The Journey: Laura McCullough-DeLorme

The path of my creative process has been a long and evolving one. I’ve traveled it easily and it’s rare that I feel stuck, uninspired or as if I’ve emptied the well and can no longer create something new. However, as long as I can remember, the real obstacle for me and one that held me back was (and sometimes still is) my own struggle with self-worth.

It isn’t that I don’t get a kick out of things I’ve made. In fact, I’ve been known to give myself loud applause and dance around in delight when a piece I’m working on turns out even better than I imagined! Yet, when it comes to feeling that my work is “art” or when I’m viewing it through other people’s eyes, I become stuck and fearful that what I do isn’t substantial enough to count.

This pattern first began to emerge when I was ten years old and sabotaged my dream of becoming a gymnast. I practiced alone with very little family support for several hours every single day for a spot on a team that for the very first time was accepting gymnasts under twelve. Then, after all of my effort, when the big day came I blew off the tryouts.

I was a natural, but I was embarrassed to show up in a secondhand bodysuit (which snapped at the crotch) instead of a real leotard and with my parents’ signature on the slip, but not their presence. Although I knew that my skill level was high, I didn’t feel legitimate compared to the other girls who looked and acted the part with hired coaches.

A few weeks later, I felt angry, hurt and disappointed in myself as I sat on the curb watching a parade pass and blinked back tears when the excited new gymnasts rode by on their float waving while everyone applauded.

This pattern carried itself into my adulthood. Several years ago, I began to draw and this time I was strongly supported by friends and family members. They encouraged me to make some prints and greeting cards of my work. I didn’t. Again, old feelings of doubt and of an underlying lack of confidence in myself surfaced and I was afraid to take a risk…I knew I was repeating old patterns and sabotaging myself, yet I made excuses about being too busy.

In spite of letting the drawings go, I kept creating and soon began making wallets and little purses out of paper and vinyl.

Again, I was encouraged to try to sell them. I agonized a long time before entering my wallets in my first juried fine arts show. I was petrified, but not of being rejected (I’m a playwright…rejection I can handle!), but of trying something “artsy” and demonstrating a clear effort to start something new, I was officially putting pressure on myself to “make a go of it”. Was I setting myself up for embarrassment or feelings of failure if it didn’t turn out the way I imagined?

The thing that finally tipped the scales in the “go ahead and apply” direction was that I knew I didn’t want to repeat the same mistake I made with gymnastics or my drawings. I didn’t want to see promotions for the show and know that maybe, just maybe, I could have been part of it if only I’d tried. Plus, I have a long history of trying too hard for other people and not enough for myself, so I went ahead and applied.

The wallets did win a spot in the show, but I’m embarrassed to share that my problems weren’t over. I began lamenting that I wasn’t going to be thin and look like a “real artist” in indie/artsy clothes, that other artists would think my booth was unprofessional, that I wouldn’t sell enough and that I’d be forced to keep my spirits up publicly for two days all while wanting to die and become invisible. Isn’t this lame? Talk about self-absorption.

Finally, I had to come to terms with the fact that all I can do is create and market. Those are the only two things I have control over…making things and finding places for them to be seen. How people react isn’t up to me, but standing behind my work and not having regrets is. I wasted years being afraid to put energy and time behind my own ideas and not making a commitment to being someone who not only creates beautiful things, but who isn’t afraid to be proud and believe that what she makes matters.

These days I’m committed to my work and while I’m still plagued by doubt at times, I don’t let it stop me. If you’re just getting started, I urge you not to waste precious time second-guessing and doubting yourself. Once you take the leap and really commit to your work, you’ll be amazed by how much lighter you feel. If you are reading this and recognize a little bit of yourself in my experience, I hope you’ll go look through your many boxes of saved work (we all have them) and reconsider the reasons you put it away. It’s never too late to give yourself or your art a second chance.

www.littleorangekitchen.typepad.com

Balancing Career With Life - Starfish Designs

For the last seven months I have been, in the traditional sense, career-less; last September after living in urban America for 11 years my family and I made a life change, packed our bags and headed for the sun. For assorted reasons I knew that I wouldn’t be working again for a while, and while attempting to enjoy my new found career-less freedom, and not knowing what it would lead to, I purchased my first sewing machine. I started out making a few things for our new home, and some gifts for family and friends mainly small pouches and coin purses, using a technique that I call Modern Patchwork. In early March, on an impulse, I signed up for my first craft show. The show was a complete success, and Starfish Designs became a concrete reality.

