you should find joy in supporting those artists right back. I am going to say this...I am going to put this out there for anyone who has perhaps not realized it yet, but for us artists.......OUR GREATEST ASSETS ARE EACH OTHER!

Thank you Melinda (www.byrdcallstudio.com  www.byrdcall.etsy.com ) and Sarah (http://abelartist.com/) for the inspiration, conversation and coffee talk this morning.

One Woman Show

I have spoken before about being a one woman show. Until recently I was simply musing on the challenges of being a working artist, now I write seeking support. For those out there running their own businesses perhaps you know the feeling.


Finding balance it not always easy. I am a jewelry designer. I am an accountant. I am a marketing director. I am in Public Relations and sales. I am a financial planner. I am a buyer. I am both boss and employee. I am a master of social networking and technology......ok with that I am a novice at best. I am simply a one woman show and I may be in need of a nap.


How does one find the time to do all of this in one day? I am at the computer for hours taking care of the business side of things while my bench sits waiting for me to come and create. I can't possible do one without the other but it just seems there are not enough hours in the day to do everything.


I feel unbalanced today. Even as I write this my hands are itching to use my tools, and to play with metal and fire. My brain is tired and my task list is still far from complete. If you are a one person show like myself, do you ever have days like this??

Wedded Bliss and NYC

I had mentioned in my last post about the wedding my husband and I attended in St. Augustine Florida. It was an Etsy lover's dream! Everything was handmade, if not by the artists about to get married, then by crafters of the Etsy community, including yours truly!


When the bride asked me to create something for her ladies to wear I knew I had to do something very special. This was not your typical wedding as the groom's men were wearing there sleeves rolled up, suspenders and floral bow ties, and the ladies were wearing navy blue dresses with cowboy/biker boots.


I decided to create a cuff for her bride's maids to wear. I created a 1" thick cuff frame from 16 gauge sterling silver and then did my signature wire work technique to create the actual cuff. I learned alot in making these and each one became better than the last...as most new designs generally go. I am so pleased with these. They are now a feature in my etsy shop. Take a look! (http://www.etsy.com/listing/71118181/sterling-silver-wirework-cuff?ref=pr_shop)

Just when I thought I was done traveling, a surprise opportunity to go to New York came up and I pounced on it. There were many reasons as to why I would drag my well traveled body onto a bus. Reason #1...I don't grow weary from travel, I live for it.  Reason#2...I love, love, love New York. This is not a crush, it is true love. Reason#3...Too many friends to count live there and I haven't seen many of them in years, if not a solid decade. And Reason#4...the most important of all of them was to see He Who Laughs, Live.


About 10 years ago, I was sitting in American history class, bored out of my mind. Lucky for me I was sitting in front of one of the most entertaining people of my acquaintance. A boy named Isaac. We passed the time passing notes back and forth and it was something I looked forward to each B day.


We attended a magnet school for the arts. While I was there dancing, Isaac was there for writing. I used to go to the coffee houses that the literary department would put on and was always mesmerized by my friend's talent. To say we haven't seen each other in almost 10 years seems totally crazy, but it is true. Thanks to facebook I feel like we haven't lost touch. We have messaged each other from time to time. I'm still up to date on what he is up to, and what he is up to is totally spectacular.


In 2008 Isaac, started his blog www.hewholaughs.com . His posts are beautifully written, brutally honest, often times poignant and laugh out loud funny. He Who Laughs is so different from what you would consider the normal blog. His posts are written as mini plays, sketches really. They cover the day to day life in New York, love, the pursuit of Jake Gyllenhaal, and of course one of the loves of my life...Starbucks. He writes inanimate objects and emotions as characters in his plays that he himself interacts with, which is a much more interesting way of writing about self discovery than anything I could ever write or have ever read.


He Who Laughs, Live had a very small cast of 6 and Isaac, who served appropriately as the narrator. The actors performed the scenes from Isaac's life and mind and the audience along for the ride. What a ride it was. He and the amazing cast took us all from tear jerking laughter to sober reality, all the while delivering jaw dropping honesty. The whole thing was beautiful.


About my friend Isaac there are many things I admire, but what I admire most, above all else, is his bravery. Not everyone can lay it all out there for all to read, see and experience as he does. His writing brings humor to things in life which often times are not so humorous. I would imagine that brings hope to some, and I know it brings joy many and I for one am thankful for his talent and for him.


