Christmas 2010...

Some Xmas Eve sights around the abode...

Feeling rather plastic these days.

 

Or maybe it's just what I'm surrounded by...

Etsymetal Nov 2010 Blog Carnival...

Etsymetal's Blog Carnival topic for this month is;  Business Success Secrets!

Success, not one of my favorite subjects. I got into the business end of jewelry, so I could afford to continue to learn, create and explore as a 3D artist. It's a love/hate kinda of thing. So, I'm not sure at this stage of my journey, as an artist, that I even feel comfortable talking about success, let alone business side of success; oh heck,  here goes...

What does it mean to you to be "successful" in business as an artist? At this fledgling stage, I would say positive feedback means as much to me as a sale. Anyone can buy a pair of earrings, but for that person to take the time to engage me in conversation, to share how a piece of mine makes them feel, that's a total high. Long term success means, to me, the financial freedom to continue my metalsmithing education, to have access to better tools, to other artists, and more time to create.

How do you walk the line between creativity and profitability? Not sure I've found that line yet. I know I'm often caught-up in the trap of trying to make what I think others will like or buy, so much so, that I don't follow my creative voice. Working on a very tight budget is a double edge sword; at times it can be that push, one needs, to think outside the box, for trying something new, and at other times it serves as a suffocating force, leaving me frozen in a box of self-doubt.

 What is the best thing you've done for your business? I think I truly need a few more years to figure that out. 


Check out what other Etsymetal artists think about what success means to them.

stacey http://wildflowerdesigns.blogspot.com
victoria takahashi / experimetal http://vtakahashi.blogspot.com/
2Roses http://jewelrytutorial.blogspot.com
Beth Cyr: http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com
Heather: http://www.twigsandheather.blogspot.com
Purified: http://purifiedart.blogspot.com/
Nina Gibson ~ http://ninagibsondesigns.blogspot.com/  
Nodeform: http://nodeform.blogspot.com/
Gaby / India y a la Luna: http://indiaylaluna.blogspot.com/ 
Norsola: http://norsolajohnson.blogspot.com/ 

A wonderful Day of the Dead Giveaway!

 If you love Mexican Folk Art as much as I do, you will want to check out this amazing giveaway at Lorena Angulo's blog. She is wonderful artist and teacher. Spend some time looking through her posts, and enjoy! Here's the link...


dia-de-muertos-giveaway.html

Gecko J is having a sale!

In celebration of Etsymetal's 4th anniversary I'm having a sale (20% off everything in my Gecko J Etsy shop), and Etsymetal is having $50 gift certificate giveaways the last 4 Fridays of October; there two Fridays left to win. Just click on the Etsymetal name above for more details.

Is a picture worth a thousand words?

I love to take pictures... So why is it I feel so stressed taking pictures of my own work? Maybe with time and practice I will grow accustom to this whole self-marketing thing. I've never been good at it.

Drama project...

Mac's first drama tech class project. They were to pick one small slice of theater history; she picked Kabuki makeup. She made this video to go along with her power-point presentation. I thought it was pretty cool, and wanted to share.

Goin' back to school?

Each month, members of the Etsymetal are asked a question, and then they are requested to blog about it simultaneously. This month's question is: Back To School


Where did you go to school? Are you still a student? What kind of student were/are you? If you had the opportunity to go back to school, would you? Where and what would you study?

I wonder, does this question refer to my formative years, or later? I guess I'll stick with the more recent (well ~20 years ago). The above chairs are from my Alma Mater, Georgia State Universty. It was an odd kind of college experience. After being adrift, in what I like to call my lost years, at a crappy north Atlanta high school, I found myself among like-minded individuals, on what locals call the "Concrete Campus".

Doing what freedom-loving folks tend to do, we skipped class, hung out in Little Five Points, went to clubs, and got little-to-no studying done. Age, maturity, or just a general lack of funds soon brought me back down to earth, and I finally hit the books. After wasting a year, then taking another off to travel to England, I finally finished my studies, and graduated with a B.S. in psychology.

But, WAIT, what was that...? Richard Mafong was at GSU, while I was wasting my time studying the brain! I could have been awash in ecstasy, as a student in the metalsmithing program... Talk about missing the train/boat/plain/etc.

So, now 20 years later, I find myself a student again. Though not enrolled at a university, I study along with my kids, as they learn all I've forgotten, and I spend as much time as I can as a student and assistant in the metals program, at the Spruill Center for the Arts.

I'd love the opportunity to go back and get a BA in Metals. I dream of attending UW's School of Art in Seattle, or even just to have more time and money to travel to the local area folk schools for classes, as well as take more at Spruill.

Hopefully, with time and patience I will be able to continue this life long journey, one filled with learning, always learning.



Please read the replies of other Etsymetal members. Follow the links to their blogs:





Victoria Takahashi

Caitlyn Davey

Thomasin Durgin

Danielle Miller

Stacey - Wildflower Designs

Ann Hartley

Konstanze

Beth Cyr

Kathryn Cole 

Off She Goes...

Today was Mac's first day at a real brick & mortar school; something she's not experienced in eight years. It was a mixed bag, some good and some... well you know. This will be an interesting experiment. I almost want to log data, marking each day, each subject, and compare teaching methodologies. Already, on her first day, Mac had a pop quiz, saw a few kids booted from class, and learned to dash to the restroom in five seconds flat. This odd microcosm is now where she will spend much of her time, for the next four years.

Last Week of Spruill Camp... More Treasures For the Eyes!

Crazy, hard, amazing 2010 Tour!

Brazil Week at Spruill

Double Digits... the Big 10