On Acceptance

Now that the first quarter of 2011 is nearly over, I think I have stumbled onto what my Word of The Year is going to be.

Acceptance

This past year, from my birthday in 2010 to my upcoming birthday, has been one of personal exploration, decisions, failed (and successful) attempts, and refining of artistic visions. I tried a lot of things (submitted to magazines, taught classes, did shows), was successful with some of them, and not so much with others. But through it all, I realized that I was allowing myself to get mired in negative thinking, spending way too much time comparing myself with others, and constantly thinking that whatever I did in a particular moment was somehow just. not. enough.

Which is ridiculous.

I mean, really.

So I hit a giant 'reset' button somewhere after the holidays, and took everything back about eight hundred notches. I thought about my plans and what I really want. I'm pretty happy with what I've been doing lately, which, compared to last year, isn't all that much. I've got a couple of custom commissions going on at the moment, and I was just asked to create bridesmaid jewelry for a friend's wedding this fall. And I'm making some personal projects that aren't all in the artisan jewelry realm. I'm also exploring my interest in art history, and dipping my toes back into the waters of my medieval living history hobby.

I have no plans to submit to magazines in the near future. I didn't do Lori's recent (and OMG awesome!!) Bead Soup Blog Party, but I am planning on joining the next one. I have signed up for no spring and summer shows. I'm taking it easy. Very easy. And it's nice! I'm finding that when artistic vision and inspiration really strikes me, I'm so incredibly productive, it's almost scary.

I can see now that there are only two more years before my littlest ones are in school full time, and after that there will be MUCH more time to get involved in all these things: shows, magazines, online stuff. Right now, I am doing what comes up and what I feel led to do in the moment, and that means accepting that what happens or what I do is simply enough.

It came to me over the weekend that 2011 is all about Acceptance -- of me as a person, an artist, a mom, all my various roles. Whatever I am doing is the best I can do at the time, and it's what I am supposed to be doing, and ALL I am supposed to be doing.

I guess this means I really can't Do It All.

Do I feel the insistent pull of "Sign up for shows!Submit to a magazine!Get yourself Out There!Be Involved!!"? Of course I do. I am a goal-oriented, responsible, achieving, first-born child! It's my Job! *snicker*

But I am consciously reminding myself (pretty much daily) that the most peaceful and happiest path I can be on right now is one in which I possess and define boundaries that allow me to not feel rushed, stressed, overwhelmed, ragged at the edges, and creatively spent. I don't have to be everything to all, and I don't have to do everything to be a successful person. Sounds like comprehending that would be a no-brainer, right? I mean, duh! But it's remarkably hard for me to grasp that and integrate it.

It's all good, though. And it's going well.

Oh, and here's a shot of my latest custom order....

Fun stuff!

So, my question to you is...how are you doing with your chosen path this year?

AAARGH!

Please tell me it hasn't been over a week since I posted last! *sigh*

I've been caught up in the whirlwind of getting ready for Arts Around the Lake on Sunday, and prepping to go up to northern VA for ArtBliss. I knew it would be a challenge to jam both events into the same weekend, but it is necessary. One of my goals this year was to take more metals and jewelry classes (Melissa Manley! OMG! I am taking her class!), and also to get into better and bigger shows. Funny how both goals seemed to converge on the last weekend of September this year!

To be honest, I have made a few new things, but I haven't photographed them. Really, I feel like I don;t have time to fiddle with pictures, and if the items don't sell this weekend, I'll take the photos and put stuff up on Etsy. I know I promised to add this necklace to my Etsy shop a while back, and it hasn't made it there yet, mostly because I needed it for inventory for the show. The one thing I did do, however, was set up my display in the yard as a test run for working out the arrangement of things. I also wanted to use it to see how much inventory I needed to cover my available space, and see if there were any 'holes' that needed filling. Here's a quick-and-dirty look at the booth overall:
It's a 10x10 shade, with two of the collapsible banquet tables. I only have the two tables, and I usually set them up this way, putting myself either behind, or off to the side. I don't own the side walls for this tent, and I wish I did, because now I can't find them in white (it's a Quest brand shade from Dick's Sporting Goods), so I use white bedsheets instead. The biggest problem with that is the fact that they blow all over and billow like sails. I have to weight them with clamps. I also don't have enough to cover more than one side. It'll have to do for now, though.

