Prepping for Market

I spent most of yesterday, on the couch, beading and watching tv. I've been working on pieces for my wholesale catalog and Ky Crafted at the Market in March. It's my first year at the Market and I'm rather nervous. Two days are wholesale and only open to those who can do wholesale purchasing. The last two days are open to the public for retail. The wholesale, of course, will be items that are ordered for me to fill later, but I need to work on the actual printed items to pass out to those buyers. I also need to make sure that I have enough inventory for the retail days. Eep.

I've put together some new earring designs that I can put in the catalog, as well as some new necklace and earring pieces that qualify. Since I'm juried in as a beadweaver, the primary make-up of my pieces for the Market must be beadwoven. It's actually a good study for me in creating new designs and experimenting with color.

New Year, New Jama

Wow. I haven't posted since August. A lot has happened since then:

1) I closed my brick & mortar shop. It was a difficult decision to make, but one that had to be done. I truly believe that the shop would have been successful in a larger town, but it just wasn't viable here. I had so many people tell me that my place belonged on Bardstown Road or Frankfort Avenue in Louisville, somewhere in Lexington or (my favorite) "Why aren't you in NYC?" But this is my home. I want to raise my daughter here in Lebanon, which means rethinking what I'm doing in how to make a living.

2) I moved into a larger apartment. Huzzah! My old place was literally one room with a bathroom, no kitchen. I'm now in a two bedroom apartment with a large kitchen, place for crafting and a large storage room. Amber has her own room, I have an actual bed with new mattresses (instead of the bunk bed I was sleeping in) and a backyard when it's warmer and Amber wants to play. I'm still not settled in completely (there are still things in my ex's house and in storage), but I'm getting there.

3) I had several shows over the fall, including the Woodland Arts Festival, Ky Bourbon Festival, Marion County Country Ham Days, St. James Court Art Show, Sheltowee Art Show and Heart of Ky Holiday Festival. None of the shows were gangbusters, but they helped me pay my bills and I made some good contacts through St. James and Woodland again.

4) I started dating one of my best friends. He's been there for me through my divorce, helping me move and just when I needed him. We've been friends for years, so he's used to all of my quirks and vice versa.

But, that leads me to my resolutions.

1) You know, get in shape. Isn't that just a given? But this year, I'm not focusing on a weight loss goal. I just want to get healthy. That includes losing a lot of weight (I'm tired of watching my Mii on my Wii Fit swell up), but it also includes working out, eating healthier and getting my asthma back in check.

2) Get my wholesale catalog prepared and begin taking orders. I got into Ky Crafted last year and am doing the Market in March. I'm excited and scared all at the same time. I've started working on some new designs and mocking them up.

3) Start saving up for a new vehicle. I just took over the web hosting from my mom, so I have steady income. That should actually be enough to cover my monthly bills, with my library and jewelry income being extra. My truck started dying this fall and I need to replace her. She's been a good truck, but I just replaced the starter and battery, but the air compressor went, the brakes don't sound so hot and I noticed a speaker going out. I'm an audiophile, so that's kind of a biggie :)

4) Get organized. I've started working on it already, but I need to finish it, get the rest of my filing in order and get my back storage room completed. That'll allow me to get rid of my storage building and get everything out of my ex's house.

5) Keep my etsy store up to date with at least one item a week. (I did add some new things a while back - http://thesepreciousthings.etsy.com)

6) Blog once a week.

Karate's in just a bit. Gotta get the yellow belt ready to punch!

(Kind of) a Celebrity

The title of this blog post was provided by my dad in response to an email I sent some friends & family about my news.

I was contacted by Fire Mountain Gems several months ago about being one of the featured artist "success stories" on their website. Jessica King with the company was a pleasure to work with. She was always upbeat, prompt and fun. She sent me some questions based on my work, blog and other info and we went from there. Thank you so much to Jessica and FMG for this opportunity. I'm flattered beyond belief!

A direct link to the article is here. You can also get there by following the right navigation bar on any page of the Fire Mountain Gems site to the Jewelry Artists link. They even took the time to cross-feature me in the Featured Artists and Beading Contests sections. They linked to all of my Gallery pieces, including the Bead-It-Forward beaded squares that I did with the fabulous Etsy Beadweavers.

Many thanks to the awesomeness of Libby with the Bluegrass Etsy Street Team, as well, for plugging this on our team blog so quickly after I tweeted this earlier in the week.

