Gallery Jewelry

MA Doran Gallery is a gallery that has been in business as long as we have lived in Tulsa. There are two women that run it and we have bought numerous pieces of art from them. During the recession they started carrying art jewelry as a way to earn extra income and I have bought several pieces of funky jewelry.

My former studio-mate, Lorie, started selling her jewelry through their gallery and has been quite successful. Because they have such a high quality gallery it's always been a dream to be an artist showing work there. So far, none of my jewelry has been good enough to sell until I have started fusing 22K gold to Argentium. Lorie bought a pair of my earrings and wore them into the gallery and they liked them so that has encouraged me to take in a sample of some of my work.

I'm really nervous to take my jewelry by. It's really putting myself on the line. Putting myself out there. Rejection can be hard. Plus they charge 50% commission. I will charge $165 for each pair of these earrings which is quite a bit of money. Their clientele will pay that much and they agreed that is a fair price.

I was shopping in a clothing store next door to Lorie's studio. The owner knew I made jewelry so I showed her some pictures of these earrings and she wanted me to bring them by. I don't know if she wants to carry them or buy a pair. It was nice though!

Creative Process

How do I create a piece?

It's a lot of staring into space with a glazed look on my face. Really. Something starts rolling around in my brain and possibilities start to form. I can look at a component on my bench and try to decide what can be done with that piece. Maybe its a piece of wire, a metal shape, a gemstone or a string of gemstone beads that gets me dreaming.

I love when my favorite jewelry magazines come in the mail or electronically. Some of them have simple projects that gets you thinking of something more sophisticated. Most of them have artist's work that leave you breathless with "how in the world did they do that!". My favorite jewelry books are the "500 Rings, or Bracelets or Earrings, etc". That gets my thinking cap working. (One of my elementary teachers would tell us to put our thinking caps on. I remember vividly what my thinking cap looked like. Kind of like one of those EEG caps)

My jewelry friends are an inspiration to me. They will suggest changes or challenges to my work. Or they will ask opinions of their own work which are creatively stimulating to me. My best ideas are actually my co-workers suggestions. That probably makes them their ideas, but they are all so generous they let me think that they are really mine.

My gemology teacher, Veronica Moody, taught us to take anything, hold up our hands to it, block part of it off and see the design in it.

I'm not a planner. I don't meticulously plan out a project. I usually haphazardly start hammering a piece of metal to see where it goes. Metal has a life of its own even though it is inert. The hammer moves the metal, it stretches it, compresses it. Fire softens it and the metal starts to move on its own as it heats. You start all over with the metal, stretch and compress it some more. You can't always tell how each piece of metal will react. I think there are metal fairies that live inside and change the crystalline structure just to confuse me. I surely can't get matching pieces of metal though sometimes I need to, such as when making earrings.

The need to create is strong. It is overwhelming sometimes. I enjoy going to work each day. I may not get a piece finished every day or even every week, but as long as I am working (sometimes I work on multiple things) I'm happy. When my mother was in her 70's she would work all day, then come home and stay up late painting. I hope I'm doing that until I'm 100. Well it might be hard to hold a hammer...

12 Pound Terror

While Allie is studying and partying in Europe Harvey and I have been left with taking care of her two dogs Presley and Duke. Duke is 75 lbs and Presley is about 12 lbs, but they are the most destructive dogs.

Our backyard looks like a moonscape most of the time from their digging. The only time it doesn't is when Harvey has painstakingly covered up the holes with fresh dirt. We are not talking about a few holes. We are talking about the entire back yard.

Presley is an escape artist. He actually rips holes in our 10 year old fence and gets out. He's so little it just takes a small hole. Harvey, again painstakingly nails a board up to cover up the hole and the next day, guess what? Yep, another hole.

Sometimes the neighbors call or bring him back because he's terrorizing their squirrels by barking maniacally. I know he will come home eventually when he gets cold, hungry or tired. Sometimes I will grab him, carry him in to the house and before I can shut the doggie door he's outside like a shot and back through the hole even though he's been out for hours. I'm waiting for a hawk to get him. I guess Alexandra won't be too happy about our doggy care skills then, will she?

Because having three dogs in our house was a bit much with a big dog I did ask a friend to board Duke. I still get to see him most days. He seems to love living at his new home. He gets lots of love and treats. Plus he has a big dog house with a heat lamp shining down on him. Who wouldn't love that? I'm not sure Alexandra will get him back because my friends are falling in love with him. He's about the best dog you could have (except for digging). If only he were just a little smaller. But then Presley is smaller but he's a little s*#*t.

Addendum: just finished this post, stopped to feed Guy, the doorbell rang and there stood my next door neighbor with Presley. I promised to send Harvey over to fix his yard where Presley had just been digging. In the meantime Guy dumps all of his sweet potatoes in his lap.

Jewelry sales

I love working with metal. I work nearly every day. Chasing, hammering, soldering, anticlasting, raising, and the list goes on. I have lots of product . Unfortunately I don't like selling it. It puts yourself out there on the line. It's business and I just want to create. It's pricing, display, and well, selling. 

Last week I was invited to show to sell my work at a new business that had already had several shows. It was to introduce a new partner in their business. I worked hard finishing new pieces, cleaning and marking and setting up. Lots of worrying. She had invited all her friends and they were interested in her jewelry. I ended up trading a pair with her and selling a pair to another partner and buying a pair from the other. I broke even. I had fun hanging with my friends. And  now I'm set up and ready for my next show!

I don't have a mailing list. I need to get one. I've already had a show where I invited my friends and they were generous and purchased my jewelry. Maybe even some sympathy buys. I don't want to keep just inviting my friends. I'm not quite sure how to go about getting a mailing list except by having more shows and having a sign up sheet. Hence, more shows. 

I could also wholesale my jewelry to stores but then I have to go prostitute myself to stores and sell my work to them. I went to a jewelry store in Owasso last week but the minute I walked in I knew my jewelry was not a match for his store. He was a nice guy and we both decided it wasn't a good match. 

I'm excited that a local gallery saw some of my earrings and liked them so I will be taking more of them by to see if they are really interested in selling them. I hope so! 

I have to get over myself! I'm not so precious and my ego isn't so fragile that I can't take the heat. I would rather whine about it. Everybody hates whiners. So go get busy, Cheri