Seeing him again after all these years was so awesome. I felt like writing him a little note and passing it to him quietly for old time sake but I couldn't juggle my glass of wine, pen and paper.

Recent Happenings

March is coming to a close and I can honestly say that it has been one of the busiest months of my life! I have been traveling almost every week and "businessing" the rest of the time.


I went to Las Vegas as a surprise trip for my sister's 30th birthday (Happy Birthday Brooke!) I have never been there before and had an absolute blast! Then my husband returned from overseas. He was gone for 5 weeks or so this time. Me and Presley (our 5 year old puggle) are so so happy to have him home. We then left immediately for Florida for a wedding of our amazing friends Evan and Jess. (More on that later!) Somehow in between all of that traveling I still managed to complete a wholesale order for Azura Clothing in Rehoboth Beach DE (http://www.azuraclothing.com/), take a small torch class with the Gem Cutters Guild of Baltimore, and attend my very first Baltimore Etsy Street Team meeting (http://baltimore-etsy.blogspot.com/). I am about ready for a nap but there is no time!


The small torch class I took with the Gem Cutters Guild was awesome. I signed up for the class to familiarize myself with the small torch, but I was a bit worried when class began as it seemed to be geared towards those who had never soldered at all before. My fears were eased as everyone began working on their own projects and I just kind of got into the groove and did my own thing. I was pleasantly surprised to figure out that the butane torch suits my needs perfectly and can do pretty much all that the acetylene tank can do. I am bringing fire home and to my work. I can't wait!


The Baltimore Etsy Team Meeting was great. It was so awesome to finally get to meet some of the people who's etsy stores I have been admiring since joining the team. It is also nice to have a community of artists to talk to. The solitary life of studio work is tough sometimes. It is great to have the opportunity to talk to people who are in the same boat as you. Some of the new members brought some of their creations to the meeting and can I just say, I am amongst some fantastic talent! Go B.E.S.T!


That is all for tonight but stay tuned for more on the amazing wedding and the jewelry I created for it!

Playing With Fire Part II

Last time I wrote I spoke a little about the time I was spending in the metals studio on the campus of The University of Evansville. I mentioned very little as to what I was doing in there, other than the fun and enlightening conversations between me and my former professor. My hours spent in that studio over the last couple weeks were all about discovery....and perhaps a bit of re-discovery.

While in school I had all the equipment needed to solder, proper ventilation, tanks, pickle and all the forms and and hammers I could imagine. I sadly, took all of this for granted. Since graduating in 2005, I have been working in cold connections, which means simply, finding ways to connect metal with out soldering. I have been happy to work this way, in fact I felt that it perhaps made me a bit more creative when it came to designing with out immediately reverting to soldering. I felt, and still feel, that working in cold connections was like problem solving.

It has been in the last year or so that I have been seeking growth and change in my work. I have sketch books filled with designs I have had rolling around my head for years now with no way of bringing these to light with out the use of fire. So why, you may ask, did I not just purchase the equipment necessary to work this way. The answer is really not very interesting. I have felt uncomfortable having tanks in my house, I have no ventilation and it had been so long since I have worked this way, would I even remember how to do it.

Turns out, playing with fire is like riding a bike. I am not sure you really forget. As soon as I heard the "pop" of the torch as I lit it, I felt right at home all over again. Back in college, I was working on very "clean" pieces with bezel set stones and quite frankly, that work was not for me. It is still not. I am just not a precise enough person to work that way. This time, I was determined to work in a whole new way. I came to the studio with a large jar of sterling scrap. This jar contained every scrap of sterling I have created since 2003. I went into the studio with one goal in mind.....up-cycle these scraps.

I carved various shapes into charcoal blocks and laid my scrap in the fresh grooves and carefully, heated that metal until it was molten but not liquid and worked it around with my pick until I was pleased with the shape and texture of it. I couldn't stop. I couldn't get enough. I am not yet sure where I am going with this technique but I am in love. I would leave the studio feeling sunburned, my hands red and dry from the heat, but I was instantly hooked.

