Guilty ...

It's been such a long time since I've been here.  I wouldn't be surprised if no-one sees this as you will all have justifiably given up on me.  I got into a kind of guilt spiral - the longer I didn't post for, the guiltier I felt about it and, consequently, the less I felt like posting.    I think some people are natural bloggers but I struggle a little bit with this medium.   I find the blank white box that pops up when you sign-in to write a new post intimidating.  I think I need to improve my methodology.  Perhaps jot things down, as I go, during the week. Actually, now that I write this it sounds like a plan and I'm starting to feel that guilt ebb (it's not gone but it's a bit lighter).

One of the things I've been very keen to ensure with my jewelry making is that it remains a place where I am free to play, be creative and not so mired down by the practicalities that affect so many aspects of my life and which can, frankly, suck the  joy out of them.  Of course I sell my jewelry but Quisnam is most definitely not just a business to me. It is also an investment in myself and my well being.  When I sit down to make - there might be frequent cursing and even the odd minor injury (hammers can be tricky) but there is also a kind of zen from which  I emerge calmer and happier.

The super talented Penny has been having a very interesting discussion about pricing over on her blog.  This is an issue I've touched on here in the past and I agree with almost all of what Penny, and and her commentators,  have to say.   I know when  I started I most definitely struggled with a lack of worthiness.  Nowadays I use a very straightforward formula to calculate my prices - cost of materials plus an hourly rate plus a percentage to cover associated overheads and things like time involved in photography, listing, administration etc.  This approach has, for me, taken a lot of the anxiety out of this aspect of Quisnam.  Now, I should caveat this with a couple of points.  I buy a lot from etsy sellers but I also source from thrift (opportunity/charity) shops and use, whenever I  can, found objects.  I rarely use precious metals like silver or gold (generally only on earring wires). The only mass produced bits and pieces I use are generally the ones that come attached to my thrift shop finds and which I usually alter in some way.  I also admit to cheating the hourly aspect of my pricing strategy from time time. Sometimes a piece takes way longer to complete  because of unanticipated design issues or I find one of my wire wraps isn't up to scratch so I have to re-make it. I don't include all this extra faffing about in  the final  price.  I'll also admit that my 'hourly-rate' for my jewelry making is probably lower than it should be. 

I'm not interested in benchmarking my work against the mass produced stuff available in retail stores or online markets places like eBay because that's like benchmarking processed against whole-foods.  I have found that most of the people I meet would much prefer to buy something hand made over something mass produced and they are absolutely prepared to pay more for it. But price can be a barrier, particularly in these tough times.  Whilst I don't want to use this an excuse to devalue my work it has shaped my approach to making. This means that when I am sourcing supplies I rule out those that will result in the finished piece having what I consider to be too high a price tag. 
Whenever possible I take advantage of reduced shipping costs and make multiple purchases from one one supplier, pragmatically waiting until I have a long enough shopping list to make it worthwhile. I now have a core list of suppliers that I use for my most often used components and materials and whose quality I can be assured of  - I am loyal to them and they are loyal to me, frequently giving me extras and discounts. Nowadays I am much  more ruthless and only use a proportion of the income generated from my sales to purchase supplies and other consumables.  If I haven't got the cash-flow I don't buy it!!  Does all this sound incredibly business like - hell yes!  But the irony is that this pragmatic approach frees me up so that I can relax when it comes to actually making. Does my approach constrain my creativity - yes to an extent, but it is a fundamental part of my aesthetic.   I am committed to making my jewelry what I consider to be affordable (of course affordable is a super objective and relative, but that's a whole different post) - that's the challenge I have set myself and it's much more inspiring than it is constraining.

Do I break my own rules - of course I do.  This is art after all.

Tumultuous psyches and memory wire...

It's Autumn here now, but the heat wave continues. My cranky old air conditioning unit broke down ages ago so we are reliant on a couple of portable fans for some relief. This means, on the very hot days, I tend to move no further than the couch.  It seems crazy when so many of you in the Northern hemisphere probably feel like you haven't seen the sun for months! There must be somewhere in the middle that we can all meet and get some relief.

I was thinking about Kimberly's comments from my last post, about how our creations reflect something of ourselves and our state of mind.  I know when I make things I waver between anxiety bordering on panic (it's all wrong, it's not coming together, I'll have to start again) and a zen-like serenity when the piece almost seems to make itself.  When I first started getting serious about my jewelry, the former state of panic had the upper hand. Nowadays whilst I am much more relaxed, a niggling sense of anxiety and doubt remains - sometimes just out of reach at the edge of my consciousness, sometimes right up there in my face.  Self doubt seems to go hand in hand with all forms of creative endeavor, so much so that it might even be a pre-requisite for the artistic process.  Why this is so I don't know.  Perhaps art, like lava from a volcano, can only emerge from a tumultuous psyche.  I do know that the moment when something does come together is indeed a joyful one.

I tried using memory wire for the first time this week.  Whilst I love making embellished copper bangle stacks, I wanted this piece to flow - with one section leading to another, part of a whole:

I used lengths of tubing wrapped with sari silk ribbon threaded over the memory wire interspersed with eclectic beaded sections. The patterns on the silk determined the overall color palette and I tried to keep the selection of beads random enough to ensure texture without becoming too discordant.

In contrast here's a trio of copper bangles I made that uses the same ribbon as the memory wire bangle but is much more minimalist in its use of beads and other materials.  Completely different but I think still part of a similar aesthetic.

Unlike copper wire which, for me, is generally an integral part of a design, memory wire is essentially a framework to be covered up completely.  Quite challenging when you tend not to use beads in this way.  Having tried a memory wire bracelet I thought I would see if the same principals could be applied to a necklace and was actually surprised it worked as well as it did:

I also found some fabulous hollow bone beads in a thrift shop which I used on this assemblage necklace (the mannequin is teeny little display one)

Kai from KulshiMumkin had some new tribal pockets in her etsy shop - they feature the most beautiful vintage embroidery.  I have them sitting in a huge glass jar next to my computer for inspiration and have used a couple as a basis for necklaces:

 'til next time