Judy's Brain Bits

This charming little phrase came out of a conversation with my husband this weekend. I was telling him that I couldn' t possibly cram one more thing onto my to-do list, or activities. I was full, beyond full, with commitments. If he tried, my head would explode, and he would have little bits of grey matter scattered, all over the place to clean up.

To which he replied, "Judy's Brain Bits". Over much laughter, we decided it would make a great name for a rock band!

So, what is on that list threatening the integrity of my cranium?

Preparing for ACRE is near the top. I have been trying to design the "invisible booth". A booth that seems to magically disappoear...fading back so all that is apparent is the work. Instead of trying to Wow! anyone with my booth design prowess, in an obvious way, at least, I am trying to Wow! them with my work. So I have been planning displays, determining what to rent, what I need to buy, and how to ship things. I have been figuring out which pictures I want to use for oversized images. I thinnk I have settled on the ones below.

I have been working on that mailing list, and deciding on a special offer to put on the postcard. That has to go out by the end of the week.

I need to come up with a "starter set". A way for someone to easily order a starter collection of jewelry to carry in their shop or gallery.

I have decided I will be putting together a video of how to fold a crane from polymer clay, that I will put on YouTube. My reason? To solicit donations for The Crane Project. More to come on the video later. The project is plugging along, slower than I would like right at the moment, with a few setbacks, but when I have a few hours, I am in the studio, cranking out cranes. I have about 200 cranes produced, but I have also applied for one grant, and have another grant application that has to be submitted in the next few weeks. The last one is with the Artist Valentine grant program I had written about earlier.

The other grant was with a group called Creative Capital Foundation. They have a great approach that focuses on developing artists in ways that will make their investment more meaningful in the long run. They also ask the artists to donate back to the organization a portion of any income generated by the project they fund. Paying back, so that others can benefit in the future. I will find out in June if I proceed to the next phase for that grant application process.

I have been playing around with a few other design ideas, one can be seen above in the green shibori necklace, in the second row, on the left. I am calling it Shibori Fringe.

Several orders have had to go out, and I am behind on one.

I had a wonderful opportunity to go up to New Hampshire for an evening meeting of the New Hampshire Polymer Clay Guild one night last week. I have gotten to know quite a few members through regional retreats, or through visits to the League of New Hampshire Craftsman's Guild fair at Mt. Sunapee, each summer. So, it is always nice to revisit and reacquaint, as well as to meet a few new faces. The reason for my visit was a roundtable discussion about the business of craft. Kathleen Dustin was also a part of the meeting, so it was wonderful to hear some of her insights into the market, pricing, and her approach to selling her work.

The things that remain on that list, untouched...

Making sure I have all the samples I need for the show.

Finalizing my price list, and getting it printed.

Figuring out how I will ship my materials to Las Vegas for the show.

Putting together an up to date press kit for the show.

Application for a display space nearby for next year....perhaps for the cranes.

I am sure there are many other things I have neglected, but they will pop up and make an appearance in that challenged grey matter if they are essential. And sometimes I forget a few things I intended to do, but the world never ends, does it? Perhaps those things were meant to fall of the list.

History Lesson

At the recent Synergy Conference, during one of the panel discussions, Elise Winters commented that it would be wonderful if people could see the drawer full of "stuff" that precedes a more fully developed design. Her message was that work does not emerge fully developed. It takes time, trial, error, and a whole lotta ugly sometimes, before a concept reaches a point of "wow".

When I was preparing for my presentation at the conference, I had about 80 artists respond to a survey I put together. One of the comments that stayed with me was about a wish to have kept better records of the development of their work over time. Photos, etc.

Perhaps this is why I felt compelled to spend several hours yesterday, making my own little archive. And as I approach five years of polymer clay addiction, it is probably timely. That, and the fact that I finally had gotten around to setting up a Flickr account.

I highly recommend the journey. While much of the older work is truly cringe worthy, it is also intriguing to me to see patterns emerge. By collecting a selection of images from the hundreds and hundreds on my computer I can see a story. Watching how an idea starts in a rough form, and gradually develops with time. This collection shows some of the development behind my jewelry designs.

When you look at the series of crane pictures, it demonstrate what happens when you do something over and over again. You get better at it. The same can be seen with the vessels.

