Today is an unusual Saturday for me. It's rainy, and I've accomplished nothing, not even a shower. This is partly to blame for being out late last night, but it's more due to the blogosphere, of which I am a new member.
I figured I would track down a few fellow artist's blogs to get a peek, add a link to my site if appropriate, and move on. My first stop: Circa Ceramics. I love Nancy and Andy, the little that I know them. We met at my very first public selling event, the 2003 (? I think) Cornelia Arts Holiday Show, where we were set up in a hallway next to each other. Nancy comes to our local monthly Art Girls gatherings (for artists who do shows) when she can, and it was a point of pride when I successfully nabbed her contribution to our annual holiday art swap event last December.
On their blog [that which is not], I browsed around and found some interesting links. I stumbled upon a post from last month, And the saga continues..., about the Baltimore American Craft Council (ACC) show. I definitely wanted to read this one because that's a show nut that I cannot crack, despite fellow artists being aghast at my string of rejections (having learned that there's no magic formula, I cease to be surprised).
From there I followed one little link that sounded so intriguing, only to stumble upon a raging debate with more than a hundred comments on the Imogene blog. After maybe 90 minutes of reading, I had to tear myself away just to take a break and digest the content of the confessions post. I haven't reached "the end" yet (probably never will because artists like myself are constantly linking back to this debate and it continues to grow).
Why be another one to mention it? Well, I'm worn out from so many discussions along these lines... worn out in a good way and glad to know other artists have been having the very same thoughts and discussions. This online debate is so eloquent and touches on many, many issues of the fine art community vs. the alt-craft scene or indie artist.
It also gets into specifics about the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG), which took me years to join... I had to have several fellow jewelers tell me that it was okay to join even though I'm not a goldsmith and haven't formally studied metalsmithing. Now I mostly belong just to receive the magazine; the organization is not for me as a full-time jeweler. Many people in the online debate touch on that gap between academic metalsmithing and production jewelry. The whole debate is sparked because Annie from Imogene reacts to her first SNAG conference. I, too, attended a conference last year when it was in my home town of Chicago. I pretty much decided "never again." Many of the artist lectures were inspiring, and I did enjoy the international flavor, but it was more about promoting a big name as an artist rather than the down-to-earth information for building a successful jewelry business. (Note: I haven't been to one yet, but have heard great things about the Clasp conferences which have a more practical business appeal.)
On a personal (but intentionally vague) note, I have had some tough professional show experiences, including being shunned by fellow artists, being shouted at publicly in my booth to having to defend myself to a show director to be able to do a prestigious show that I juried into but a fellow artist did not approve of me doing.
This online debate has made me feel more a part of a community that I didn't even know existed. At this point I don't even want to over-define what that community is... I've never exactly felt a part of the indie craft scene because my background makes me want to put a professional face and display forward, but I don't feel a part of the old-guard über-technically-trained professional craft scene, either. Apparently, from what I can see on the surface scratch I made on Imogene's blog, there are a lot of us in this realm, and we are very thankful for the audiences that we have built up.
Thank you for your continued support, whether as friend, family, customer, welcome smile at a show, fellow artist, or any number of contacts that I've made along the way. I couldn't do it without you and wouldn't want to!