One thing I am really thrilled about is my new earring card racks. I found a couple of tall slatted shelves at a yard sale a while back, and my husband cut them in half widthwise for me, and hinged them together so they stand up. My large earring cards fit perfectly on them! I made some sandbags to weight the bottom in case of wind. You can sort of see the top of the stands in back of the table. When I took the picture, I hadn't figured out how I was going to make them work, so there's no picture of them yet.

Don't worry, I promise pictures of my totally put together and dressed-up display after Sunday's show.

I'd promised myself I wasn't going to get stressed out about this show, about prepping for it or about being in it, OR about it being the same weekend as ArtBliss. I want to do both, I CAN do both, and it will all work out fine. Yesterday, however, I found myself descending into the depths of craziness, and it colored my whole day, leaving me exhausted by the end of it.

My torch and tank setup decided that yesterday was THE day to go all nasty on me and cover my glass and beads with a layer of grey, sooty crap. Over everything I made. And on my 'make list' was a set of pink beads made with CiM's Gelly's Sty, a color I typically don't have trouble with at all. Here you can see (the horror!) the difference:

On the left are the original beads, made with Gelly's Sty a few months ago. On the right....the nastiness of yesterday. Same batch of glass, too. Yuck.

I've decided that I don't have time and energy to mess with it right now. I am going to disconnect the torch and hang the hose up for a couple of days and re-evaluate. I have beads to make into more work for the show, so that's not an issue, really. I had planned to make some sets to offer at ArtBliss, but I may have to bag that.

And if you've stayed with me all the way down to here in the post....wow! :)

At any rate, i ended up making a bunch of earrings yesterday and getting them put on cards and into my inventory box was a huge relief. I wish I could say the transition from Plan A (beadmaking session) to Plan B (making earrings) was a smooth and seamless one, without gnashing of teeth and railing against the injustice of it all, but at least I got something done. Right?

So. I am totally TOTALLY looking forward to seeing some of you at ArtBliss this Friday night! Safe travels, if you're traveling, and see you there!

Getting back to it...

Okay, so I think I took the month of August pretty much off. Too hot to make beads, too hot to do much, kids running around, work stuff needed doing, and frankly, I was out of inspiring ideas.

But fall is (finally!) coming, and it's on, now, baby!

My first big (real) art show is on September 26 (Arts Around The Lake at the University of Richmond), and I am in "make" mode, planning the inventory I am going to need. Thankfully the preschoolers go back on the 14th, and I know that I will be spending every preschool morning at the torch, making the beads, and at the table, making the jewelry.

Halloween is right around the corner, and so is Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's early, for the September show, but I am planning to have all 3 holidays covered in some way for my displays.

Right now, I'm working on a series of bracelets and some necklaces in "theme" colors....I am making bead sets in specific color palettes that will be simply strung and turned into earrings.

For example, the 'Hallowscream' line palettes are:
lime green/orange/black/purple
black/white/grey
lime/orange/black
orange/black/purple

I'll make sets in these color schemes and do a simple bracelet, earrings and necklace for each, and then a number of single sculpted pendants: ghosts, pumpkins, bats, etc.

Here are some of the beads from the first go-round:
I'm planning to do a Fall palette, a Christmas palette, and a Winter palette. I think I can manage enough beads to have 6 bracelets, at least 6 pairs of earrings, and 6 necklaces for each palette, plus any sculptural single pendants I think of.

I'll be making many more beads for the 'Bloomz' line I've been doing, and trying for 8 or so bracelets, earring pairs and pendants. Then there will be the rest, which will be my one-off designs, and the work that has been published recently.

God, I hope that is enough. It might not be, but there is my plan, not having done the show before.