The earliest work is all over the place. Yet, there are certain things that appealed to me then, and appeal to me still. Who I was as an artist exists within some of that early work. I just couldn't see where I wanted to go with it yet.

In a way it is like any scrapbook of photos. When we look at old pictures of ourselves we cringe at the hairstyles and the fashion. But we also marvel at our youth. Perhaps we looked better than we thought we did at the time. Likewise, I cringed at designs, at finishing, at the photos themselves. But, I also see things there that I still connect with. Or some element that I want to go back and revisit again sometime in the future. Possibilities to still be explored.

I hope, in addition to providing you with a few good laughs, you will also see some of the process of how work emerges and develops. And I hope that you will make your own little archive of your history as an artist. What Elise is doing with her Polymer Art Archives looks at the overall history of the media. Our personal history is full of information as well. Take some time, and look the virtual scrapbook of your work. What patterns emerge? Where have you grown? Is there anything there that you want to revisit and go deeper into?

Using Your Camera as a Design Tool

When I am working on laying out a new piece, particular if it is large, involved, or a new design, I find that it is a process of simmering, tasting and adjusting. I start out with a general idea, and begin to layout the components for the design. I will get to a certain point and feel like it has to sit with me for awhile. I don't feel certain enough about where I am going to move ahead without some time and space. Time for things to simmer. Some things end up sitting for months! Never getting to a point where I feel like I have a clear direction to resolve whatever it is that feels unresolved for me.

Sometimes I will ask the opinions of my husband or kids, but that rarely helps me work out those ones that just feel "off". I think it may be they don't always have a vocabulary to express why they like or don't like something. It is usually a yes or no, or they respond to an area that I feel more certainty about already.

Recently, I have begun to use my camera to evaluate a piece. I have found that I see things in a photo that are not as apparent to me when I am working with a piece on the table.

While these two photos show essentially the same necklace, there is a difference in how the pods are aligned on each one. The piece on the far left was my first attempt. I wasn't really satisfied with it, but I couldn't tell you why. But after I took a picture, I found I was not happy with how the beads that are on the inner part of each pod seemed to create a line, that to my eye, detracted from the pod forms. When I have arranged them this way, and they were all the same color, it has worked better, but here, I was not satisfied with the outcome. After playing around with the piece, and realigning the pod components, I found it was closer to my inspiration, ....the ocean. It had more of the feel and energy of waves and tumbling water....at least to my eyes! Design is subjective. What appeals to me, may be less appealing to someone else. But in this case, I knew I was less satisfied with the first arrangement than with the second. But it wasn't until I took a picture that I could clearly see what it was that was bothering me with the first attempt.

Similarly, I was planning on creating a collar style necklace with the shibori beads. I began to select colors and beads, and lay them out on my table. The top picture is the first iteration.

I took a picture, and then rearranged the beads so that the ones that were towards the back came to the front, and the ones in the center front went back. After looking at the pictures, I decided I didn't like either one. In the second arrangement, I found that the beads in the center were too drab and flat, especially for the position. But the two areas of light yellow beads about collarbone level in the first arrangement bothered me as well. The created a sense of discontinuity for me. My eye would be drawn there, and get stuck.

Plan B...or perhaps C? I got rid of the drab beads, and added more of the lighter colored beads. Both lines of beads were going from light to dark now, but the end point has less contrast in value and color. I abandoned the idea of a collar style necklace, and decided to create a kinetic shibori bead necklaces, that would be more wearable.

It is now a long strand, about 36" total length, but joined together so that the wearer can decide which color will lay where. Perhaps the lighter colors towards the front in the warmer months, and darker in the cooler months. Or in between for those hard to decide days! The beads have a small blue lace agate bead as a spacer.

Press Kit; Where to Begin?

I have talked about having a press kit in the past, and how helpful they can be to getting publicity for your work and your business. But, I have not gone into detail about how to put one together. There more than one way to approach this, so feel free to apply your creative genius to the concept. I find by the time I get around to putting one together, I have do not have the creative time or energy to go beyond the basics. But don't let that hold you back!

The first step is to gather together copies of any publicity your work has received. This could be articles or announcements in your local paper, or features in national magazines. They all qualify. Sometimes a publication will provide you with a .pdf of an article, which is helpful for reprinting, or they may offer you additional copies of a magazine for a reduced cost.

