I Am An Artist

I don't know the types of creations you all make - jewelry, sculpture, photography, woodwork, quilting, painting - but is there some word that others use to describe your work that makes you want to scream?

For me - it's "stringer". I sometimes get called a bead stringer rather than a jewelry maker. That goes right to my little insecure head. Yes, I string beads - after I buy them, envision a piece, select a clasp, try one pendant then three more until it feels right, wire wrap, decide on a statement I want the piece to make, change the color scheme, adjust the length, re-vision the whole thing and then maybe I'm happy with it. Or maybe it goes in the pile of not quite ready.

I imagine for all creative people there is a little insecure spot. We are putting out souls into what we create and then putting it out there to be judged. Will they love my work? Will they think it's horrible? Will they think I'm off?

How can they not see and value the hours of thought and feeling and love that went into that piece. How can they not feel the joy I feel when I look at my work?

What's the word that cuts right to your insecure core?

Terry

When The Muse Has Left the Building

You know, those days when you get up and you look at all your wonderful supplies and all the bright colors and all the silver and all the pendants and you go, Yuk. Nothing is coming to you, you’ve lost total enthusiasm, and creating something amazing has become a chore. Like mopping the kitchen floor.

Had one of those days a week or so ago. Only that day lasted for three. Just could not muster the creative energy. Creating beautiful pieces of jewelry became a “job”.

That day I was “children sitting” for a 5 year old girl and a 9 year old boy. They decided they wanted to make jewelry. Well, watching them sort through the beads, hold each and every one, turn them round and round in their little hands, rub them against their cheeks, listen to the sounds of them, there was Joy and Wonder and Amazement. They felt the magic I couldn’t find for myself.

They made their selections, they chose carefully, they strung them, took them apart, restrung them, chose a clasp, rejected that one, went for another. And each change brought wonder to their eyes.

I helped with the clasps and the crimps, but the pieces they finished were all theirs. And they smiled at each other and the laughed and they modeled their pieces and they were happy.

And the next morning, the Muse returned!

Terry

The Future of Craft Shows -- Is There One?

(Photograph from the Mattoon Festival in Springfield, MA 2010. One of the best shows we do each year.)

In the past year we have been to at least two "craft" shows that billed themselves as juried shows. We submitted the requisite details of our process of creating our jewelry and photos of our studio. We were happy to be selected and when we arrived at the shows and finished our laborious set-up, we decided to take a stroll around and meet the other artists. Sharing with other artists is so much a part of the creative process. Makes the creative juices run.

Imagine our shock to find booths full of buy/sell merchandise. At a juried "arts & craft" show? How does this happen? Are there not enough artists to fill the booths? I find that hard to imagine. It is less difficult for me to imagine that some artists have decided that craft shows are too much work for the benefit. Maybe so, but there are so many jewelry artists clambering for spots in shows that for as many that do not want to sign up, there are ten to take their place. Are the vendors playing bait and switch with the show organizers? Could be but then why aren't they being asked to leave as soon as their merchandise is seen? I don't have answers to these questions. Maybe some of you do, and if so I'd love to hear your take on this. I know one thing - when true aficionados of actual hand crafted items show up and see lots of buy/sell merchandise, they leave. And they tell their friends. What's that old saying about restaurants? If you have a great experience you tell one person but if you have a lousy experience you tell ten. Craft show organizers need to take note, and see that in the end they are harming themselves (and their fundraising efforts if applicable) as well as the artists that they purport to support. Terry

Joy!

The Joy of Creating!

How do you explain to someone the sheer joy you feel after taking a bunch of beads, some sterling wire and some findings and seeing that you have created something magical?

How do you convey the pride you feel seeing one of your creations bring a giant smile to someone's face? To the look of "Wow" you see in their eyes. That's joy!

Oh, I'm sure a painter feels it when they see their finished piece hanging on a wall - but for me it's the feel of the beads - the smoothness, the coolness of the stones, the textures of the rough pieces. Sometimes I can just run my hands through a bowl of beads of different sizes, textures and shapes and feel certain beads telling my fingers "pick me, pick me" and the finished piece takes shape in my head before I've picked another bead. That's joy.

I think what has always drawn me to beading is the number of components that go into making a piece. Pick the beads by texture, color, shape, weight. Pick the complementary colors, the shapes of the spacers that highlight without distracting, the sterling silver wire and beads that complement, and the clasp that adds beauty without overpowering everything else. Finding a balance that's almost mathematical.

The joy of creating! It is Magic.

Terry

I Once Had a Friend!

