Earrings for you; soup for someone else! Make it a Happy Valentine's Day!

The beginning of February is upon us, and with it the approach of Valentine’s Day.  There is a belief (true or not) that this most lovey-dovey of holidays was created entirely by-and-for the profit of the greeting card industry.  Along with most other holidays, Valentine’s Day in recent years has blossomed into a mega-marketing event, projecting the image of an ideal day of gifts and romantic adventures to top anything that happens throughout the rest of the year between you and your significant other.  That’s a lot of pressure! 

Also on my mind at this time of year as we snuggle up in our houses and retreat from the overload of social engagement that often describes the Christmas season, are the folks that are left out in the cold.  Those, that when we stop participating in the socially-conscious giving that is especially highlighted over the holiday season, still experience daily challenge to put a meal on the table.  As a producer of such an (often perceived-as) frivolous item like jewellery, this weighs on my mind. 

And so, all of this preamble leads to this: I’d like to propose to you a chance to give back to the community as you celebrate Valentine’s Day this year.  One of my most popular pairs of earrings are pictured here.  I designed them with no specific image in mind, but a lot of customers have commented on their resemblance to soup ladles.  As jewellery is an oft-given item on Valentine’s Day, I have decided to donate 50% of the sale of each of my “soup ladle” earrings to Street Reach, which operates many services to the public, among which is a soup kitchen.  This offer will be valid for earrings purchased in person, (while supplies last) at my booth this weekend during Some Good Market Goes to Town.  As usual this event will be held at Canon Wood Hall on the corner of King’s Bridge Road and Military Road, on Feb. 8th from 10am - 4pm.  Here’s a chance for us all to feel good about giving at this time of year!


On Sunday, Feb. 9th, please drop by Alexis Templeton Studio where I will be participating in her annual Chocolate & Handmade Hearts event which runs from Feb.7th - 14th.  Try your hand at forging your own copper heart charm to take home!  I will be there on Sunday from 12 - 4pm, but be sure to drop by throughout the weekend to see what other visiting artists are demonstrating.  There’s also chocolate and pots as always, to tickle your fancy.  

One week later on Feb. 15th, the Quidi Vidi Plantation will have a Snow Day Open House, at which I will have a booth.  There will be live music, sweet treats, and of course the artists in residence will be there to showcase what they’ve been creating in their studios!  A great day out for the whole family.

Happy Winter, my friends!  Enjoy the wealth of opportunities this season has to offer us!

Countdown to May 10th!

A brand new year is stumbling out of the gate.  As the hubbub of Christmas and New Year's ends, and we shovel ourselves out of yet another snowfall, all the while anticipating the next power outage, I'm trying to bring my focus around to the next big deadline I am facing. 

I have had a proposal accepted by the Gallery at the Craft Council of Newfoundland & Labrador for an exhibit in their main gallery, along with three other artists.  Opening on May 10th and running until June 24th, "Elemental Nexus" will feature the work of Urve Manuel, Heather Mills, Colette Samson, and myself.  Urve and Colette work in glass, Heather works in glass and metal, and I will be featuring my metalwork.  In different ways we are each exploring the themes of interaction in the natural world.  I am tackling this exploration from the perspective of the human impact on animal and bird populations, as well as on the topography of our environment.  I am excited to be making some sculptural work as well as jewellery pieces for this show. 

The ideas in my head are bursting to find tactile expression on my workbench, and yet, as with every piece I make, there is a certain trepidation that the perfection I see in my mind's eye will fail to be executed satisfactorily by my (only too human) hands.  I have begun work on this collection of pieces, but now I must ramp up production so that I don't feel rushed as the exhibition date nears.  I would also like to gratefully acknowledge the support of the Newfoundland & Labrador Arts Council as I prepare this body of work.  Their contribution will allow me a greater freedom in my choice of materials than I would otherwise have been able to incorporate.  Without revealing too much before the opening of the exhibition, I hope to provide you with sneak peaks of the work as it comes together.  As always, please visit my Facebook Page to stay up to date with my activities between these (approximately) monthly blog posts.

I will wrap this up with just a few images from my Christmas holidays in Ontario.  Thank goodness for digital photography, as I certainly found lots of beauty that simply required photo-documentation!
Hope you all had a safe and festive holiday, and all the best to everyone in 2014!

