2009! Here we go...

We kick off 2009 amid a deepening recession and global uncertainty, but with the optimism of a new administration that just might help us all get back on track.

For my first post of the New Year, I took the opportunity to ask many of the jewelry designers who were profiled this past year to comment on what they see as both the greatest opportunities and the most difficult challenges for 2009. The responses were as thoughtful and insightful as one might expect from this group of enormously talented and motivated people!

Jeanne Johngren

I think that the greatest opportunities arise from the most difficult challenges. Plato said it well, "necessity is the mother of invention." And much later, Thorstein Veblen reversed it, "invention is the mother of necessity." In either case, necessity and invention are forever linked in a tumultuous pas de deux. They just switch off on who leads.

So, in the face of adversity, what will we invent?

1- Irresistible work, irresistible messaging. The "what is irresistible" part is the thing we'll all need to work out for ourselves.

2- We'll have to make it easier for stores to take a chance on us. My guess is minimum order requirements will be decreased at the same time that designer's requirements around store advertising will increase.

3- It should be easier to have our messages heard this year as many companies will not spend on advertising. There will be less noise. It's time to craft clear messages and be heard.

4- We can refine our lines, really using the knowledge around what was popular in spite of the market heading south. If certain items sold in that market, they will sell as the market continues to slide for the first 6 months of this year. We can expand color and size variations on those items. I am reading that we should expect a strong Christmas '09. So...

5- My advice...Slog on through. I think that getting through to the end of this year is the key. Things will take an upturn. We just have to be super smart -- conservative and targeted -- about how we spend this year in order to be around for the turn-around.

http://www.jeannejohngren.com/

http://jeannejohngren.blogspot.com/

Kim Fox

The greatest opportunities in 2009 are those of focusing and evaluating our best talents, best use of time and placement of our work. There isn’t much space for laxness. This can involve being brutally honest about ourselves, our work, our suppliers and our customers. Those who don’t do this will probably leave our career of choice.

The opportunity is also a challenge. It involves being honest, removing excess, changing course and being brave and confident in the face of an economy that is a challenge. Those that do this are more likely to be still standing after the economic downturn is over.

http://www.phxfox.com/

Keith Lewis

We all have challenges and opportunities facing us each day that shape us , that let us show ourselves as helpful, creative and positive individuals. Still, I find it easy for financial worries or competitive insecurities to jump to the front of the line and overshadow what's really happening in my life. These things are real, but they are not the foundation of anything, and letting them control what you do does a disservice to who we are.

We would not be working for ourselves if we were not self-motivated enough to take control of how we handle the challenges staring at us this year. Making conservatively designed jewelry in hard times is not the answer. Making work that you are happy to stand behind but doesn't cripple your cash flow does make sense. Sales down? Doesn't that mean you have time now to make that special piece, learn that exotic technique, maybe experiment a bit? Perhaps that will put you in the show that will be more helpful to you.

Think of your professional life in terms of its trajectory. Is it a line going steadily but reasonably upwards, creating a buffer for the harder times, exploring new things, showing that you are planning prudently? Or, is the line a low arc showing the same old efforts, with you in danger of a bumpy ride just because you aren't planning anything different?

Well, we all need to keep in mind where we are pointed, and just being aware of this helps me to react to a situation in a way that keeps me going in a good direction. As cloying as it may sound, those challenges are opportunities, and 2009 looks like it's going to have a lot of, well, let's say "opportunities."

http://www.keithlewisstudio.com/

Nancy Troske

Aside from the obvious problems with the economy I think that the greatest opportunities will come from technology; the use of the internet and the availability of learning opportunities via Smartflix, YouTube and other online venues, including social networking, forums, online magazines.

I think the challenge to designers is going to be focus. How does a creative person avoid going in a million different directions when there are so many new materials and techniques out there (like bronze metal clay) not to mention the older techniques such as chasing and repousse, granulation, etc.? Personally, I find it very hard to resist dabbling in everything and not turn into a whirling dervish! I have to reign myself in constantly!

http://www.silverlight-jewelry.com/

Lilian Chen

I think 2009 will be a great year for jewelry making designers, because people can't live without jewelry, especially women. The difficult challenge we are facing is that competition will be more difficult, not only in designing the design piece, but the cost of the materials. So be wise and use different materials, be more unique, more artistic, and more exquisite. People always like unique things.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5808687

Harriete Estel Berman

The greatest opportunity in 2009 definitely involves the Internet and the visibility that it offers for good work, GREAT PHOTOS and personal initiative. Egalitarian forums like Etsy offer popular marketplaces. Social networking websites like Flickr and Crafthaus offer opportunities for showing your work at little or no expense. SlideShare.com can upload a PowerPoint about your work at no cost. Blogs and website templates can generate more formal portfolio presentations that are accessible for a wide audience for a very modest investment of time and money.

The most difficult challenge for 2009 is the depressed economy. There is no way around the fact that selling work in this current economic situation is not going to be easy. My recommendation is to cut back on production and related expenses and work on research and development of your work. Take time to make the best and most interesting work possible, save up your money, and invest in professional photography. Overall I would encourage everyone in the art and craft community to create exposure opportunities for yourself and others by organizing exhibitions with a focus on selecting the most interesting work – and not on whether it is saleable. As Robert Louis Stevenson said, "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant."

http://www.harriete-estel-berman.info/

Marianne Hunter

Maybe one word will do for a jumping off point for my perspective: Fear. Fear is both an opportunity and a challenge to test your metal (a pun!) How sure are you of your design concepts? How willing are you to make some changes? How brave are you about not compromising your integrity? Are you brave enough to take a leap of faith on a design concept that excites you?