In two weeks from now the balancing act will become more complicated; as it stands now I am juggling my home and family, craft business, and an attempt at self-sufficiency gardening, soon added to the pot will be a return to my former career as an Architect. I would love for my craft business to be my only business, but for now, well…you know. Now I am starting to wonder how I will do it all: checklists, calendars, schedules, time frames, and self imposed deadlines all seem like a tremendous amount of pressure and after all those were the very stresses of the life that we consciously left behind. So instead I have decided to set a series of suggested, small, manageable, evolving, and no pressure, goals for Starfish Designs:

Production Creation:

There is something very rewarding about creating one piece at a time start to finish, for one no two bags are alike, and the excitement of seeing each one completed keeps me interested in what I am doing as well. Unfortunately the “one at time” strategy, albeit the most creative, doesn’t really fit with my no pressure business goals. Selecting and combining fabrics is one aspect of my design process that I have elected not to push into production mode. Therefore in the interest of creativity I am committed to hand selecting and coordinating my fabrics, no two will be alike, and in the interest of production…well, I will have to be very, very, very disciplined and resort to good old efficient assembly line production: cutting, pinning, zippers, stitch, press…repeat.

Marketing:

The internet is a sea of networking and marketing opportunities for design businesses of all types and sizes, most anyone you encounter in the online world of handmade will, of course nicely, head you in endless directions all leading to the most effective channels for promoting your craft. As I am floating about on an island in the Caribbean, dedicating a measure of my time to marketing is particularly important. I must admit that I have created an informal no pressure checklist outlining my concentrated marketing efforts for the week, most of which I hope to achieve, very early, every Sunday morning. What all of this means is that is that if on Wednesday a fellow designer tells me about a fantastic marketing opportunity or two it will have to wait until Sunday and until there is room for it to become part of my no pressure checklist. Again this will require discipline…

Time MisManagement:

Now that 8 hours of my day will be dedicated to being what I was originally intended to be, some attention will have to be given to finding a few extra hours here and there to conduct the business of Starfish Designs, here’s my list so far:

• 2 hours per day commuting to work (with my husband driving) = 10 Hours/week. This time could easily be used for combining and coordinating fabrics, sketching, pinning, and preparing orders. Due to the way that my husband drives I have ruled out both cutting and pressing ;)!

• 1 hour per day eating lunch which takes 1/2 an hour to eat, so 1/2 an hour per day = 2.5 Hours/week This time will be dedicated to responding to emails, processing orders, editing product photos and other computer based work on my laptop.

• 1 hour per day waking up earlier = 5 Hours/week. This time will be dedicated toward sourcing my materials and supplies on the internet. Nearly 75% of my materials and supplies come from wonderful Ebay sellers; a few weeks ago I spent a bit of time developing a spreadsheet for use in conjunction with Ebay. The spreadsheet is complete with formulas that determine my maximum bid based on the required profit margin for a particular design. This really saves me time and money, and puts an end to countless hours of unfocused surfing on Ebay.

So that works out to be (approximately) 17.5 hours per week, that plus my 2 hours of scheduled actual Production Creation time per day which is limited, for now, to Monday through Friday totals 27.5 hours per week. Well there you have it, a by no means no complete, no pressure approach to balancing all of the above. I must say that after putting all of this down on paper I know that I can only allow my self a bit of latitude for those times when I lose my balance.

Suzanne

www.starfishbarbados.etsy.com

Studio - Annette Piper

The luxury of a studio is something we as artisans or artists all desire and most of us manage to some degree.   I would love to have a studio that is free-standing, with masses of storage, a display area and somewhere for clients to visit and make their purchases. 

 

In the meantime I am content with my half of the study/workroom that I have to share with my husband, the children and our farming business.  However, I am making a good attempt at taking over this room completely.  

 

I have one wall dedicated to my work bench above which is shelving for my stones and for my books.   As I have to share, however, it isn’t big enough for all my things.   The opposite wall also has some shelving and I have managed to snag about a third of that for storing my display equipment.   We have a long banquet sized table in this room that is purportedly for my husband to use.  I have managed to cover two thirds of that with boxes filled with stones and pearls.   The family computer is also in this room, however I spend the most time on it and feel it is in ‘my’ space.   As this room is part of our house, my torch is set up down in my husband’s shed.