Balancing the Christmas Distractions, I mean Inspirations!

 

I have mentioned the balancing act that I struggle with when it comes to allowing myself to work on projects other than jewellery.  (The previous post on that topic is here.)  Well, Christmas-time magnifies this dilemma for me.  There is a desire to present new exciting jewellery pieces at the myriad of craft fairs throughout the holiday season, but I also used to, (long, long ago,) make Christmas gifts for people, as well as tackle crafty projects in general.  This has fallen by the wayside in recent years, since I've gone 'entrepreneurial'.  The regret of projects not tackled, in lieu of jewellery, gets tiresome to be quite honest.  So as this festive season ramps up, I've just chosen to seize upon my success with being most productive in the mornings and into the afternoons (and so I make jewellery then), and I leave the afternoons or evenings open to different creative whims.  It's working!  I have found a balance of sorts. 

Above are some heat-coloured, folded copper bird ornaments that I thought had a whimsical appeal.  The inspiration came from a bird on my advent calendar, and I went with it.  These will be available along with my jewellery, at the Anna Templeton Christmas Tea & Sale this coming weekend Dec. 13,14, & 15th.  This is the last event for Susan Lee Studios this year!  Below are some new pieces you can find at my booth located at the back of the second floor.

7 brand new photo-etched Porthole necklaces

Roller-printed reversible necklace and earrings in sterling.

Photo-etched brooch and necklace in sterling silver.

May this festive season bring joy to your household that spills on and on into the new year.

Ready or not, here comes Christmas!

I blinked and the Christmas season is upon us once again!  It begins fast and furious for craftspeople this week in St. John's.  Tomorrow is the opening of the Craft Council's two gallery exhibits: Comfort & Joy in the main gallery, and Fire & Ice in the Annex Gallery.  I hope you can join us!  2-4pm

At right is a sneak peek at the work I have in these two shows. 

Comfort & Joy will run Nov. 2 - Dec. 18th, and Fire & Ice will run Nov. 2 - Nov. 23rd.

And then next week the biggest and best craft event of the year starts!  The Craft Council's Christmas Craft Fair is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and the caliber of juried craft just gets better and better. 

You'll find my booth upstairs this year, near the south entrance to the theater auditorium, booth #S211.  The fair opens Wednesday, Nov. 6th, at noon and runs until Sunday, Nov. 10th at 5:00.  Full fair hours and other details can be found here.

I've been exceedingly busy making new work and I'd love for you to drop by and have a look.

Reinventing my booth

My booth, Christmas 2012

The Craft Council Christmas Craft Fair is looming scarily close.  Less than a month away in fact.  I'm steadily working away at my jewellery.  I will have lots of one-of-a-kind work as well as some of my more standard favourites.  This year however, I've committed myself to a larger (and much more expensive!) booth at the Arts and Culture Centre.  I'll be out on the concourse, near one of the auditorium doors.


And so, I'm taking to heart the advice from the many marketing gurus that preach "if you double your space, you'll double your sales".  This is a simplified soundbite of course.  But there certainly is truth in allowing enough room at a craft fair for customers to browse.  I know that as a customer, if it's too crowded, I don't linger long to look at the work on display.  When it's busy, my booth has been crowded, and with the small size of my product customers will pass by rather than elbow their way in to see what I'm selling.  However, with a bigger booth I must reinvent my display.

I enjoy this planning.  It's a bit of a puzzle, considering all the factors that make a successful booth display that works for me, as well as my customers.  One factor is cost - as my display must morph from one craft fair setting to another, I can't break the bank on any one display set-up.  Another is portability - all the component parts must be carried to and from my small car, often within the bustling chaos of all the other booth holders who are also setting up.  And because I share my humble abode, I must also consider the storage of the display components between fairs.  The display components themselves must also function well once they are set up - it is alarming to customers if the display is wobbly or they're uncertain of whether they can touch the product without something tipping over.  Uncertain customers don't linger, and therefore don't make a purchase.

I've been wanting for some time now to figure out a way to move my display from primarily horizontal surfaces, to more vertical ones.  The challenge here is the traditional "pipe and drape" set-up at the fairs.  Drapery, obviously, doesn't provide a stable surface for mounting things on.  This year I think I have figured out a solution, that still meets all of my criteria above for display components.  It will no doubt need some tweaking, once it's in use.  But between now and then I'm trying to foresee glitches and remedy them.  

