Taming the Tangle

A Whirlwind of a Week

Last week was a tough one because I arrived back at the studio on Monday from the Columbus Arts Festival and had a lot to accomplish before setting up for the Old Town Art Fair on Saturday morning, luckily a home-town show for me (which also meant I'd have assistance from my husband Dan and Kate from my studio... what a treat!).

Here's how my desk looks typically when I arrive home from a show (or, really, on any given day).

The bins on the left contain anything with a deadline (bills, applications, etc.) arranged in date order. On my desk are imperatives... orders taken at the show, custom pieces I have in process, calls to make, etc. It's a good day when all those papers get cleared so I can work on some jewelry. This desk serves as my work bench as well as my office space... something I'm hoping to change pending a studio move in the future (ooh, I can't wait to get more space!).

Pure 24k gold for "May is gold" month + The golden rule of customer service

As many of you know, I’ve started working in gold more. I love 18k, but due to rising costs I’ve been working mostly in 14k. In December I got a request from a client to create a necklace and earring set in pure 24k gold. I love this type of custom challenge, particularly when given the timeline of “you take as much time as you need to complete the project to the best of your ability.” Whoa… the (self-inflicted) pressure!

Being comfortable with the idea of self-education, my first step was to call my favorite wire supplier, Hoover and Strong. I love working with them because their wire is all recycled content (harmony metals), meaning it’s not freshly mined, making it more eco-friendly. They have 24k gold – this is gold in its pure form – but they explained to me that the gold would be too soft for my wire work. I also needed to buy or make 24k gold ear nuts, which they considered impossible since 24k gold would not work harden so the ear nuts would not have enough tension to hold an earring. I knew I could substitute 18k ear nuts if needed, but I didn’t want to resort to that unless absolutely necessary.

Hmmm… a major stumbling block. Whenever I reach a major technical stumbling block, I call my friend and jeweler Janice Ho. She is amazing! Her education and work experiences are so thorough, and she can boil something down in such a way that I can understand it. She knew of a product called PureGold, which she had worked with, that is 24k with a tiny amount of titanium alloy to add structure… but it can still be hallmarked as pure 24k gold.

What a breakthrough! Needless to say, this is the product that I worked with. If you love gold, you have not experienced the warmth and beauty, and sheer heft, of the metal until you’ve seen it in its pure form. I cannot wait until I can afford to do all of my gold wire work with this product! In my mind, gold represents optimism, and the beauty of this product captured the light and delicate beauty I’m always striving to capture in my designs.


For all you jewelers out there, I will warn you, though. This product is fabulous, but the company and customer service are not. From what I can tell, this is a one-man operation. He deals in gold, but does not accept credit cards! I mean, come on!, I’ve accepted credit cards for 4 or 5 years now. He – John Bernardin – is very well-versed in the product and comfortable talking about it and its qualities. But he is not comfortable with the business side of things. He hadn’t realized that I had actually placed an order when I called because we didn’t have the formality of me giving payment over the phone. I kept wondering why my product hadn’t arrived. He also had numerous manufacturing issues, which he didn’t call me about. It all boiled down to… I placed an order in December and got my product in April. That is ridiculous! And, as you might know, gold prices had radically changed in that time period. This was a MAJOR flaw in PureGold’s ordering system. With all of my other suppliers the market price is captured at the time of order, which is also when I’m paying. This was not true with PureGold… the market price was at the time of SHIPPING, which meant the price I quoted for a custom piece 4 months earlier was way off compared to the actual market value of gold at that time.

I always strive to give good customer service. Sometimes I fail due to my travel schedule, but I always get back to a customer as soon as I can to explain the situation. This is an area I am working on for myself. Especially after this experience. It was so odd to receive a product that I was thrilled with but be so horrified by the service that I wasn’t sure how I felt in the end (especially since the service waylaid my product delivery by months). That’s why I waited to post this information – I wanted to cool off a bit and get back in touch with the excitement of the gold itself… which is beautiful. If you work with PureGold, and you should consider it if it sounds right for a project, be as clear as possible with your expectations and timeline so you don’t suffer from the same issues I had.

And, if you are looking for a special piece of contemporary heirloom-quality jewelry, contact me to discuss a design in pure 24k gold. You won’t be disappointed!

When I’m on a roll… more networking resources

One of the reasons that networking has been on my mind so much lately is because networking can be akin to business research, which I’m trying to do to get a clear vision for my revised business plan this year.

Today was a full day of driving, and I decided to pass the time by listening to an audiobook: “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. This book is so inspiring on many levels; from an entrepreneurial standpoint it teaches much about patience, persistence, and the power of networking. I swear I am not just being single-focused!