 

My ‘studio’ is a great space to work though.  The room is usually a good temperature, it is large and the light during the day is good, even though it doesn’t get any direct sunshine in through the windows.   All these things add up to me liking to be in there, which is great for productivity - although not so good when it’s time to stop. 

 

I see clients in either my dining room with its excellent natural daylight for viewing finished pieces, or they like to sit with me at my bench, while we work out their designs.  The drawback of course is that I have to have a very tidy house all the time – just in case I have clients come to call.  As anyone with younger children would know, this is often a challenge. 

 

I shall continue to dream, however, of that ideal stand-alone studio and maybe one day that dream will come true

www.annettepiper.com

Fashion and Trends? Yes! - Susan Sheehan

You wouldn’t know it from looking at me.  I’m incredibly practical in my attire.  I have little contact with the outside world and most days my outfits are seen by nobody other than my children.  But, I love fashion and trends. 

I get fashion magazines and can flip through the pages over and over again.  I admire the photography, the design of a dress and the colors.  Oh the colors!  When one grabs my eye, I tear out the page and frantically search my mind for just the right glass to reproduce it.  Should it be a floral?  Maybe a more graphic design?  What should I pair it with?

Clothing catalogs get me excited too.  The necklines help me visualize the right bead for necklaces.  The jewelry helps me determine shapes and designs.  Even the shoes can inspire a bead design.

I do maintain the right to make what I like.  I’m rather classic in my sense of fashion and it does shine through in my bead making.  But there is nothing quite like the time I spend with my cup of coffee and a big thick edition of Vogue, to get my creative juices flowing.

Susan

Recharging - Suzanne Tate

This month I am asked to talk about ‘Recharging’ – how do I refresh my creativity and recharge my batteries?  As a hobbyist, I guess burn out is less of a problem for me to begin with.  One of the things I always consider in relation to my bead business is ensuring it stays fun, that it does not become too much like hard work.  I often go a few weeks without torching, as I get too busy, and life gets in the way, so I am generally chomping at the bit to torch.  I did have a bit a creative lull earlier this year.  That seems to relate more to my morale about the online auction sites being so very slow at the moment, than it is about how I actually feel about torching.  Often, when that happens to me, coincidentally it seem sot be a time where I need to focus on my historical beads for awhile, so I don’t have to stress about my lack of creative flow too much. After a few weeks of making fairly simple medieval beads for an SCA event or focusing on research, I am generally happy to ‘play’ with more contemporary designs.  A change is as good as a holiday, so they say. 

 

So, for me, I try not to make to many demands on my beadmaking – that’s why I don’t do wholesale orders for shops, as I don’t want to ‘have to’ make a certain number of beads a week.  As long as my glass is self funding, I am generally happy, although I am trying to fund a trip back to the states next year. 

 

Keep it fun – it would be a terrible thing to me, to let my joy in glass be damaged by burning out, or too many demands re sales etc.

 

www.solarflarecreations.com.au

Ruled by Fashion? - Suzanne Tate

Fashion and trends have such an influence in our lives.  What we wear, what colours we like, what our favourite TV shows are – they are often influenced by what is the ‘flavour of the month’ in the wider world.  I guess I am as susceptible to fashion as the next person, but I do not let it dictate my tastes.  I definitely wont wear a style I dislike, or that isn’t flattering, just because it’s currently in fashion, and likewise, I don’t make beads I don’t enjoy, just because there is a current trend.  In actual fact, fashion has very little to do with what beads I produce.

 

As the majority of my current customers are in the US, I do sometimes plan bead colours to suit the upcoming American seasons. My beads come from what I feel driven to create, however, so I am rarely influenced by trends and fashions, other than to be aware that the colours I use will suit the season.  And not always even that – I make what I like.

 

In beadmaking, you could easily be driven by fashion – not only in choosing designs and colours to suit current clothing fashions, but also by the trends that sweep the beadmaking world.  For those of us who frequent the online world of bead forums and auctions, it is often very obvious when a particular technique, glass or style is all the rage. We even see trends in approaches to marketing and selling venues.

 

Despite this, I rarely find myself influenced by the outside world in this way, unless it is to attempt to master a new lampworking technique, or as mentioned, to be aware of the upcoming  season of my target audience.