It reminded me a lot of when I started taking ceramics. I began taking the required course my Junior year of college, after I began taking painting and after I began taking metals/jewelry courses. The biggest problems I had in both classes was my fear of messing up, my fear of the blank canvas, my fear of marring that sheet of metal, my fear of not being good enough. Ceramics changed all that for me for the better. The very process of using scrap clay to make new clay to throw a bowl only to have it flop and send it right back to the scrap clay bin, I found very freeing. In going through these steps day after day in the ceramics studio I learned the very important lesson of letting go. Every time I would throw a bowl and it would flop, instead of getting upset, I would just smile and remind myself 'it is just dirt'. This philosophy stayed with me in my painting studio where I began painting on old canvases. Painting on surfaces that were already messy, alleviated my fear of making a mess. I stopped cleaning my brushes while painting, I allowed my colors to get muddy sometimes, and I became a better painter for it.

Somehow, even though I realized this discovery, it never made its way into the metals studio with me, until these past weeks. Up-cycling these silver scraps was my way of making new clay into a new bowl. It was fascinating and addicting.

It just goes to show that as artists, discovery is the ongoing theme of our lives. Whether its self discovery, the discovery of a new process or a new material, this evolution is ever present. It is a good thing I love change!

Playing with fire.

So after a 12 hour drive through terrible weather yesterday I arrived in Evansville Indiana, the stomping grounds of my college days. I have maintained several precious friendships with people in the area after moving to Baltimore and I come back as often as I can to see my "adopted family" as I like to call them.

Today I spent time in the metal studio at the University of Evansville with my former pprofessor Francis. I can't tell you, by the way, how great it is to get out of your own creative space for a little bit and enter another. Just being around the other tools and equipment alone makes the creative juices start flowing, but being there with Francis I consider a huge bonus.

I don't think we have worked side by side in the studio since before I graduated from college, but we have had many phone calls over the years and chats over coffee when I am in town. Francis and I  now have a reciprocity to our relationship that we obviously didn't have when I was her student. She is, and will always be, so much more knowledgeable than me when it comes to metalsmithing and I will continue to come to her for guidance for as long as she is willing to give it to me. In turn, running Heavens to Bessie has been my job for the last 5 years, which by no means makes me an expert, but there are things that she can now pick my brain about. Francis has just begun her business (http://www.studiofran.com/) and it is amazing! Her website is awesome and her work in incredible. It is so amazing to have someone to talk to about things we have discovered both in the studio and in business, like what works, what doesn't and sometime we come up with ideas or solutions to problems together. The give and take is stellar and so valued!

My Heavens to Bessie energy has been so high lately but being in the studio with such a great artist, mentor and friend for a few hours has me super charged. I played with fire today and realized how much I have missed the feeling of the torch in my hand and can't wait to play again tomorrow.

Entering the world of Blogs.

Why I am so hesitant to enter the world of technology, I am not quite sure. Perhaps it is because I feel uncomfortable entering a world that I don't understand. But don't we all live in a world we don't understand in one way or another. As people there is much we don't understand about this earth that we borrow time from. Maybe there are many out there lucky enough to choose their life's path or there career and it all makes sense to them. All I know is that from what I understand of the life of a working artist, there is quite a bit that may not come as naturally as creating. With out a doubt we artists are thrown into the business arena and many times we are clueless.

Well, I would like to say that I was as resistant to the business world as I am the technological world, but I can not. When I was about 9 I remember deciding I wanted a garden. I began by taking the sales papers and circling all the items I would need, shovels, seeds etc., adding up the costs to  find out how much I would need. To fund the project I went and dragged all my old toys and books to the front lawn and sold them. I made my money, bought my supplies, and planted my garden. Now it turns out that our yard was mostly clay so nothing grew, but the concept of the project I will never forget. In high school I started my own business. I sold earrings that I had made. I made my own logo, business cards and packaging and sold to everyone I knew. A few months after college graduation opened an art gallery and began Heavens to Bessie all at the same time. So you can see I've been somewhat business minded and entrepreneurial for most of my life.

But those days are long gone. It is now 2011. Business is no longer simply advertising, cost of good, profit etc.. It now encompasses the all intimidating technological realm. And I find myself nervous feeling out of place, like the new kid in school. But here it goes, the swan dive! A website ( www.heavenstobessie.com that should be done any day now), an online Etsy store ( www.etsy.com/shop/heavenstobessie ), and now the blogosphere.

Do I have anything to say really worth reading? I really don't know. I am just an artist making her way through this crazy world, but now I will be recording my discoveries along the way for anyone to read. Stay tuned for the fabulous follies I will with out a doubt have as I attempt to activate the other side of my brain.