When I reached my hotel, I decided to spend a little time bouncing around the web, catching up on emails, and reading some of the magazines I brought with me. What should I find? In email I learned about the Wholesale Matters blog from the Buyer’s Market of American Craft (BMAC). It has already proved to be a great resource because it pointed me toward Cindy Edelstein with the Jeweler’s Resource Bureau… just the type of business connections I’ve been trying to unearth.

When the internet on my Mac got flaky, I turned to the June issue of The Crafts Report, a magazine that I have been subscribing to for several years. It’s a great resource for starting out in the craft world, and I always find a few of the articles in every issue useful to make my ongoing subscription worthwhile. What should I flip to? An article on page 64: “Networking: The Glue that Connects Artists to Success” by Michelle Sholund. It’s a good overview of building up your own professional networks, with one of the main ones being talking to fellow exhibitors at shows (note: do not let this get in the way of sales, though!).

I can attest to the usefulness of that first-hand. In February at the BMAC I met Loretta Lam, a wonderfully upbeat polymer clay artist. We had a lot to talk about because, like wire jewelry, polymer clay jewelry is building in attention and sophistication and already has some rock-star artists in that medium. We talked with each other about being emerging artists, finding our own voices in our work and finding our market share without creating controversy (or being accused of copying another artist’s work – aack! The biggest insult we’ve each faced). We really hit it off, traded cards, but haven’t found the time to re-connect with all the responsibilities of being an independent artist (I’m hoping to see her again in Philly this August).

Well, apparently she kept my card (just as I have kept hers) and passed my name on to Ronna Weltman… another great jewelry artist who combines polymer and wire in her designs. She’s also a contributing editor for Step by Step Wire Jewelry magazine; she interviewed me for an upcoming article about inspiration due out this summer. What lucky happenstance for me since upping my PR efforts has been taking a back-burner this year while I get a handle on studio business practices. And all thanks to the fortunate networking with Loretta! I’ll keep you posted when the article is out in print.

Making Friends on the Road

Last night was a rare treat to go out for dinner with fellow jeweler Judith Foster and her assistant/friend Nancy. Judith creates amazing inlaid jewelry pieces (check out the cuff bracelets!) that I cannot even begin to fathom how they are created.

Last year we had the luck of meeting for the first time at the Four Bridges Art Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That night at dinner we just clicked and yacked away the whole evening… well, last night was no different. We each hoped we weren’t boring the pants off Nancy, but we have so much to share with each other because we started doing art shows at about the same time but from radically different perspectives. Judith was down-sized from a large corporation, whereas I eased myself into this lifestyle. We each have marketing in our backgrounds, so we are like-minded in those efforts.

We talked about so many issues, including: selling our work wholesale, how to design a wholesale production line (Judith has had the opportunity to consult with Wendy Rosen -- I think through the Arts Business Institute or the Clasp conference -- and shared some of that information), how far to drive to a show, working with assistants, how to handle custom work, teaching opportunities and what to charge, as well as how to outsource studio tasks without bringing on staff (specifically accounting and bookkeeping).

By the end of the night we were pretty wound up and had to go our separate ways to get a good night’s sleep in preparation for the last day of Paradise City Northampton… it’s always a little crazy to get up early (to workout, get organized, etc.), have a full day of selling, pack up, and for some to start the drive home… me, I’m waiting for a pizza delivery as I type. Judith and I have called a truce on the idea that if we ever share a hotel room, no talking business or we’ll never get any sleep. It’s so much fun to click with someone and discuss different approaches to doing business in the art world, though. I was excited to learn from her experience and hear how she would do things differently if she were my age. Good things to ponder on my drive home tomorrow and discuss with my business counselor on Friday… I’m still working towards putting a business plan in place this year so am gathering as much information and ideas as possible.

Return to NoHo, Networking and A Dose of Mystery

After being home for just over a week, I’m back on the road again – heading towards Northampton, Massachusetts for the Paradise City Arts Festival. Northampton holds a special place in my heart because I attended Smith College for two years and met two of my dearest friends there (for any Smithies out there, here’s the code: 1990-92, Ziskind House). This will be my second year at this show – last year was memorable for me because one of my most dramatic pieces of jewelry (the Wire Boa) found a rightful owner, and I made gallery contacts… my work is now carried at the Smith College Museum of Art Gallery Shop as well as at Pinch on Main Street.

This goes to prove the point that I’ve discussed with many people this week, for opportunities to come knocking, you have to put yourself out there and be receptive to them. We’d all love to sit back in our living rooms and just get “discovered” one day, but I’m taking a pound-the-pavement approach by trying to meet as many people as possible, unearth opportunities, and keep myself open to opportunities that I’ve never even considered.