 

But to start a new trend in lampworking, to come up with a design or technique that sweeps the lampworking world – now that may be something all beadmakers would aspire to!

 

www.solarflarecreations.com.au

 

 

Suzanne blogs and torches in her studio in Melbourne, Australia.

Being open to inspiration is the first step to finding it - Deanna Chase

Finding inspiration for our art can be both spontaneous and a challenge. Absolutely the best kind of inspiration is when an idea just pops out of no where and grabs hold of you. Well, maybe it doesn’t just pop out of no where, but it is an idea you were not expecting. Then it grabs on and doesn’t let go. I have learned to pay attention to those moments, but to not force them.

My most recent inspiring moment, was when I was trying to come up with a gift for my father for Christmas. I knew I wanted to make him a marble, but I didn’t know what kind. I am pretty new to the marble scene and pretty much my ideas are limited to what I know how to do. In my brain storming, I was coming up with things he enjoys and likes to do. One of his favorite hobbies to restoring an old Ford truck. I have no illusions that I would be able to some how make a Ford truck inside a marble, so I quickly ran through his other interests. My next thought was golf. He really does enjoy golf, and when I was younger we had father/daughter golf day a few times. So, the golf marble was born, using stick figure animation I call it. Which led to a whole series of sports themed marbles, which I am currently having a ball with. No pun intended.

It is interesting to see where ideas can end up going. I have plenty that went no where, but the water bucket. Which is death for any kind of hot glass.Those ideas are not necessarily abandoned, just on hold. At some point I hope I will learn something that will bring me back to them.

In the mean time I will continue to be inspired by nature, brain storming with my hubby, and my most favorite places to find inspiration, which are book stores and google images.

Colour - Annette Piper

Colour can have such an effect on the way we feel that it is an integral part of the jewellery designer’s process.   We must consider not just the beauty of the components, their patterns and their wearability, but how they will look when in the finished piece – are the colours harmonious, will it flatter most skin tones or only a few?  Will it have to be worn over clothing to get the best impact or is it best worn against the skin?  Will the majority of your customers be able to wear such a colour? 

I love greens and yellows – to the point of where I really buy more of these coloured gemstones than I can in reality use.    Yellow is a colour that, for the most part, looks better on those with olive skin, or at the very least, someone with no ruddiness.  Yet I live in a location with a high density of fair Caucasians and I myself have fair skin with a slightly ruddy cast.  Citrine and lemon topaz look awful on me if worn against my skin, but I can get away with a little if I put such stones with some rich browns and deep reds.    

Greens have some of the same problems, but the different shades of green mean that most people can wear some version of green well and there are a wonderful array of green gemstones that are available.  Of course, just to be difficult, I personally love the yellow- greens (such as peridot) which, once again, looks awful on me unless it is surrounded with other stones or given a border of gold or silver. 

Everyone, it seems, loves blue and it tends to look very good on a high proportion of people.  Naturally, blue is one of the most difficult colours to obtain in gemstones.   Sapphire of course is the best known blue gemstone, but at a substantial cost.   Likewise, other costly varieties include blue diamonds, blue topaz, aquamarine, spinel, zircon, tourmaline, and so on.   More affordable blues are found with iolite, kyanite, turquoise, blue lace agate, blue chalcedony, lapis lazuli, sodalite …. but the vivid, desirable blues in less costly stones are still difficult to find. 

I am often asked for jewellery made with red stones.  I show these people the deep reds of garnet and orange-reds such as found in coral and carnelian, but no, they want bright, fire-engine red.   I usually have to tone down their expectations at this point of getting affordable gemstone jewellery in this colour.     At least with reds most people can wear them -  albeit with limitations (with either the cool reds (blue-red) or the warm reds (orange-red) being suitable ).   

I have the added limitation with my jewellery that those that make their own beads don’t have – unless I go to treated stones, I am limited to what nature provides.  If I can get people to look beyond their immediate desire for a particular shade, however, they soon learn the delights that can be afforded by looking deeper into gemstones and the value of something natural and unique. 