Can you face the public and show, not fear, but maintain and communicate your certainty that things will be okay again? That your work is worth having?

I wish us all courage and integrity and success. Work for peace and justice and our world will right itself again. In two weeks we will have a new start.

http://www.hunter-studios.com/

Reading these thoughtful responses kind of choked me up. And, I felt inspired to keep “slogging” as Jeanne Johngren so aptly put it!

By the way, Harriete Estel Berman also wanted to mention an upcoming Professional Development Seminar on maximizing the online revolution. It is through SNAG, but is open to everyone. From the comments above, everyone seems to feel that online is where we all must be—and be good!

Here’s more information on it:

http://www.snagmetalsmith.org/Events/Professional_Development_Seminar/

Thanks for stopping by!

Sally

Keith Lewis: Joyful Jewelry!

Keith Lewis

I found Keith Lewis on metalcyberspace and was instantly transfixed. I thought his images radiated joy and happiness so I sought him out to find out more about the man behind the work. What I found was a person with a rare sensibility and wonderful sense of humor. Take a few minutes to enjoy Keith!

I want to make someone’s favorite earring. While that may sound more like motivation than style, if I want someone else to like the piece of jewelry, then I certainly have to feel good about designing and making it. I truly enjoy creating jewelry, and perhaps this comes across stylistically.

I am most drawn to techniques that bring out some unique quality of the material with which I am working. So, high heat processes with copper, electricity with niobium, chemical patinas with brass, roller forming with soft metals like silver are all techniques that showcase something that a particular metal does well. My hope is that the design ends up looking natural because I’m not forcing anything.


What are your influences and where do you get your inspiration?

I realize that I am out-designed every day by a mollusk. Have you ever looked at one of those amorphous slimy blobs in a shell? And yet, when I look at the pearl it creates, I know I’ll never make anything that wonderful. Have you ever just watched the colors of a soap bubble change from watermelon pink to lime green to teal to hot pink then blue, purple and finally bronze as it thins out? That’s exactly the phenomenon found in Niobium as I anodize it. How about the colors on old copper flashing or brass faucets? The world is full of the most creative wonders you can imagine, and I feel like I am collaging with some of them.

How did you first come to jewelry design and when did you decide to make it your career?

I had some other businesses earlier that foreshadowed what I do now. My first venture was going door to door in my neighborhood selling dirt. The profit margin was the best I’ve ever achieved since it wasn’t even my dirt, and as a seven year old I had low expenses. I moved on to collecting golden corn silk and bits of crushed glass in a cigar box, which when you think about it is rather jewelry-like. My first actual jewelry-focused activity was at twelve years old (40 years ago) in Seoul, South Korea in a craft shop where I learned to cut cabochons. I realized I had to work for myself while I was in undergraduate school in Oklahoma. At the time I was working in an all-you-can-eat-until-2AM pizza joint right next to the Oklahoma Sooner Football stadium; that might have helped me realize I needed a plan... Though, I truthfully don’t think going into business for yourself, especially in the arts, is as much a decision one makes as it is a path one fulfills. (Probably a stupid decision, but can be a wonderful path).

Finding an audience is easy. The hard part is getting them to find me. If you’ve spent any time at a craft show, I’m sure you’ve experienced some kind of mental work stoppage; it’s easy to become numb to the visuals and just walk by the booth. How many tiny things can one see before it all blends together and you just end up walking down the aisle talking to your friend about how bad the food is? I can only hope that enjoying what I do and feeling confident in the integrity of my work somehow comes across and is noticed. That, and I try to get big booths.

With the economy and price of metal on every one's mind, how has this affected your business and this industry?

This is too big a question for someone who likes to hear himself talk to answer here. Briefly, I have moved from using predominantly silver in my designs to silver together with a wide variety of materials while keeping the general feel of sterling jewelry. So, when silver goes from 9$ per ounce to 18$, my Cost of Goods component does not have to double as well. That makes my modest price increase look almost like a relative price decrease compared to others. I certainly have had to become more directional and purposeful in my business, and thankfully I’m married to Lisa who is patient enough to stay calm until I realize that her suggestion is the right one.

What advice do you have for fledgling jewelry designers?

Some Swedish friends of mine occasionally remind me of their proverb: “There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes”. To me this says one needs to not get flustered, keep a positive attitude and plan realistically. I know if you are just starting, this may sound condescending or overly simple, but if you get flustered you’ll have no chance of being effective, if you don’t stay positive you’ll let yourself be ground to a pulp, and if you don’t have a plan that you can compare to reality you’ll end up spinning your wheels. You can do it, regardless of the weather. Once you get started, visualize your trajectory. Where will you end up if you keep doing what you are doing? Has working all the time instead of having a life lost it’s rosy glow? Facing the “bad weather” and making even a small change can have big and long-lasting and terrific consequences. One of my biggest mistakes was to nearly always choose to work harder and that’s not always the way to go.

In the end, you have to feel good about what you’ve done.

Where can your work be seen?

Anywhere but that pizza joint! I’m in many major craft galleries and museum shops (the Smithsonian shops have carried my work for many years). I also show at many major craft shows—my schedule changes each season and can be found on my website: http://www.keithlewisstudio.com/

I'm a major fan! I love Keith's work and found that there is a unique, fascinating person behind the jewelry---just as I imagined. Lucky Lisa! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Sally