If you do not yet have any articles about you or your work, don't worry. Your press kit will help that happen eventually, and we all start at zero. But, if you do, it shows that others have deemed what you are doing "newsworthy". When an editor sees that you have numerous articles, it can be a cue to look further.

Head off to Kinko's, Staples, or your nearest copy center, and make copies of the articles, or at least the first page of the articles. For some magazine articles, I have copied a two page spread onto a single page. Smaller articles might be able to be combined onto a single page.

If you happen to be at an office supply store, look around and see what you can find to hold your material for your press kit. You can get jazzy and have custom printed folders. Or you can use a standard, two pocket folder, and perhaps attach a postcard to the front for image. Get several, because you will be sending out more than one.

I put my press clippings, and press releases (future post), into the right hand pocket. I arrange them in chronological order, with the most recent in the front.

In the other pocket I add visuals. Postcard(s). A CD with several high resolution images. The CD should be packaged in such a way that it will not be easily damaged in handling.

Next, I include tear sheets or sell sheets. A sell sheet or tear sheet is a one page flyer that shows images of your work. I have one sheet per collection, or line. It is not necessary to have every style and every colorway of your work shown on the sell sheet. It is a way for someone to get a quick overview of your work. They can be used to announce a new line of work.

The sell sheet should have your logo, and it should have contact information. You can have dimensions of your work under each image. It is primarily focused on visual information. A collection of sell sheets with a separate price sheet can serve as a catalog for prospective wholesale accounts. By the way, I do not include a price sheet in with my press kit. But, you might include the wholesale and/or retail price range somewhere in your kit.

Next, you want to include your Artist Bio and Artist Statement. Recognize that you are not writing a bio or statement that you must live with for the rest of your career. We grow and evolve as artists, business people and human beings, and our Bio and Statement should change over time with us. I can't begin to tell you how many times I have re-written mine.

If you are not comfortable with writing it yourself, get some help. Find a friend who is a good writer, or hire someone. Look on Craig's List or DoMyStuff.com. Nothing is impossible.

I put those in behind the sell sheets on the left hand side.

Finally, I insert a business card into the space that is usually found on the left hand pocket. That is it. Nothing too extreme or too difficult. Yes, it takes time. But think of publicity as advertising you could not afford. On that basis, it is time well spent.

In a future post, I will write about press releases, and about where to send your press kit and/or press releases. But this should keep you busy in the meantime.

From "Ho-hum" to "Wow!"

I have been preaching about the importance of having the best possible images of your work. It is absolutely essential to market your work effectively. While professional photography is great for the pictures you want to submit for shows or competitions, it is also very expensive. I take most of my own photos. I invested in a tabletop studio several years ago, and it was one of the best investments in my business I could have made. I have raved about it in the past, and I will continue to rave about it to anyone who asks. It has dramatically improved the quality of the pictures I am taking.

This photo was about the best I could do using a plastic bin on it's side, with some halogen lights, and a grey paper backdrop. I think I was using a 1 Megapixel camera at the time, as well. It was okay, but very flat. It could easily put you to sleep.

After I improved the quality of my camera, (6 Megapixels, not great by today's standards), and got a tabletop studio set-up, without any tweaking on the computer, the images were better. This necklace was taken with my Fujifilm camera in my photo cube, with a grey gradient backdrop. No tweaking. This is how it comes off the camera. Much better than before.

But it could be better. I have been using Photoshop Elements to adjust my images for the last few years. It is the basic program, relatively inexpensive, and does most of what I need. You can see what it can do to both of these images, below.

This is doing some very basic things....color correction, cleaning up the dust, adjusting for contrast and brightness, and making a slight adjustment with Unsharp Mask, to remove the flatness that you can get with digital images. All this takes me no more than a few minutes per image now....unless there was a lot of dust on the backdrop! And it is a big improvement.

But, I have been running up against some of the limitations of Photoshop Elements for the last year or so. I have needed a CMYK image a few times, or a RAW file and you can't get that with Elements. And most of the adjustments are "auto", meaning the program is doing the thinking for you. Sometimes it is good, and sometimes it is not.

Recently I ran across this information on using Curves in Photoshop to make adjustments to the image. There were a few other functions that Elements did not have, that I thought would help my images get just a bit stronger. Yesterday, I took a deep breath, and bought Photoshop. It is not inexpensive, but,...Wow! Look at the same images again, this time edited in Photoshop CS.