I will have this one big plinth for some display items as well as storage.

And so:

I'm sewing a long narrow curtain to wrap the booth at eye-level.

I've been collecting boxes, and had hoped to find green tights to cover them.

Since green tights couldn't be found, I've resorted to spray paint. These boxes will hang in front of the long, narrow curtain, and, with the buttons I will attach to them, will hold my jewellery.

This is my pricey experiment: some warm LED lighting tape which I'm hoping to suspend in front of my vertical display.

Hope to see you Nov. 6 - 10th at the Arts and Culture Centre in St. John's.

Full Tilt

Audio interlude:  Mo Kenney with Joel Plaskett

 Audio Interlude: Katie Baggs

Visitors, traveling, craft fairs, and the glorious folk festival: it's been a busy summer.  Now ahead of me I see time free to tackle ideas that have been on the back burner, waiting.  There are many exhibits with open calls-for-entry this fall, and I've jumped with both feet into a much larger booth for the Christmas Craft Fair in November.  I don't want to disappoint myself by not meeting my own expectations.  So now: to work!

Didn't I used to have hobbies?

Vamps for the "Walking with our Sisters" Project

 

For "Primp my Nest", an auction at Eastern Edge Gallery

In articles I read on the "entrepreneurial life", the trending phrase seems to be emphasized is the "importance of the work-life balance".  This refers to the struggle, when you work for yourself, to also have time to and for yourself that is not spent on work-related activities.  I get it.  In theory.  In reality however, if I'm not making jewellery, I have immense trouble allowing myself to work on other projects.  Some projects cause me no grief at all.  The computer, for example, very slyly sucks up my time and does not cause me guilt.  It probably should more than it does.  I can also settle into a good book for hours, and nary a guilty thought crosses my mind.  But, if I should ponder that unfinished knitting project, or the table loom that's gathering dust; the clay that is hardening from neglect, or any other of a myriad of hands-on activities, I just can't commit to tackling them.  It feels to me that my creative energy should be exerted solely on working on my jewellery, lest it be wasted or somehow run out if misused.  For some time, this guilt has felt all right; I should be spending lots of time making jewellery.  But as I find a balance in my production level that satisfies my current market demand, I'm realizing that if I continue to resist the urge to create other things, that are not jewellery, that there is a nugget of resentment that I fear will only grow, towards my jewellery practice.  So recently, I've found a compromise that satisfies, for now.  I've made a couple of projects in what I will call my "non-professional materials", for auctions or exhibitions in support of causes I feel strongly about.  This has alleviated my "makers-guilt" in two ways.  Firstly, I do like to feel I can support certain causes, but as an entrepreneur, I just don't have the financial means to satisfy that desire to the degree that I would like.  Secondly, I have other skills beyond jewellery-making that I like to explore, and these projects give me an outlet to do so.

Underlying this solution is a whole other can of worms that I won't get into extensively here, surrounding the requests that craftspeople and artists often receive for donations of their work in support of a charitable or fundraising, activity or group.  Some of the worms in the aforementioned "can" advocate for the donating of the talents we have for the greater good, no holds (worms?) barred.  Some other worms hold firmly to the belief that nobody's skills (or the resulting product of those skills) should be expected, or therefore given, for free.  In between these two viewpoints are the rest of the worms that hold a range of opinions accommodating one viewpoint or the other to greater or lesser degree.  I'm of the belief that everyone's entitled to arrive at their own solution to the "donation conundrum", to the best that the allocation of their time, and means, allows.

Last year's humpback whales for the annual Clay Studio Beach Firing

The viewpoint that I am currently selecting to embrace from all of this, is the option of submitting my work for charitable or fundraising purposes in a medium of my choosing.  I feel that this is still an indirect way of broadening my professional (read: "jewellery") network, and I get to spend time creating something I'm proud of without it feeling like "work".  The spin-off benefit I've found from this, (which is not all-together unexpected, since I am a self-confessed workshop-junkie in most any media), is that by working in different materials and pursuing different themes according to the project I'm submitting work to, lends itself to new inspirations that I can bring back to my jewellery bench.  And that is refreshing!