I pray that my sales will be sufficient to allow me to buy my new torch, pay (off?) my kiln, and start paying for an oxygen concentrator.

The sales needed for those goals approaches the $1K mark. Realistically, can I do that in one day? I don't know. Should I try for it and set myself up for it? Absolutely.

And so, I pray.

Please let me stay positive throughout this incredibly busy September, let me get done what needs to be gotten done, and please let me not get to stressed out while doing it. And please help me to see the path clear to the goals I have set up for myself so I can finally, finally get to where I want to be.

And I cross my fingers, and I plan, and make, and think, and create, and design, and set-up and tear down and rearrange.

Wouldn't it be something? A new *real* torch, an oxygen concentrator AND a kiln by the end of 2010?

So Excited!!

It's ON, people!

On Thursday evening, a package showed up on my doorstep addressed to me. I almost never get exciting packages in the mail, unless I order something, so this was unexpected. The return address gave it away, though -- Northridge Publishing, the publisher of Bead Trends magazine!

In the box was my necklace, "Gaslights", and two copies of the September 2010 issue of Bead Trends!
On pages 86 and 87, you will find a far more beautiful photograph of my necklace than I could ever take, and the tutorial for making it.

Oh, THIS is the necklace, as photographed by me:

I talked about it last fall, in this post here, having worn it to a local art show and gotten lots of compliments and comments on it. (The post I am referencing is one in my 'personal' blog, mostly about my life and my friends and family)

This was the first necklace I have submitted to bead Trends, and the second piece I submitted to any magazine, following encouragement by my friends Cindy Wimmer and Kerry Bogert.

What's really awesome is that I will have five pieces of my work shown in five different magazine issues between now and probably January. It's an accomplishment for me, and I am hoping that next year I can at least do that many, or maybe more.

I'm certainly going to try!

Anyway, I really wants to say thanks for Cindy and Kerry for all of their support, always, and their encouragement, and for giving me the little push I needed to be confident and send my work out into the world on this level. Thank you, ladies, so very much!

This necklace should be in my Etsy shop later today, if anyone is interested. I'll post the link later on!

Have an inspired day!

Make a Wish....

Today is Wishcasting Wednesday, over on Jamie Ridley's blog.

We could all use the power of good wishes in our life. Not only for our art and our creative leanings, but for our families, our friends and our life. Does us, as people, wishing all together *really* make them come true? I don't know. Does the power of positive thinking -- which is really what wishing is --really work? I think it does.

And anyway, it certainly doesn't hurt anything.

Today's Wishcasting prompt is....What do you wish for your creativity?

Wow. I have actually been thinking about this a lot recently. Especially as I find out just how unfocused and scattered I can be in general, not to mention in my creative life.

I wish.......that I had more ability to focus, REALLY focus, on my creative work....spend the time, the mental, emotional, and metaphysical energy, and the physical effort on all the things that swirl around in my brain all day and all night long. I feel like I get distracted, and bored, and wander around creatively too much.

I wish.....that I could feel as though I have found my voice in my art-making, whatever the medium. I know that whatever art that comes from me *is* me, but I don't feel like my message is carrying through the work.

I wish...... that the work I make in my head would transfer to the physical world more easily. What I see in my mind's eye is so very often not what ends up on the page, or in the kiln, or on my worktable.

I wish.....that I could learn to work more efficiently and effectively in the small chunks of time I DO have for creative work. It is so rare that I can spend hours immersed in art-making of any kind, and I really wish that I could accept my current creating parameters, and feel accomplished and satisfied with what I can do in the time I have.

Four wishes is already probably a lot, especially if I were to find a genie in a bottle, but one more wish I would make is this:

I wish that I could find a way to make my creativity my livelihood. Truly. More so than just making my art self-supporting, more than just being able to buy my silver wire and glass and paint and paper and fabrics, I wish that I could turn my creativity into my career.

I wish I could figure out exactly what the heck that means.

What do YOU wish for?