The necklace seems to pop off the page, and the bracelet is almost passable. It still is not a very strong picture, but it at least is more interesting visually than the one at the top of the page.

I am not in the league with the professional photographers I mentioned in a recent post, but I am doing better than I was last year, and better still than the year before. And that is what it is about. Doing a bit better. Taking those baby steps.

I do not spend this money easily or without a lot of angst. I have been thinking about making this move for over a year. When I can get these kinds of results for the money I spent....and the time learning about curves!...then it is money and time well spent. I am still learning the ins and outs of Photoshop, and will never claim to be an expert, but with each image, it gets a bit easier and faster.

Here are a few more pics.

Before and after.

View from the Other Side

I recently was the administrative person for a competition to select three artists to occupy the booth at the ACRE (American Craft Retailer's Expo) wholesale show, in Las Vegas. This was a competition that was sponsored by the National Polymer Clay Guild. The idea was to allow three artists to share a booth at the show and sell their work. The outcome would be increased exposure of high caliber polymer clay work to buyers, and the opportunity for the selected artists to kick off or grow their wholesale business.

I have entered quite a few shows and competitions over the years. And I been accepted, rejected, and wait listed along the way. After a class with Bruce Baker on jurying into shows, my acceptance rate went up, but rejection is still a frequent companion. I applied to three shows for the spring, and I was rejected by three shows. Granted, most of these shows were a stretch. But even so, there are things I can do to improve the likelihood that the outcome will be different next time.

Being on the other side of the process this time was enlightening. I got a better idea of what worked and what didn't. I saw the challenges some artists faced with the application process. I saw how daunting a task it is for the jurors to go through the process of evaluating the work.


So, what specifically did I learn that can help me do better in my own submissions?


1. Photography matters. Great photos made a difference. Photos that are big enough to meet the entry requirements. Photos that show off the work to best advantage. Photos that come alive. Sometimes a digital photo can have a very flat appearance. A good photo does not have this problem. With few exceptions, there was a direct relationship between the quality of the photos and the final position in the scoring. Great photos can help good work look great. Mediocre photos can detract from great work. If you want to see the gold standard in craft photography, visit the websites of some of the best craft photographers. Robert Diamante, Hap Sakwa, George Post, are just a few. See what you may be up against. Paying for top notch photos may be a worthwhile investment in your business, depending upon the shows and competitions you are entering.


2. Consistency matters. One of the biggest problems I saw in the work submitted was when an artist would submit three pictures that were of a similar style, and two pictures that did not relate to the first three. Jurors were looking for a story, a point of view, a voice. Inevitably, at least one juror would mark the artist down because of this.

This was a problem I used to have when I would submit work to a show. I figured showing range was important. My thinking was that if I had enough range, something would connect with the jurors, and that would get me in. In my case, it was a reflection of insecurity. In this competition it seemed to nearly guarantee a reduction in score.

Another reason artist's give for doing this is that they want to have work from two or more lines in the show, so they think they should show both, otherwise they can't bring one. This is a partial myth. If you have two, three, or more lines of jewelry, pick one, your strongest of course, and show that. You can still bring the other jewelry to the show.

If, on the other hand, you have work in two categories...jewelry and mixed media, for example, this is a different story. The cardinal sin is to jury into the non-jewelry category, and then bring jewelry. The competition for a jewelry spot is just too great. If you want to bring both, submit two sets of slides, one in each category. If you try to present both in the same set of slides you are doing yourself a disservice.

3. You need to be strong across the board. You need strong design, good use of color, and good finishing. Jurors are looking at all of these issues. Weakness in any one area may take you out of the running.


4. Jurors come with a point of view. We all have an aesthetic sensibility. Some have an educated sense of design, and for others it is based on experience and an intuitive sense. If we appreciate craft, we have certain things we respond to, and other things we don't. Something like color palette may subconsciously affect a juror's response. Or, a person's work may remind them of another artist's work...even though there may be no real connection.


In multiple cases, two jurors would give raves to an artist's work, and the third would pan it. And it was not because one juror was tougher than the rest. Each juror had certain work that did not connect with them for whatever reason, which the other juror's loved. Or, two jurors were not inspired by work that another juror would rave about.


This is something that is out of our control. We are not selecting the jury pool for the shows and competitions we enter. But, we can try to determine the shows and competitions where our work will be most appreciated.


