Remember watching Looney Tunes as a kid, and the windy off-base maps they would show of a character traveling? That's what my day felt like. My goals of peacefulness and writing daily were truly tested, though it was certainly an adventure :-)
It was one of those days that was so long, by the end the events of the morning felt like a distant memory.
Before I had even acquired my first cup of coffee, the fun had begun with a bizarre city truck drag race coming towards me on Shelburne Road. It's hard to know if the big orange truck's horn was battle-cry or hello, but it certainly got everyone's attention.
Coffee in hand, the drive to Stowe was uneventful, aside from the meditation that accompanies lots of windshield time.... as the caffiene kicked in, the synapses exploded with jewelry inspirations and marketing ideas that unfortunately escaped capture. All that remains of them are a vague idea for Roman-style wrist cuffs (that I've owed a go0d friend for over a year now) involving multiple tapered pieces riveted together and the phrase "elegantly simple, wearable, and affordable".... With those pieces, I shall build the puzzle.
Jamaica, as it turns out, is really, really far away. Even the one in Vermont. After being involved in the rescue of two escaped pups and taking in the tour of Stratton Mountain Resort, I finally found the right Black Bear Road and found the castle in the heart of the forest.
A couple more jaunts up excessively long driveways in the heart of ski country, trudging through the snow to impart my wisdom, and I could finally head home. Too late to be riding off into the sunset, too late to make it to yoga class. But what can you do? I'll tell you what you can do-- grab a glass of wine and make the best of it!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
back & better than ever
So I decided this morning that I should resume this blog, for a couple of reasons. So far this year, things have been really good. It wasn't until I wrote a journal entry about it that I truly realized that. And it's a realization that stuck with me and has continued to make me feel good. So there's the motivation that exploring life ties in directly to my art ambitions, and that writing will keep me feeling creative and motivated and capture ideas-- maybe even ones that I'm not aware of until I do some writing...
It may also have had something to do with the runner's high-- 4 miles with Justin this morning, and I was feeling pretty good.
The other motivation is that I used to do a lot of writing, and I'm feeling like my powers of articulation and creativity are rusty. In order to better market my jewelry, I need to tap back into that for describing my vision, my pieces, and marketing myself online and to galleries.
It's by understanding and embracing all the things that seem to be mutually exclusive parts of myself that I'll be successful in life and jewelry, and I'm thankful to Justin for the inspiration he's given me. He motivates me to get organized, do stuff instead of making excuses, prioritize, and accept/appreciate myself and everything around me. He also doesn't get annoyed when I text him randomly about ideas, instead getting me even more excited about them :-)
2010 is all about peacefulness and adventure-- just because i'm becoming more organized and motivated doesn't mean I'm any less neurotic ;-)
It may also have had something to do with the runner's high-- 4 miles with Justin this morning, and I was feeling pretty good.
The other motivation is that I used to do a lot of writing, and I'm feeling like my powers of articulation and creativity are rusty. In order to better market my jewelry, I need to tap back into that for describing my vision, my pieces, and marketing myself online and to galleries.
It's by understanding and embracing all the things that seem to be mutually exclusive parts of myself that I'll be successful in life and jewelry, and I'm thankful to Justin for the inspiration he's given me. He motivates me to get organized, do stuff instead of making excuses, prioritize, and accept/appreciate myself and everything around me. He also doesn't get annoyed when I text him randomly about ideas, instead getting me even more excited about them :-)
2010 is all about peacefulness and adventure-- just because i'm becoming more organized and motivated doesn't mean I'm any less neurotic ;-)
Monday, September 29, 2008
silver linings
Last Saturday's artist market was the worst day of sales I've had since I've started, and yet, it was a great day! Why so great? well......
In spite of some ominous looking clouds, it didn't rain all day
In spite of forgetting to feed the meter, I didn't get a parking ticket
In spite of not charging it, my cute little screwdriver thing didn't lose power
In spite of getting up at 6:30, I didn't feel an overwhelming need for a nap by 2:30
And as if those things weren't enough to make it a great day.....
Jamie and Chris stopped by......