I'm still waiting to hear back from Bead&Button about the project that I submitted. I had an email from Lora stating that they had a meeting on the 21st, but I don't know when I'll hear back regarding that. Eep.

Happy Week - Friday

One of my muses needs to be mentioned during Happy Week - music. I can remember back to the time when my parents had just moved from Paducah to Eminence, living in the house on Fairview Court. I remember my dad would leave the stereo on at night in the living room. I would sneak out of my room at the end of the hall and dance around the living room to the music. My favorite song at the time, that I remember, was Xanadu by Olivia Newton John from the movie of the same name. Oh yes, you have to believe we are magic :)

I grew up in a household where music reigned. None of us were particularly musically inclined, though my mom did sing in the church choir and once played the clarinet. However, the images of me curled up on the old, black leather sofa with my dad's gigantic headphones on make me smile. I remember dancing on my dad's feet or watching him play air guitar when he rocked out to Black Sabbath, Cream or Eric Claptop. My mom listened to Simon & Garfunkel, Conway Twitty and Alabama. I lapped it all up - my first 45 was Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" and I vividly remember my Shaun Cassidy album and doll, as well as the giant pic of Barbara Mandrell I had. My taste was, and still is, quite eclectic.

Music has always been there for me. There was a period of time when I listened to classical music on public radio as I went to sleep, the dance offs I'd have with my friends at their houses, the endless school dances that I went to despite the fact that I never really fit into any real group, singing in chorus and the church choir and the obligatory singing at the top of my lungs when I'm alone in the car.

Music moves me. It can make me cry, it can make me bounce around the room, it can help me express myself when words fail me and I need to borrow song lyrics to do so.

Music has gotten me through some rather rough spots in my life. Hearing Pearl Jam's "Deep" and Tori Amos's "Me and a Gun" helped me face my darkest moments. Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia" never fails to make me cop around the room. Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" makes me smile and weep at the same time. "Head Like a Hole" was an anthem during college, dealing with ignorance and apathy.

When I can't create, I turn to music. I can't paint in a quiet room. Give me a glass of wine, some music and I'll grab a canvas.

Happy Week - Thursday

I know I'm actually running a day behind & this will mean two posts today, but honestly, I'm not sure I could have posted a happy week entry yesterday if I'd tried. It was a bad day, coupled with not getting my Zoloft refilled in a timely fashion which resulted in my being a slight wreck.

But, throughout the course of the day, I was reminded of something, or rather certain someones, who make me happy. My friends.

I'm not talking about fair weather friends, acquaintances or the like, not that they don't have their places in each of our lives, since I do, truly, believe that everything happens for a reason. I mean the friends who tell it like it is, know what you're going through, pick you up when you fall, dust you off and help you get back on your feet.

There's Dawn... wow, where to start. This girl, woman, crazy insane chick calls me her best friend and vice versa. I don't know what I'd do without her. Dawn and I met in 1998 when we both worked at Office Depot, Business Services Division (an office, not a sales floor, thankyouverymuch). I have never clicked with anyone like this before or since. I swear we've known each other in past lives. From 2000 miles away, she can call me and ask me what's going on - why am I upset? I'll call her and tell her to quit emoting because I'm feeling it across the country. She tells it like it is and doesn't sugar coat it and I do the same for her. I love her, seriously, in a "I will do anything for this woman" kind of way. I think the heavens for her. Our biggest problem is that we don't get to see each other enough, since I'm in Kentucky and she's in California.

My mom. Yes, she's my mom, but she's also one of the best friends a person can have. She's honest with me when I don't want to hear it, compassionate and there for hugs when I need them and there for a laugh when I need to be picked up. She's a beautiful soul who puts up with more crap than she should, but that's just the way she is.

Lega. He'll probably kill me for mentioning him, but he's a bright spot in my life. I can have intelligent conversations, meet him for a drink or just zone out. If he knows I'm having a craptastic day, he'll come over bearing Monty Python. He's good for giving me a hard way to go!

Paul. We might not be married anymore, but he remains one of my best friends. We can still crack jokes with each other, discuss our daughter's trials and accomplishments and call each other if we need something. I treasure his friendship.

Patty. I've known Patty since high school (um... 1992), through college and beyond, but it's really only in the last several years that she and I have truly connected on a "what in the world would I do without her?" level. We entertain each other in the mornings with emails, kvetch at lunch, offer advice and support on jewelry making techniques and understand raising a child as working moms. She's supportive, honest and I'm damn lucky to have her in my life.