5. Artists tend to procrastinate. Entries tricked in very slowly until the last few days. I understand this. We are often juggling many things, and putting together a show submission is easy to put off. But recognize that procrastinating about entering shows can come at a price. Technical glitches, on either end, may prevent your entry as the deadline looms. Give yourself enough time to figure out how images need to be submitted, formatted, etc. well before the deadline. It will give you time to think about the best images to present, the order, etc. If you have an hour to deadline and you still haven't been able to figure out how to format the images, you are creating needless stress in your life. If you need help with procrastination in your life, Christine Kane had a recent post on how to overcome this problem. Maybe you can pick up a few ideas of how to slay the procrastination beast.

6. Just trying counts for a lot. Making the decision, and following through, is taking yourself seriously. It is believing in your work and your abilities enough to take the chance. Some may say, "Oh, I never really thought I would get in anyway." But, even so, they applied. Some little voice said, "You should do this. You can do this." And they followed through. It takes courage to do that. It means you are saying you want something, and that you are willing to risk being denied the thing that you want. That is not easy. But it is necessary to move from where you are today to where you want to be. You will inevitably make mistakes. We all do. But, you don't have to own the mistakes. You can give yourself a gentle kick in the butt, and say "Boy, I won't make that mistake again." And the next submission will be stronger, and you will perhaps get what you are asking for that time.

Don't be afraid to ask. Don't hold yourself back from what you want to achieve. There are more than enough obstacles in life without building our own roadblocks. You may not get what you are reaching for, but, with the right attitude and spirit, you can end up richer and stronger in so many ways. You may learn something about yourself, and your dreams, that you would not have otherwise known.


I applaud the artist who entered but did not make it into the show. My heart is with you. There was more talent than there were spaces. This is often the case. That is why we need to work to improve every aspect of our entries. Putting our best forward every time, and each time, trying to make it just a bit better.

Head Down, Butt in the Studio

If I have been absent from blogging lately it is because I have had my head down, and my butt in the chair the last two weeks. The Lyndhurst show is this weekend, and I have made some modifications to the pod designs I have been working on all summer. I was happy with the designs, but not so happy with the Ultralight clay I was using. There were several things about it that were bothering me, and I decided to rethink using it for these designs.

I am happier with how these new pieces are coming out. I am playing with mica shift, and enjoying the subtle pattern I can get on the surfaces with that. And I am playing with color.

It has been a big push to get enough work together for this show. But I wanted to have enough work to gauge response to these new pieces. And the more I did, the more excited I was about where things were going. I could use another week or two to be as prepared as I would like, but I don't have it. And I always feel like I could use more time as I head for a show. But I have learned to accept that as the norm. I will not be in the studio much today. I need to get pictures taken, and start organizing and preparing to load up the car.

If you are able to get to the Lyndhurst show this weekend I highly recommend it. It looks like the weather will be agreeable, and there will be lots of beautiful work to see,....and buy! Among the polymer clay artists who will be there are Loretta Lam, Louise Fischer Cozzie, and Karin Noyes. And of course there are many, many other very talented artists in a wide range of media. If you stop by, make sure to say, "hi!"

Dressed for the Show

August and September are chock full of deadlines for spring shows. I don't know if it is a lack of confidence on my part, or the fact that my work continues to evolve, but I seem to change my images I submit each season. All this change has helped me refine the process quite a bit. So I thought I would share a few things I have learned along the way.

The process of choosing the right slides is a bit like putting together an outfit. Trust me. It'll make sense as we go along.

1. Jurors are not impressed by range. Just like you wouldn't throw on a grab bag mix of clothing to show the range of styles in your closet, the jury does not want to see all the many paths you are exploring. A submission of a vessel, two pieces of jewelry in very different styles, a 2D piece, and a sculpture is not going anywhere. It is an easy no for the jury panel. It says, "I haven't figured out what I want to work on yet."

This was one of my early sins. I thought range was good. In the decathalon it is, but when it comes to a jury making choices of who is in and who is out, this is a guaranteed out. If you have to play around in many sandboxes, find a way to segregate the work. You can submit a set of images for jewelry, and another for mixed media perhaps. One line might be wholesale, and another for retail. Make it clear that you know they are different bodies of work. Dress for the occasion. Pick the right work for the category.