Bethany, Adam, and John stopped by......
Kathy from Core Studio stopped by (and ordered a ring).....
Phil stopped by :-) .....
and at the end of the day, a girl who had bought a ring at a previous art market came by and was raving about the ring she bought and looking at things she might want her mom to buy for her next weekend.....
In spite of some ominous looking clouds, it didn't rain all day
In spite of forgetting to feed the meter, I didn't get a parking ticket
In spite of not charging it, my cute little screwdriver thing didn't lose power
In spite of getting up at 6:30, I didn't feel an overwhelming need for a nap by 2:30
And as if those things weren't enough to make it a great day.....
Jamie and Chris stopped by......
Bethany, Adam, and John stopped by......
Kathy from Core Studio stopped by (and ordered a ring).....
Phil stopped by :-) .....
and at the end of the day, a girl who had bought a ring at a previous art market came by and was raving about the ring she bought and looking at things she might want her mom to buy for her next weekend.....
Sunday, September 21, 2008
winds of change
Another Saturday, another artist market......
But this one felt a little different, and not just because we all sat there at our booths shivering in the wind. It isn't uncommon for there to be a slow trickle of people until 10am or so, but yesterday, it seemed like there weren't as many people at the market to begin with. It'll be interesting to see whether this past weekend's fall weather marked the beginning of the end of the market for the season, or if the tourists here for the foliage will sustain us a bit longer.
Overall, the day still went well.... One girl came back for a third artist market looking for a particular pair of earrings she had fallen in love with. How cool is that?! My favorite, though, was the older man who came through.... he didn't buy anything, but gave me one of the best compliments I've ever had: "My daughters (who live in San Antonio and Manhattan) will never believe I found something so nice in Burlington"
I had a hard time getting up yesterday--almost skipped it, in fact--but it's encounters like those two that make it all worthwhile :-)
But this one felt a little different, and not just because we all sat there at our booths shivering in the wind. It isn't uncommon for there to be a slow trickle of people until 10am or so, but yesterday, it seemed like there weren't as many people at the market to begin with. It'll be interesting to see whether this past weekend's fall weather marked the beginning of the end of the market for the season, or if the tourists here for the foliage will sustain us a bit longer.
Overall, the day still went well.... One girl came back for a third artist market looking for a particular pair of earrings she had fallen in love with. How cool is that?! My favorite, though, was the older man who came through.... he didn't buy anything, but gave me one of the best compliments I've ever had: "My daughters (who live in San Antonio and Manhattan) will never believe I found something so nice in Burlington"
I had a hard time getting up yesterday--almost skipped it, in fact--but it's encounters like those two that make it all worthwhile :-)
Saturday, September 13, 2008
STRUT your stuff
Last weekend was all about the Art Hop.....
As I pretty much predicted, I was right down to the very last minute preparing the pieces for the fashion show Friday night. It was intense, to say the least.
Finally, the time had come..... I arrived around 5pm to set up a table, and the tent was total chaos. It took a while to find all my models and figure out which one was supposed to be wearing what, but it all got worked out. As I went from the backstage area to check on my table, I had a nice surprise waiting for me-- My mom, Dave, and the kids had made it down to see my debut!
At 7pm, the music started, and we were off! STK was first with some warrior-inspired outfits, and Me and Louise followed with re-worked vintage outfits. I didn't get to see any of their stuff--I was preparing models and making last minute fixes to my work. I won't lie. I was a wreck. My hands were shaking the whole time, and I kept praying that things would just hold together through the show. Next thing I knew, my models were walking down the runway and returning with the jewelry still intact, and I was being asked to line up behind them to walk as the designer. Eeek!
