Taming the Tangle

Planting seeds

Last night Olive and I did a recap of our 6 hour gallery show at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. The event was very well attended, and people were making purchases yet not high-end ones. Sometimes it's hard at the end of a show where you are looking at sales totals and are not happy with what you see. Yet we are both willing to consider doing this show again. Why? Because we both want our work to be a part of museums, galleries, and museum shops. It felt like we were in the right place, venue, and with the right type of contemporary-art-loving audience. Also the day felt like a day of planting seeds... business cards handed out, store inquiries, fellow artist contacts. Hopefully the show has legs because ultimately we do have to look at the bottom line. As an eternal optimist, I think it will be great in the long run and hopefully over this holiday season for the immediate gratification.

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Walker Art Center jewelry show today 11-5

I'm all set up in Minneapolis... come on by!

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Teaching workshops

Had some great discussions in class at the Peninsula School of Art yesterday about what it means to learn a new technique but incorporate it into your own designs. This can be a tough thing to convey to students since in class they are following your example, but my students seem a little extra sophisticated since they are the ones who wanted to understand this topic. We all also had the reality check that there's not much new under the sun, but ethically you want to be true to yourself. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

They like me! They really like me!

Hooray! I won a Merit Award at Birmingham's Magic City Art Connection, always an honor... but especially when the awards aren't given out by category. -- Sent from my T-Mobile Sidekick®

View from a booth

Today is day 1 of the 3-day Magic City Art Connection show in Birmingham, AL. This is my third time doing this show, but only my first time on the fountain plaza. I couldn't ask for a better view... or better weather. The sun is shining, there's shade from the trees and some mist coming off the fountain. Come on out & enjoy it with me! -- Sent from my T-Mobile Sidekick®

Mary Lou Zeek trunk show

The doors are open, the jewelry is on display & the wine is flowing. It's so much fun to see my work nestled amongst wonderful works of art and some of my favorite ceramic artists. My work is complemented by beautiful spring blooms from Mary Lou's very own garden. Come on by and join us! -- Sent from my T-Mobile Sidekick®

Pre-show prep

Yesterday I flew into Portland, Oregon and made my way to Salem where I will have a trunk show tonight at Mary Lou Zeek Gallery. Mary Lou and her family have opened up their home to me as well, a luscious oasis of art, craft, collectibles, family photos, and cozy comforts. I packed my jewelry into one of my suitcases but decided to not finish a Wire Boa for fear of it getting crushed... a good call considering my bags really took a beating. So I'm putting the finishing touches on this piece so it will be ready for the show tonight... it feels a little like cramming. I love how it looks like some spiny skeleton as it takes shape with the wrapping. If you're in Salem, stop by the gallery tonight from 5-7 for a glass of wine... I'd love to see you! My work will be available all week as well. -- Sent from my T-Mobile Sidekick®

Getting my toes wet

Today I made it back to the studio after driving home from Texas for two long days, the Bayou City Memorial Park Art Festival officially kicked off my 2009 art fair season, even though I already have 3 other shows under my belt (those were wholesale, though, a whole different beast).

This year I'm cutting back on my show schedule to get a handle on cash flow. It was good to be out and about with loving customers again -- I do enjoy retail shows for their energy and direct connection with customers and artists. The first show of the season helps to settle the butterflies (will people still like my jewelry and want to buy it?) and generally just get the feet wet again as I get back into the swing of setting up, restocking merchandise, helping individual customers to try on pieces, build up the stamina for standing all day. There are always a few "mistakes"... not dressing warmly enough (yes, even in Texas!), forgetting extra chains, and parking my car in a ditch that turned into a mud pit during the downpour that was setup (so, yes, I did literally get my feet wet).

Thank you to everyone who came out! On my drive home I stopped by the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft to discuss getting more inventory to them. I also swung through Austin to chat with Joe who owns Originals and carries some of my work, and I met up with Jodi Rae Brownstein for some coffee-lovin' fun outside of our home town of Chicago (where we rarely get to see each other because work seems to get in the way a lot!) and while there I also picked up a canopy for Olive who found a great deal on Craig's List... which also means she'll be joining the outdoor art fair ranks this year!