I Once Had a Friend –

Well, actually I once had a student. Her name was Gail. It was my first year of teaching in an Addiction Counseling Program in Toronto and I was such a newbie in 1986. I suspected everyone could see how scared I was. Gail was different (I didn't know then how true that statement is.) And she was a good student, who challenged me as much as I challenged her. Somehow we became friends. And over these many years we have kept in touch. As she worked as an addiction counselor we shared horror stories and commiserated about the stresses of the job. We’ve maintained separate lives but have always kept the lines open. Well, Gail gave up her life as an addiction counselor (or, as they write in Canada, Counsellor) and has blossomed into an amazing exceptional artiste.

As she likes to say she draws her work from some of the experiences of her past work. I am hoping some of her pieces are not reminders of the horrors she suffered in my class. To say her work is offbeat would be an amazing understatement. Some of her pieces have given me nightmares. And some have so touched my heart. (My house is chock full of her paintings and painted boxes and painted sneakers. The woman will paint anything that isn’t moving.)

I have watched her grow from an artist who painted in her spare time to, as she says, keep her from sending her husband through a wood chipper, to a private show in a gallery in Toronto, to exhibiting in a juried show in Caledon, Ontario at the Headwaters Arts Festival (www.HeadwatersArtsFestival.com)(this September will be her third year) where last year one of her paintings won a juror's award, to this year where she is in two major shows on the same weekend. The second show is the Silvercreek Open Studio Show (www.silvercreekcaledon.com). Her work has been exhibited and sold from several galleries in the Greater Toronto area.

I love having artists in my life. They fill me with hope, they are there to commiserate when the inspiration has flown the coop, and they are there to share the joy when a piece is completed and someone loves it.

I invite you to visit her website (www.gailprussky.com), or check her work on Facebook, or look her up in the show listing for the Headwaters Arts Festival (www.HeadwatersArtsFestival.com). She is an amazing artist and I know you will enjoy seeing her work.

Painted Bags:

Painted Boxes:

Beat the Heat!

Blow-Out Summer Sale!

Shop from the comfort of your home. No tents, no rain, no heat, hail or tornadoes. Terry and Sheryl want to make your shopping experience easier this summer. We are having a huge sale on our website – http://www.magicalbeadstalk.com, with 25% off listed items. They are in the Sale Items section of the website, which is on the left side panel. There are a variety of necklaces to choose from. You'll find semi-precious gemstone and sterling necklaces, freshwater pearls, handwoven seed bead pieces, and lots more.

Each piece on sale has the sale price listed so it's easy to purchase. Just click on the item to buy, and you can pay with Paypal or a credit card. Items purchased will be mailed within two days of purchase.

Some of the necklaces have earrings to match, and almost all of them are also 25% off.

Take advantage of the fabulous selection and the great savings.

Happy shopping.

Terry & Sheryl

Business Ethics?

What do we do?

The price of sterling silver is at an all-time high - (needless to say I can find no logical reason for this jump in price - have to admire greed, don't you?), and silver is a major component in the jewelry we produce.

Because of the high price of silver, it makes it very hard, if not impossible, to price our jewelry competitively. We cannot compete with the $5.00, inexpensively made, produced overseas buy/sell jewelry. And there are customers who do not want to pay for quality handmade jewelry, who will walk right past our booth being drawn in by the “sale” signs at other jewelry booths. I don’t want to discount the customers who come to craft fairs because they are looking to buy handmade jewelry – they are the ones who make it all worth it.

Sometimes it feels like a struggle to get us energized for a show. Even the ones that have juried us in seem to be allowing poor quality jewelry to be sold at booths all around us. Sitting home, creating jewelry, or watching NCIS reruns seems so much more emotionally rewarding. How sad is that?

The ethical business dilemma (you know this had to tie into the blog title somehow) for us becomes how do we price jewelry we have made using sterling silver we bought when it was less expensive to purchase? Now a gas station raises the prices at the pump the moment there's a rumor of an increase in the price of crude oil. If we followed suit, we could charge at current prices -- but do we want to base our business model after people we all consider to be gouging the consumer?

Do we figure the selling price based on current prices to offset the fewer sales we've been having because of the economy drop, and the competition from the buy/sellers?

Do we sell at prices based on what we paid in the past and make a real price jump on the pieces made with current priced silver? This creates another dilemma. If we use up the "stash" of sterling purchased before the price jump, to restock will be more difficult because we won't have made the money from our sales which is needed to replenish our sterling and will have to use less in our pieces - which will be difficult as we love the look of sterling silver with gemstones, freshwater pearls and Swarovski Crystal.

We don't have the answers - but am hoping some of you can offer suggestions, or get us all into a discussion of this.

Business ethics! Is that an oxymoron?