60 feet. It doesn't look that long when you're standing as a spectator looking at it. When you're standing as a designer with the prospect of walking out in front of 500+ people, it looks endless! For the models, it's easy..... they're wearing things to be shown off...... they walk down that runway having been styled head to toe, strike a little pose, and walk back. I can see having the designer come out onto the end of the runway at the end, to get acknowledged for the work they did, but to walk to 60 feet down and back?! I wasn't sure if I was supposed to do a little dance, wave, stand there and wait for my ovation........ :-)
There wasn't much of a break between the shows, but for what time there was, I was able to enjoy some of the other designers works myself and talk to people who came by to see what I had to offer. I finally got to show off the tree armcuff to Jamie and Sarah.... I had wanted something to be a surprise for them at the show, and was dying to reveal it. That piece was definitely attention-grabbing. The model, Jill, who was chosen to wear it thanked me a few times for letting her show that piece. Among the other highlights of the show were the spiderweb necklace and the japanese cherry blossoms necklace, both of which are on the website and available for sale ;-)
Other highlights of the show: I sold two pieces right off the runway, the House of LeMay wants to talk to me about designing some pieces for them, my models were all really sweet, the other designers were really nice (and talented), and many of my friends and coworkers were able to be a part of it all...... :-)
The next day, a number of people came through the studio, and I had some interesting conversations, gave out some cards, and made a couple of sales. But the best part was having people come in and say "oh! this is the jewelry I saw at the fashion show last night!"
This weekend, there is no artist market, which is great because I could use a little time to recover. There is still no shortage of work-- inventory to stockpile, new pieces to design and make, and the whole experience of having successfully participated in the Art Hop and Strut III has me feeling energized and up for the challenge!
As I pretty much predicted, I was right down to the very last minute preparing the pieces for the fashion show Friday night. It was intense, to say the least.
Finally, the time had come..... I arrived around 5pm to set up a table, and the tent was total chaos. It took a while to find all my models and figure out which one was supposed to be wearing what, but it all got worked out. As I went from the backstage area to check on my table, I had a nice surprise waiting for me-- My mom, Dave, and the kids had made it down to see my debut!
At 7pm, the music started, and we were off! STK was first with some warrior-inspired outfits, and Me and Louise followed with re-worked vintage outfits. I didn't get to see any of their stuff--I was preparing models and making last minute fixes to my work. I won't lie. I was a wreck. My hands were shaking the whole time, and I kept praying that things would just hold together through the show. Next thing I knew, my models were walking down the runway and returning with the jewelry still intact, and I was being asked to line up behind them to walk as the designer. Eeek!
60 feet. It doesn't look that long when you're standing as a spectator looking at it. When you're standing as a designer with the prospect of walking out in front of 500+ people, it looks endless! For the models, it's easy..... they're wearing things to be shown off...... they walk down that runway having been styled head to toe, strike a little pose, and walk back. I can see having the designer come out onto the end of the runway at the end, to get acknowledged for the work they did, but to walk to 60 feet down and back?! I wasn't sure if I was supposed to do a little dance, wave, stand there and wait for my ovation........ :-)
There wasn't much of a break between the shows, but for what time there was, I was able to enjoy some of the other designers works myself and talk to people who came by to see what I had to offer. I finally got to show off the tree armcuff to Jamie and Sarah.... I had wanted something to be a surprise for them at the show, and was dying to reveal it. That piece was definitely attention-grabbing. The model, Jill, who was chosen to wear it thanked me a few times for letting her show that piece. Among the other highlights of the show were the spiderweb necklace and the japanese cherry blossoms necklace, both of which are on the website and available for sale ;-)
Other highlights of the show: I sold two pieces right off the runway, the House of LeMay wants to talk to me about designing some pieces for them, my models were all really sweet, the other designers were really nice (and talented), and many of my friends and coworkers were able to be a part of it all...... :-)
The next day, a number of people came through the studio, and I had some interesting conversations, gave out some cards, and made a couple of sales. But the best part was having people come in and say "oh! this is the jewelry I saw at the fashion show last night!"
This weekend, there is no artist market, which is great because I could use a little time to recover. There is still no shortage of work-- inventory to stockpile, new pieces to design and make, and the whole experience of having successfully participated in the Art Hop and Strut III has me feeling energized and up for the challenge!
a little bad luck can't keep me down!
A few weeks ago--my return to the artist market after a three week hiatus--got off to a pretty rocky start. I thought I had everything together, having not unpacked from the Northeast Kingdom Music Festival, but discovered pretty quickly that I had forgotten a few pretty important things. The result: my vanity mirror (the big middle piece) shattered into a million little pieces.