Where will you find me next? Next week I'll be touring the Pacific Northwest and will have a trunk show at Mary Lou Zeek Gallery in Salem, Oregon on Thursday, April 9. My next art fair is Magic City in Birmingham, Alabama during the last weekend of April. Hope to catch up with you soon!

New inventory abounds

The last 2 weeks have been filled with trips to the post office and UPS as orders from my wholesale shows find their way to their new homes. It's always fun for me to imagine my jewelry in all these different locales. Some, like museum shops, I've become used to the idea that my work sells and displays well in those environs. Others I'm going to have to try to venture to visit them  on my travels to truly grasp the personality of the place. I love seeing galleries in person. Here's a little rundown of some recent activity:

Mowen Solinsky Gallery, Nevada City, California
Last month I traveled to this wonderful, outdoorsy artist enclave nestled in the Northern California mountains. While there I took new inventory to the gallery and experienced it first hand... and was lucky enough that there was even an opening during my visit! So I had the opportunity to meet other artists and people from the community as well as got to know everyone who works in the gallery and talk about my work more with them. This type of personal connection always helps to boost sales as well... consumers don't just want a piece of jewelry, they want a part of the artist and that storied life as well. This connection has to come through the gallery representatives since I'm not there most of the time.

I felt fairly familiar with Mowen Solinsky since they represent me at SOFA Chicago; I was familiar with many of the artists from that show. But the gallery is huge with much more variety. It was fun walking through and recognizing many artists' work I know (including Greg & Heather who make raku vessels in my old Cornelia studio building), discovering new work that I fell in love with, and just feeling like I could spend hours taking it all in and still not feeling like I'd seen everything. The gallery is doing a beautiful job of bridging the gap between fine art and craft. These are all things that I had to pick up on in person... now that I have more a sense of the vibe of the gallery and the community, I might be able to make better suggestions for jewelry that works in that environment/story and appeals to a certain type of clientelle.

Caldwell's, Seattle, WA
Ben, Anita and I met at the New York International Gift Fair. They have just recently received my inventory. I was spreading the word to a Seattle friend and did some poking around online... check out these links:

http://www.nuovo.com/caldwells/

http://www.10best.com/Seattle,WA/Shopping/Specialty_Shops/26282/Caldwell|s_Seattle_WA/

 I am so curious to see my work in this environment. My work definitely looks like it has tribal influences, but I've never seen it in an environment that plays to this angle. I haven't seen the store myself yet, but I'm hoping to pop in for a visit next month (on April 9 I'll be having a trunk show at Mary Lou Zeek gallery in Salem, Oregon so am planning to tour around that whole region for a week).

Fallingwater Museum Shop, Mill Run, PA
How have I never been here? I have even dreamed about this place... the website is as beautiful as the building looks. A collection of my nests and more nature-inspired pieces are now in the gift shop, which I imagine is probably slightly different from a lot of high-design museum gift shops. I'll have to plan my travels to pass through here... maybe this summer.

Gardiner Museum Shop, Toronto, Canada

The Gardiner just received a fresh bit of inventory for spring... which is great since they just were voted one of the top 5 galleries in Toronto!

Relish, Bloomington, IN
This looks like the type of store where I could spend all my money... it's a little more "lifestyle" than any one type of store. I haven't been there in person, but it's not too far... I'll have to try to visit on one of my trips East. My jewelry just arrived so should be out on display!

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There are even more to mention, but that seems like a screenful for now! Let me know if you stumble across my work here or in any other stores... or if you think a store is perfect for my work. Thanks for your support.

Good luck charms

This year at BMAC I am sharing a hotel room with 3 other artists to cut costs. We all traveled from Chicago... Eva May is here, and Barb & Jean from Weener Ware. Jean made us all good luck charms... we each are carrying a sparkly wolf to keep us strong. We feel like a little pack, and now we howl before heading to the show. Gotta have a little fun, right? -- Sent from my T-Mobile Sidekick®