2. If the picture is not in focus, big enough, or has some other technical problem, don't use it. You will be judged quickly. And they are looking to say no in many cases. There are many, many submissions in the best shows for a very limited number of spaces. Would you go to a job interview in a suit that didn't fit, or was twenty years out of style? Probably not. Don't let bad photos be the reason you are eliminated.

3. Photoshop will not compensate for bad design, poor execution, etc., etc. The dangers of software to enhance your photos is that we can be deluded into thinking that the tweaking is going to compensate for any other issues we may have with a piece. Sorry, it won't. Instead of spending hours fussing over a picture to make it perfect, spend the time in the studio making your work more finished and refined. Just like the strategically placed pin or scarf will not eliminate the stain, tweaking the photo too much won't change the quality of your work. And what are you going to show when you get into the show? Minor adjustments to the photo is fine. Overhauls are not.

4. Your pictures need to complement one another. You need to go for the "Aaahhh..." This was my struggle today. I wanted to use this picture in my submission. But the other images I was planning to use, were in shades of blue, aqua, green and gold. This necklace stuck out like a sore thumb. I like the piece. But it was distracting. Jarring. Taking it out, and substituting another picture gave my submission a more unified look.

There were some compromises in my final selection, but it was done for the "good of the whole". You need to look at the images you select together, and get a sense of them as a composition. If anything is pulling your attention away from the rest of the work, ask yourself why. This is like the check in the mirror before you head out the door. You are the art editor, reviewing your selections. Looking for color, style, and flow. Bruce Baker is a genius at this, and can explain it more clearly than anyone I know. If you can take one of his classes on slide jurying, go for it. This is that critical.

5. Jurors don't want to see your run of the mill, bread and butter work. They want to see your best. So, you go to a show, and what do you sell. Lots and lots of earrings if you do jewelry. Some pendants. And maybe, if it is a good show, a few "wow", knock your socks off pieces. So do you submit pictures of what you plan to sell the most of, or do you submit pictures of the work that draws people into your booth? You may spend most days in jeans and a t-shirt working in your studio. But when you go on a job interview you dress to make an impression. The images are your job interview. They are your resume. They are doing all the talking for you. So you better pull out all the stops. That was why I wanted to use the necklace in black and white and grey. It was a dramatic piece. But I couldn't make it work with the rest of the images this time. And I did not have enough other images available that would work well with it.

At a fashion show, the designs on the runway get toned down for the consumer market. But the fashion designer builds his or her reputation on what goes down that runway. You are more likely to get into the show by showing your best work.

This was a quick overview of some very important decisions. But I hope some of these ideas will help you as you choose which images to present, and how.

Leaving on a Jet Plane....

"My bags are packed. I'm ready to go...." Well, almost! I'm going computer free for the next week. No email. No blogging. Just play!

During the late 1980's and the early 90's, I traveled a fair amount. I had the drill down. Back then, garment bags were de rigeur for the frequent flyer. No need to check your bag. That was for amateurs. Just stuff it in the overhead bin. Well, we all know things have changed in the world of air travel. Now, everyone has one of those rolling black bags. I got one for myself when I headed for Las Vegas for the ACRE show this spring. Not the size that can be brought on board.

As I waited in Baggage Claim for my bag, I watched one black suitcase after another come down onto the carousel. Trying to figure out which bag was mine was a challenge. Ending up with the wrong black bag seemed to be a higher probability than I was comfortable with. Plus, somehow, that black back just seem to be more corporate than I felt now.

So, I did what we are always taught not to do when we are children. I painted my suitcase....or a part of it anyway. Now, when that suitcase comes sliding down onto the carousel, I will know who it belongs to.

My kids are learning to break rules around here. Painting my suitcase. Drawing on shirts. What kind of a parent am I?? I hope one that teaches them there are choices in life, and it is okay to go your own way if that is where your heart is leading you.

Have a great week!

Detours

I was heading out to the post office this afternoon, to mail a stack of postcards before my next show. I will be doing the Lyndhurst Show in Tarrytown, NY mid September, and I am a little late in getting these out...but better late than never, right?

On my way to the car, I was noticing all the butterflies in our yard. We have an enormous butterfly bush that is in bloom right now, and there are all sorts of butterflies flying around our yard. It is so cool! I decided to take a detour and take a closer look. After a minute or two of watching, I went and got my camera.