Chris. He's always been up front with me, given me good advice and offered a smile when needed. We don't always see eye to eye and we've definitely pissed each other off, but that just happens to be the way that our friendship works.

Amber. My daughter, my life, my friend. I hope that she and I can continue to have the kind of relationship my mother and I have throughout the years.

There are others out there - Kassy, my coworkers at the library, the insane people at the radio station, fun people at the Chamber, etc.... people who have blessed my life in some way. They have shaped me and allowed me into their lives. I thank them for that.

Happy Week, Wednesday

Thinking about things that make me happy has been an odd kind of homework assignment. We spend so much of our time focusing on what we "need" to fix or what's wrong that we forget about everything else.

There are times when I'm at peace, when I can allow myself to be calm and feel without going over the edge one way or the other. I might not be bouncing off the walls jubilant, but the world is right and life is good. This is happiness. How do I classify this? Is it one thing that does it? No, I know of several off the bat, but one stands out, especially with my upbringing and education.

Art.

Mark Rothko Red Orange Tan Purple

Be it creating, viewing or even just thinking about it, art makes me happy. I can be angry and focus that energy on a piece and be calmed. I can listen to music and put my feelings about the lyrics or music onto canvas. Letting my fingers sink into clay as I sculpt is pure bliss.

Edgar Degas, Little Dancer, Age 14 (La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans)

I love walking around art museums and galleries. When I lived in Southern California, I would make frequent trips to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. Their collection of Impressionist art was quite large and I loved visiting Degas' Little Dancer, Age 14. There was something about her that spoke to me, as well as Degas' chalk pastels. I enjoyed seeing the strips of paper he would add on to the side because he wasn't happy with the composition and thought a piece needed to be larger this way or that.

I took trips to Chicago to see the Degas & Monet retrospectives, as well as to LA to see the Van Gogh exhibit. These artists were passionate. Their emotions were conveyed through the years to me through their brushstrokes on canvas, use of color or fingerprints in clay.

Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party

I'll never forget stepping into the Armand Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. I was working on a project for college, taking slides of works for my own catalog. There happened to be a Feminist art exhibit, featuring the Guerilla Girls, Miriam Shapiro and others. I was stunned. I was... I was happy. Seeing these women take on art as a social medium just blew my mind. What I didn't know was that a life-changing exhibit had been brought out of storage and was on display in the lower portion of the museum. There... there before me was Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party. I smiled, I cried, I rejoyced at what I saw before me.

I knew then and there what had been buried within me and who I was. I was, am and will always be an artist in some way, shape or form. That knowledge, plus seeing art from the masters, lesser knowns, those just starting, my friends and even my daughter, that makes me happy.

Happy Week - Tuesday

Yesterday's happy post featuring Amber was easy to do. Trying to figure out today has been off & on my mind through working at the gallery & the library.

I suppose it should have hit me like a ton of bricks, or at the very least, a cascade of seed beads. Beads. They make me happy. I can't pass the vials of tiny seed beads without stopping to see if there's a color that catches my eye. I see beads or findings and think about how I can put them together. Most of the time I start a project not knowing where I'm going. I pick out colors that I like and see what comes along or buy a bead buy another artisan and see what I can do to enhance the beauty of that piece.

I started beading almost 7 years ago. It would have been September of 2002 when I got pregnant and it was shortly thereafter that I found out. One of the first things that happened was my OB/GYN kicking me out of my studio where I painted. I searched for an outlet and came across Bead&Button in a local store. I figured what the heck, bought it and some inexpensive beads.

What started as stringing and learning basic techniques has escalated into an obsession with beads of all kinds - gemstone, crystal, polymer, silver clay, lampwork, but mostly, my tiny little seed beads. I adore all of the vials of Delicas and boxes of Czech seed beads in various sizes that hang on the pegboard on my wall. I relish learning new techniques and seeing what pops into my head.

My favorite way to bead is just to let go and let it be. Freeform work used to frighten me, but asymmetrical pieces and those that just make themselves up as they go along now thrill me. There are exceptions to the "rule" (like my love of beaded beads), but for the most part, I just let the beads tell me where they want to go. It is said that Michelangelo spoke that his sculptures were inside the marble already. I'm not saying I'm Michelanglo by any means, but I feel that way about my beadwork much of the time. They move me where they want to go. Heaven help me if I try to make them do something they don't want to!