A beautiful lemon citrine necklace, but a hard colour for some skin types to wear .

www.collectivecreatives.com

www.annettepiper.com

The Journey - Suzanne Tate

I came to glass beadmaking in a rather convoluted way, although, like many people it stemmed from jewellery making.  As I may have mentioned, I am a member of the SCA, a medieval recreation group.  There is something for almost everyone in the SCA – leather work, cooking, singing, brewing, sword fighting, archery, weaving, embroidery… the list goes on.  As I had no desire to get enormous bruises by being beaten up by big guys with swords, I was relegated to watching the tourneys, and for many of the women in the SCA, that means they are often spinning, weaving, sewing etc while they watch.  Unfortunately, despite the fact that I was a textile teacher, I hate sewing etc, particularly fine needlework.  I just can’t do it – I’m too messy for starters.

So, to entertain myself at SCA events, I started ‘merchanting’.  I sold feasting gear, fabric trim and handmade jewellery.  My ‘mundane’ (non SCA)  jewellery was made with purchased glass beads (ones I now know were mainly cheap imported beads from China and India) and silver plated findings, but my SCA jewellery was made with semi precious stones and pearls, as befitted the medieval period. When I eventually started making jewellery from my own beads, I wanted to produce a high quality product that did justice to my glass creations.  From then on, I only used sterling silver findings, semi-precious stones, and Swarovski crystals.

When I was at University, I had majored in Photography and Metalcraft.  When my husband suggested he get me a soldering torch for my Birthday, so I could return to silversmithing, an American friend in the SCA mentioned we could make glass beads on it.  I had never heard of lampworking, so that brief comment planted the seed that was to eventually turn into a fully fledged glass obsession. 

For one reason or another, I never did the get the soldering torch, but about a year later the same friend pointed out a lampworking course at a local TAFE (Technical and Further Education) college, and I immediately jumped on the chance to sign up.  I completed a 2 day beginner’s course with Kathryn Wardill, a wonderful Australian Beadmaker and Master Jeweller, who at the time, was one of the few people in Australia making a living from Glass Beads.  A few months later, I completed an advanced course, again with Kathryn.  I got a great grounding in the basic skills from Kathryn.  She ensured we understood safety issues, COE and glass compatibility, and insisted we learn how to hand shape a variety of forms, like tubes, squares, triangles etc.  She taught me that it is important to learn the fundamental skills that you can then build on as you acquire new skills and tools.

                        My first ever beads -  Day 1

 

                                    Day 2

 

I worked on a Hot Head torch for over 4 years, not being able to justify the additional costs associated with a surface mix torch, and not really feeling my HH was holding me back.  It did teach me patience, as I have always made large beads, but apart from extremely large vessels and sculptural forms, I never felt limited (although I could have done without the noise!).  Eventually I upgraded to what we beadmakers often affectionately call a ‘Big Girl Torch’ a couple of years ago, and I have enjoyed the increased flexibility (and the blissful quiet) that it allowed.

My glass journey has perhaps been slower than it could have been, had I not been a hobbyist with a full time career, but it has been enjoyable, inspiring, frustrating, fulfilling, enriching, expensive and rewarding in turns.  And it’s not over yet!

 

 

www.solarflarecreations.com.au

More on Motivation - Lisa Liddy

I have procrastinated on this topic as it frustrates me as often as it excites me. And hoped that someone else would jump in with another topic! Since no one is going to save me, I’ll lead with another look at Motivation.Designing jewelry is something I kind of fell into. It was a way to hang onto a shred of sanity during an incredibly difficult time a few years ago. It relaxed me. And then people wanted to buy what I made (which meant I could buy more beads and silver and pearls…without feeling too guilty!) and that was satisfying as well as motivating. Sometimes.But real life gets in the way more times than not and things don’t happen at a pace that you would like. I’ve always worked best under pressure…deadline-driven is how my other business has to operate and I’m much more productive when there are hard deadlines. Like many artists, though, the thrill of having someone want your work is often as motivational as the monetary result. It pushes me to step out of my box more and reach for new ideas. However, sales of jewelry aren’t exactly “needs” in the economic scheme of things, so when sales are slow, the motivation to create new things slows for me as well. It should work the opposite and I’m working to change that mindset.Something else I’m trying to jumpstart the motivation is to incorporate some “new” activities into my day and week. Instead of feeling like any free time from the book design business should be spent on the Joolz business, I’ve been looking into crocheting again. And dabbling into felting beads. I love yarns and wools (ironic since it is too darn hot for most of those materials most of the year in Arizona), and I’m looking more at the fun fibers for my play time. We’ll see where that goes.