Walking Along The Ocean

I love the beach. I spent half of my childhood living in Miami, so the beach and I, we're pretty well acquainted. I don't get to go nearly as often as I'd like to these days, but I do dream about walking along the shoreline, especially as the sun sets, and I adore listening to the waves crash on the sand. So relaxing. I've been working on some beach-themed pieces lately, combining my favorite turquoise blues and playing with different layers of blue glass. I love how, in the Carribean, the water takes on SO MANY different shades of blue. One of my favorite things about the waters around Miami is the clarity and depth of blue there is.

(And the fact that the water is so clear has completely spoiled me for swimming in water I cannot see to the bottom of. No lakes, rivers, or not-clear ocean water for me, nope!)

Anyway, so one of my most favorite creations of late is this one, called Along the Ocean:
In keeping with my goal to list something new every week in my Etsy shop, this piece is currently available at this link.

Important Mail

Yesterday, I made a few decision about the direction and scope of my little glass and jewelry business. I don't love a whole lot of chaos, and frankly, I like chaos better if it isn't impinging on my ability to be happy. Some chaos is good, a lot of chaos spread over many areas of my life is Not Good.

Creative chaos is....okay. Until I can't find my tools.

But I digress.....

I launched A Hot Piece of Glass three years ago with a booth at a brand-new farmer's and artisan's market in a really cosmopolitan neighborhood of Richmond. An Etsy shop came shortly thereafter, and this blog, and things just kept growing. Early on, I didn't have the confidence nor the line of work to apply to the intermediate and larger art shows around here, so I kept on with the markets. I switched to another new market last year, this one in a more affluent area of town, and I was a vendor this year as well. Both of the markets have grown, but my average sales have not. Additionally, I have discovered that I have the ability to do other things with my skills, namely teaching and writing. These take up good chunks of time.

I realized I was getting very stressed and unhappy. I started dreading spending the five-plus hours on a Saturday morning at the market, only to have low sales. Spread out over the hours of time, I was making barely enough to justify being there. And I have been teaching more, and writing more.

It was all too much. This year, I decided I was going to really put forth the concerted effort to apply to, and get accepted by, larger shows. Places where people understood my work, were at least generally willing to pay for it, and would want to be a part of what I do.

So, a week or so ago, I brought a small display of my work to a jury day for a local art show held in September on the campus of the University of Richmond. Yesterday I got a letter in the mail that I was invited to participate in the show! The great thing is that this show is a really good one, with great attendance and a well-established history.

So, I decided to stop doing the farmer's markets.

I worried I wasn't making the right decision and that I wouldn't be able to sell my work. But I need to spend time with my family, and I need my energies to go *efficiently* toward advancing my work.

So there it is. I feel better already.

Now I need to go make a LOT of new work for this show. I've been dreaming of the display I want to create, and I am going to make it happen, not just "make do". And I know I keep saying it, but I am going to make a goal to list something at least every week on Etsy, starting next week.

But first, I am watching DVR'd Doctor Who and sitting on the couch. It IS Friday night, after all.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Here's what you need to do....

Okay, so....if you haven't heard already, registration is NOW OPEN for the ArtBliss Inaugural Event this September!

I'll wait while you go over to the site and get yourself registered for some AWESOME workshops.....

.................

...............

.........

....

..

.


All done? Okay, great. You are in for a creative treat the likes you have never experienced. Cindy Wimmer and Jeanette Ryan really know how to put on a workshop, and the classes and fun stuff they have on the schedule will blow your mind.

I'm taking Melissa Manley's 'Hard Candy' class on Saturday, and considering her evening class on the same day.

This is all part of my 2010 plan to get educated. So much of what I do is self-taught, and that's fine, but it's also nice to not have to learn everything the hard way, ya know??

It's also part of my 2010 plan to get to know people in the art jewelry world and sort of make my way into it as an artist. Everyone always need more friends, right? And how better to make new friends than by going to places where there are like-minded people? Plus, I know I am going to get to hang out with some of the coolest jewelry and metal and glass and mixed-media people there are!

So, go on! Go get registered for a class and join me in an adventure!

(So? What did you register for?)