Can you see why I had to take a detour in my day, and just stop and watch for a while? What you can't see is the myriad butterflies, flying all over the bush, and over my head. And all the bees, weighing down blooms as they gather nectar. I had been meaning to take pictures of the hydrangea for some time, but....and the coneflowers are in bloom, so I got a picture of them as well.

There was even a hummingbird on the bush.....(tree???), but I couldn't get a picture of it. It moved too fast, and was too far away for the range of my camera. I am not sure what this bug in the picture at left is. It looked like a very small hummingbird, the way it flitted from bloom to bloom, and the way it's wings were going. But, it was much smaller than a hummingbird. I got a few pictures, and it was clear that it was an insect, not a hummingbird......But not one I had seen before. It has this very long probiscus....I think that is what they call it....the long, skinny thing it sticks into the flower to collect nectar.

Take the detour. When you are being pulled to take a few minutes to stop and notice and observe, do it! The rewards were so worth those few extra minutes in the driveway, watching nature do it's thing. I will carry those few minutes with me long beyond this day. And now I have some pictures to share as well.

Saturday Smiles

This is from a portfolio called Dreams of Flying by Jan Von Hollenben. I just love the idea. Click on the picture to see the rest of the portfolio.

The Reveal

I teased yesterday. Today, I reveal.

I am calling these "Ultra Pods" for their resemblence to seed pods, and the material they are made up (Sculpey Ultralight).

I must have put these silly things together two dozen ways before I started to figure out where I was going with this. But that is part of the creative process, isn't it? We get an idea, and start exploring it. Roadblocks are inevitable. I can't think of many ideas that went according to plan right from conception.

I could have said, "It didn't work. What was I thinking." But there was something there that intrigued me. I wanted to push it a bit further, and continue to play with it. Using various materials to string them, and multiple arrangements and methods. For me, this is one of the most engaging parts. It is frustrating at times to be sure, but it also is a challenge. A puzzle to be solved. Sometimes I would think I had it worked out, and then I would find out there was a problem with how a piece would lay or hang. A continuous cycling.

Even work that I have been doing for a few years now is cycling and evolving. Tweaking, playing, exploring the what-ifs. On one level it can be frustrating. There is little time to rest and settle. But on another level, it is what keeps me engaged in the work. It is not static. It is alive and vital as the process.

Have you given yourself a play day lately? Maybe it is time? And when you play, do you let yourself go down the dead ends without out recrimination? That is where the discoveries happen, and where the real fun can be sometimes. I have puzzles that are still unsolved. Some may stay that way forever. But others will resurface at another time, when I have learned something new, or seen something that triggers a potential solution for me. But the play is essential. The studio as laboratory. Playing. Experimenting. Learning and discovering.

Happy Birthday to Me....A Few Days Early

I have a big birthday coming up this weekend. The one that begins with a five. Fifty. I will be turning fifty on Sunday. And you know what? For me it is easier than forty was. Forty was full of angst for me. Fifty is a big "Yeahhhh!" to life.

Those big birthdays seem to invite reflection more than the rest. Fifty is especially so for me. I remember being ten, and twenty, and calculating what year I would turn fifty. Two-thousand-and-seven! 2007! You must be kidding was all I could think at the time. The shift in centuries made it seem even more distant and foreign.

But here I am, or very nearly so. And it seems the looking back is more compressed than the look forward. It made me think of a string. Looking forward the string is stretched out......farther than we can ever see or even imagine. But as the days pass, we pull that string in to us. As we pull, the string forms a pile next to us. Tangled at times perhaps, but all right there. Compressed and visible.

Ten: We moved into the house that I now live in again as an adult. New school, new teacher, new friends. It was a neighborhood full of kids. There were plenty of kickball games in front of our house. With my family alone, we had nearly enough to get a game going. And there was lots of time drawing. My best friend at the time was my next door neighbor, Carol. I can remember the two of us sitting on the step outside, drawing. Back then, I wanted to be an artist when I grew up.


Twenty: I was in college, studying chemistry, at an engineering school. I think the summer I turned twenty, I was in New Jersey working for a chemical company in a co-op job. That was when I realized I was not going to be able to do this the rest of my life. Working in a lab. When I wasn't working that summer, I spent a lot of time drawing. By the end of the summer, I decided to get the degree in chemistry, but figure out something else to do with it.