Along those lines, while I was hoping for a relaxing week at home, many networking opportunities arose that I just couldn’t turn down. I’ve already mentioned my class with Arline Fisch last Saturday and Sunday.  On Tuesday I joined my friend Alley Maranto at the Illinois Institute of Art Chicago (where she has joined the faculty of the new Accessories Program) to teach a class on designing a jewelry line (this morphed into lots of career and networking discussion as well). Wednesday night found the two of us meeting up again at the Mayor’s Fashion Council networking event… so many interesting contacts (and hopefully more to come from the business card exchange table). I had great discussions with Boris Powell, a fabulous emerging Chicago fashion designer (hopefully we will collaborate on a runway show some day!), as well as Jenny from Evlove Intimates (maybe we’ll join up for a bridal home show soon). Alley also laughed as I pushed my way to meet Jason from the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, but I’ve learned to not be too shy at these things. Combine those unusual opportunities with a half-day of accounting with my bookkeeper and a separate training session on understanding inventory control practices for my business, and today, as a full 12 hour day in the car, was almost a welcome relief from this go-go schedule… it gave me time to process everything I took in and start setting priorities.

Just to make sure you don’t think it was all work last week, there was fun stuff like cooking club one night and Mystery Night another. What’s Mystery Night? It’s a great idea I learned from my friend and fellow jeweler Sara Lenart… Dan and I take turns (roughly monthly) planning a fun night out to surprise the other. It’s a great way to break the routine after almost-13 years of marriage. This week was Dan’s pick – we went to see the play “Speech and Debate” at the American Theater Company, a great local theater that we were able to walk to. It was an interesting play about high school sexuality; I was particularly intrigued at the incorporation of video projection to capture texting and internet interactions.

After that full week, even just in re-cap, I’m ready to hit the hay. Which reminds me… random product placement. This week I got a new pillow (upon the suggestion of another friend and jeweler Joanna Gollberg)… it’s a curvy neck-supporting memory foam pillow. Awesome! I love it. It should really help with the jaw and neck tension issues I’ve been having, and it makes for a good travel pillow. In fact, I think I hear it calling :)

The Seemy Underbelly of the Craft World

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!

Making Time for Yourself: A Day Off

My travel schedule is already in full swing, which means a constant state of feeling behind and getting done only what needs to get done at the studio. It also means I'm not home much, so when Dan suggested taking Friday off together I knew that was exactly what I needed.

Why is a day off different from a weekend? For us weekends are still full of responsibility... groceries, laundry, and the like. Dan is also a screen printing studio monitor at Lillstreet Art Center on Saturday afternoons, so sometimes the weekends feel compressed even more. We also usually want to catch up with friends.

A day off is a secret. No one except your co-workers knows you are taking a day off. It's the perfect day to sleep in without guilt and let the day unfold before you. There are no set plans! That's certainly what we learned on Friday. Our initial thoughts involved dog beach, going to the movies, and biking, but we woke up on Friday (rather late) to a cold rainy day.

We made a nice breakfast and decided to still take Iris to the Montrose dog beach. We have two dogs, but Peeve has embraced old dog-hood. She has developed a fear of the car and much prefers to stay inside. So we left her on her dog bed with a rawhide to make her feel special, and off we went to the lake with Iris.

Iris is a dog who knows how to embrace the "now," our theme for the day. Despite being 13 years old, and despite the biting wind, she still decided that she must run along the waterfront. That's all she does at the beach. She runs laps barking at the waves until she is hoarse. All the other dogs thinks she's weird, which is fine by her because she's not very social. We think she's just trying to tell the lake what's what, but it never listens.

For those of us who were not covered in fur, the lake was a little chilly... we were ready to move on to another cup of coffee or at least a warm car. We corralled Iris and started driving, fully expecting to hit a Starbucks. But then Dan had a brainstorm... it's 11:45, why not go to Hot Doug's for lunch? Hot Doug's is the Chicago destination for encased meats, from a basic Chicago dog to a gourmet alligator sausage. We were hoping for not much line on a Friday; at that point it was only about 20 minutes (if you've never been there, be prepared to wait an hour or more!) to wait or so and we fit inside, our only criteria.

We both opted for crazy chicken sausage concoctions from the specials board. Dan's was the really crazy one with Thai peanut sauce and coconut involved. Mine was an apple rosemary combination with rosemary infused mustard and gouda cheese. We were satisfied but also vowed to only get a special from now on if we really want it, not just to experience it... the offerings on the regular board are really tasty and we should explore those more.

The rest of the day was simple enough. We wandered home and rented a video (Dan's pick: "The Mist." He should be really embarrassed that I'm mentioning that in public. Enough said.). We decided to pursue a cup of coffee after all, which took us on a walk to The Grind in Lincoln Square. While there we stopped into a couple of our favorite places: The Dressing Room, Fleet Feet Sports, and The Book Cellar before making our way home for the evening dog walk. The day felt pretty full to us, so we stayed in for the evening where we made a simple dinner and binge-watched two episodes of Battlestar Galactica (we are still catching up on DVD).

At the end of it all? I felt refreshed and resolved to delegate more of the business work that bogs me down in the studio.