Good thing I'm not supersitious! In fact, I was determined not to let it get me down, and I had one of my best Saturdays yet, in spite of a seriously modified display.
Joanne, of Happy Fantastic, had a great idea--put cork and black velvet in place of the missing mirror. It was the perfect solution, allowing me to put up a sign, display necklaces, and still have the mirrors on the side. I went in with less stuff to sell, thanks to all the time being put into preparing for the Art Hop, but things still went great.
There are a half dozen or so artist markets left, and hopefully things will keep going as well as they have, if not better. I'll also be trying to get some of my things into stores and galleries around the state to sustain my momentum when the market ends.
Good thing I'm not supersitious! In fact, I was determined not to let it get me down, and I had one of my best Saturdays yet, in spite of a seriously modified display.
Joanne, of Happy Fantastic, had a great idea--put cork and black velvet in place of the missing mirror. It was the perfect solution, allowing me to put up a sign, display necklaces, and still have the mirrors on the side. I went in with less stuff to sell, thanks to all the time being put into preparing for the Art Hop, but things still went great.
There are a half dozen or so artist markets left, and hopefully things will keep going as well as they have, if not better. I'll also be trying to get some of my things into stores and galleries around the state to sustain my momentum when the market ends.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Mud 'N Music
That's what they should've called the festival.....
It was an adventure. After driving for an hour and a half, we arrived Thursday night in time to set up a severely tangled canopy in the dark with the company of about 10,000 mosquitoes. On the bright side, we didn't have to haul everything down the hill the next morning when they stopped letting cars on the field because of the mud. And by "we", I really mean Joe.
Joe is my hero. He picked up what I thought were really heavy pieces of my display as if they were nothing, set up pretty much everything, kept the canopy from succumbing to the inclement weather, kept the tents dry-ish, engineered a lighting design (that we never got power to), cooked burgers and kept me company through two very long days.
The display looked great, and lots of people stopped to oooh and aaaah over the really cool jewelry, but it was a cash-poor crowd. It's hard to compete with nachos at 3am when you're stuck in the middle of a muddy farm field...... go figure.
I did sell a few pieces, so it wasn't a lost cause. And we got to listen to some interesting music...... some really good (Vorcza, Screaming Headless Torsos) and some not-so-good (Accordion Death Squad, the Mathematicians).
I'll be taking a hiatus for much of the next two weeks..... two of my friends are getting married (Congrats Audie & Jake, Lisel & Shawn), which will keep me out of the studio. Then the race is on to Art Hop! Stay tuned, there may be previews of some of the pieces I'm going to make especially for STRUT III (the Art Hop fashion show).....
It was an adventure. After driving for an hour and a half, we arrived Thursday night in time to set up a severely tangled canopy in the dark with the company of about 10,000 mosquitoes. On the bright side, we didn't have to haul everything down the hill the next morning when they stopped letting cars on the field because of the mud. And by "we", I really mean Joe.
Joe is my hero. He picked up what I thought were really heavy pieces of my display as if they were nothing, set up pretty much everything, kept the canopy from succumbing to the inclement weather, kept the tents dry-ish, engineered a lighting design (that we never got power to), cooked burgers and kept me company through two very long days.
The display looked great, and lots of people stopped to oooh and aaaah over the really cool jewelry, but it was a cash-poor crowd. It's hard to compete with nachos at 3am when you're stuck in the middle of a muddy farm field...... go figure.
I did sell a few pieces, so it wasn't a lost cause. And we got to listen to some interesting music...... some really good (Vorcza, Screaming Headless Torsos) and some not-so-good (Accordion Death Squad, the Mathematicians).
I'll be taking a hiatus for much of the next two weeks..... two of my friends are getting married (Congrats Audie & Jake, Lisel & Shawn), which will keep me out of the studio. Then the race is on to Art Hop! Stay tuned, there may be previews of some of the pieces I'm going to make especially for STRUT III (the Art Hop fashion show).....
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