Thirty: I was living in Connecticut now. I had been in Ohio for six years. Four in sales, and then two getting my MBA. I was still trying to make it work. I was back with the same company I started working with after college. And I was working for one of the best bosses I ever had. And he gave me lots of freedom to pursue my ideas. But I was also taking classes here and there. Drawing. Photography. Watercolor. And I was traveling more.


Forty: Married. Two young girls. I had left the corporate world. In theory temporarily. But in my heart, permanently. But now what. I needed to work. Not for the money as much as the satisfaction of work. Money was tight, but we were getting by. I had started my first business. Custom window treatments. I developed a color vocabulary that was broader and deeper. I played with pattern and design. I loved and hated that job. I loved the color, the design, and working for myself. I hated the custom side of it, and all that entailed.


Fifty: Finally. I am doing what I wanted to do since I was ten years old, or maybe younger. I love what I do. And what strikes me is how I always knew this is what I wanted to be and do. But I was waiting for someone to give me permission. The only person who could, or would was me. And I finally did. Hooray!! So fifty feels younger than forty did. Maybe even younger than thirty in some ways. Fifty feels more at peace.


To celebrate this major birthday, I bought myself two gifts when I visited the Paradise City show on Monday. I told my husband he is giving me one....and I am going to love it! And my daughters are giving me the other.


The first, is this beautiful pendant from Barbara Sperling. I have admired her work from my first exposure to it. I already own a pair of her bleeding heart earrings, and gave my mother one of her heron pins years ago. But this weekend she had some of her new work at the show, and I got myself a gorgeous pendant. Don't you agree??

At first, Barbara thought that it was sold to someone else, and I was going to settle for a pair of earrings. I loved the earrings, but I truly adored this pendant. She put the earrings aside for me, and I assured her I would be buying one or the other. As it turned out, the other person was not able to buy the pendant, and it was mine.......

But......in the meantime, I was consoling my loss of the pendant with a pair of earrings from Louise Fisher Cozzi. I had loved some of her new earrings I had seen at Craft Boston, but never got a chance to get a pair then. So, yesterday I did.

The top section of the earrings are a transfer, and the bottom is silk screened. Aren't they cool? And they have her signature finish of gold on the edges. And, as it turns out they might actually work with the pendant.

I am truly not as self indulgent as this splurge might suggest. Many holidays or birthdays have slipped by without a gift. So this indulgence was one that celebrates a great place in my life, and the talents of two wonderful artists. It might be another ten years before I treat myself like this. So I am just going to enjoy this.

Professional Photography

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had George Post take some pictures of my jewelry for me a the ACRE show. It was a great opportunity to get some work photographed by someone who is very talented. I am going to put the pictures side-by-side with my photos. I don't really need to label them for you to see the difference, do I? But for clarity sake, and to give Mr. Post his full due, his photographs are on the left, or at the top of each pair, and are labeled. The unlabeled photos are done by me.

Photo by G. Post

Where should I begin?? The sharpness of the image? The intensity of the colors? A true gradient background....acheived with lighting rather than fancy paper, I should note. The other thing I noticed immediately was what a difference it makes when the piece is shot from directly above, rather than at an angle. With my picture, there is the parallex distortion. A fancy way of saying that because it is shot at an angle, the base of the piece appears larger in proportion, and the circle becomes an oval. His photo shows the piece more like it will appear if you were wearing it.

This photo is by G. Post. I have not taken a picture of this piece, and now, why bother. The colors are vibrant. The details are sharp and crisp. Love it.

Photo by G. Post

I think I am reaching the limits of focus for my camera when I take pictures of earrings. The difference in focus is striking.

Photo by G. Post

No sense in repeating the obvious. Again, focus, intensity, gradient background, parallex distortion,.....

Photo by G. Post

The difference is dramatic here. You really get the sense of depth with is photograph, versus mine.

Was it worth the money? I think so. I can see a noticable difference between the two sets of pictures....which means jurors are not seeing my work in it's best light....right? Will it help me get into better shows? I don't know. I have had second thoughts about the items I selected to be photographed. But I think on any given day, I would pick out five completely different pieces to be photographed.

You can clearly get decent results with some of the set-ups available on the internet, and a reasonably good camera. But, if you want the best, you need to go to a professional. It makes sense to be able to take some pictures on your own. But it also makes sense to get photos taken by a pro. I can recommend George Post.