The Ups and Downs of Doing Shows

Often I am asked "How many shows do you do a year?" This varies year to year, and since my business is still growing I've been increasing my shows each year (to a point). Last year I participated in about 24 shows. Eventually I want to cut back, but with an unpredictable economy I am booked for at least that many shows this year.

The important thing to know is that I enjoy doing shows. Sometimes the travel wears me down, but visiting with friends (as I am now... I'm currently in Massachusetts for CraftBoston, show #3 for the year), meeting new people who are excited to discover my work for the first time, and sharing new developments with familiar collectors keeps my energy up and fuels my motivation when I'm back in the studio.

The challenge of planning a show schedule is the uncertainty... I apply to many shows but never really know which shows I'll be in until the notification comes. My friend, printmaker Judy Zeddies, always tells me that one thing is for sure... you can't get in unless you apply.

So true, but sometimes I feel defeated by the rejections and decide I can't handle another one (you can't get rejected unless you apply). This year I opted to not apply to some prestigious shows like Port Clinton in Highland Park (IL), the American Craft Exposition in Evanston (IL), and the Smithsonian Craft Show (DC).

Conversely I still applied to Cherry Creek in Colorado (rejected), Art on the Square in Illinois (rejected), and Old Town Art Fair in Chicago (waitlisted). This week I found out I made it into the Old Town Art Fair for the first time! Woohoo! Yesterday that little burst of confidence made hitting the "Apply to show" button that much easier for the Philadelphia Museum Show... wish me luck!

Playing Catch-up

Sometimes Dan, my husband, will ask me: are you always working? I'm at the point with my jewelry career where the answer needs to be "yes" because I'm playing catch-up with the business side of jewelry. Last fall I took some great entrepreneurial classes at the Women's Business Development Center in downtown Chicago. Boy do I wish I had taken these classes before I left my graphic design career in 2005, but I didn't. My business counselor reassures me that everything is okay and it will all get done in due time. So now I have grandiose to-do lists and am working on everything from cash-flow projections to choosing new gem colors to use in my designs. At any given point my head is spinning!

When that gets to be too much, one of my favorite past-times is catching a movie. I love renting movies and watching TV shows on DVD as well, but actually going to the movies is still a treat. On Saturday Dan and I caught "Juno" on the big screen in a still-crowded theater. I've been hesitant to run out and see it after so many people have shared their opinions with me, and after seeing a run of seemingly-similar quirky independent comedies ("Super Bad" and "Knocked Up"). But I loved it! The character Juno really captured my heart, even with her snarky, at times smarmy, attitude. Somehow it was all endearing and hilarious to me. It was also interesting to watch a coming of age story that wasn't preachy or delivering a particular message.

Dan is actually on the fence about the movie, which is even better because then we have lots to talk about. Nothing is harder to discuss than "I loved it" and "me too,"  so it's making the time between grocery shopping, doing laundry, and prepping for our Cooking Club's Moroccan night more enjoyable... and it was the perfect distraction from work, even though my to-do list still has plenty for me to tackle.

Booth Design in Philadelphia

One thing I forgot to mention in my Meltdown post this morning is that one of my procrastination projects was redesigning my booth for Philadelphia. Well, not so much redesigning as tweaking... last year I rented a teal carpet and utilized the silver drapes provided by the show mangers. This year I wanted to come in with my own flooring and my own drapes to create an eye-catching presence overall.

My husband Dan keeps asking me how such a project can be considered procrastination? Well, it took me a while to decide on fabric color (I chose cinnabar to look like my logo color), and then I got excited about buying fabric on ebay because it was relatively inexpensive, and then I realized the hidden cost of ironing (most of the fabrics in the right color were cotton... who wants a wrinkly booth?) so opted for a beautifully textured upholstery fabric from Jo-Ann Fabrics, which luckily went on sale for 50% off... but then I had to wait for the special order to come through. Needless to say, it came in on Saturday, which left 2 days to cut, sew, grommet, and fire proof the whole thing (and did I mention that I needed to repair my sewing machine?). This task could not have been completed without Dan, and in the end I'm very happy with the results. Of course now I want to design a small display table, and possibly add a hanging light... my next big show is in April, which means means the week before I'll be running around trying to make all that happen.

Here's how my booth looked in Philadelphia:

Any feedback you have is appreciated... booth design is always a work in progress. There are some amazing booths at this show. To protect the artists and their designs, photography isn't allowed except by permission. I didn't want to push my luck with anyone, but as promised, here's my friend Olive's booth. We shared a room together in Philly and got to know each other better. Her jewelry is so much fun and made of interesting found objects... her booth is one of my favorites because it captures that same essence of the jewelry itself.

When I last mentioned Olive, her website was not yet launched... but check it out now... visit O-liveland and enjoy exploring.