New Year, New Ideas, and a Few True Confessions

I don't make New Year's resolutions. I used to, with every good intention of keeping them, but that never happened. Then I'd feel guilty because I failed to keep my resolution. It was not a win-win situation, so I quit doing it.

For the last few years I have tried to concentrate on new ways to think about things, or ways to improve my life. Mostly that has been to simplify. Getting rid of things I don't use that have been sitting around the house, closet, or garage for years collecting dust.  That has been a very satisfying endeavor, and I have given away lots of things to people who were thrilled to get them. Last week I donated a large bag of mixed beads to a non-profit organization for kids projects. Tomorrow I am delivering a small drafting table (I have two others) to a young girl who is a great budding artist. She will get a lot of use out of that table, which has been sitting in a storage unit for six years.

Another thing that I am going to work hard on, and this is a tough one for me, is to be more a person who sees the glass half full, rather than half empty. I admit, I am a dyed-in-the-wool skeptic, and tend not to trust people. I suspect this might be part and parcel with my introvert personality.

One of the big things for me to overcome, both in life and in art, is to stop worrying about what other people think, and to stop comparing my work/life with theirs. To be inspired is one thing, and that is great, but to be envious, especially if that person is successful and/or popular, is a hard thing to avoid. The risk is that I might try to make my artwork or beading projects look more like theirs, even if their style is not mine. The reasoning behind that being, "Well, maybe if my work is more like theirs, I will be more popular." When I find myself thinking like that, I have to back up, slap my forehead, and tell myself to "SNAP OUT OF IT!"

Most of my adult life I was given to believe that unless you could make money at your artwork, you weren't an artist, you were just dorking around with a fun hobby.  My first husband was really great at making me feel like the artwork I needed to do to feel human and get me through some tough times, wasn't worth much because it wasn't "a job" that created income. Fortunately, my second husband of 25 years is just the opposite, which is a relief. But there is always that niggle that if I can't make the artwork/jewelry pay for itself it means that what I am doing isn't worthy, because no one else wants it. This is the wrong attitude to take, and very self-defeating.

Lately I have been reading more and more about what is called "Guerilla Artwork." Small pieces of artwork or inspirational sayings left in public places for people to find, like a gift from the universe— no strings attached, not a stealth advertisement, not self-promotion. Its only purpose is to make someones day a little brighter. Art just for art's sake. Art for the simple joy it will give to a total stranger. I love the idea and want to play. This simple act dispels for me the idea that in order for artwork to be valid, it must make money. And no, I am not badmouthing artists who make money. I admire them. I have made a bit of money myself. But for me, this idea of a gift of art for whomever finds it, just appeals. The world can be a depressing place. Wouldn't it be great of someone was having a totally crap day and found my gift and it made them smile?

To that end, I have started sending out my small contributions to this fun way to spread a little joy. Over the years, I have found dozens of bookmarks left in books I have checked out from the library. I decided that putting small bookmarks that I have made in the books before returning them would be a easy way to start. On the back of each bookmark, I am writing a note that says, "This is for you to keep, or to leave in the book for the next person to enjoy." I also thought that a pair of simple earrings, taped to an index card and left, say in a ladies restroom, would be another fun way to play. On the card it would say something like, "This is a gift to you from the Universe. Hope it brings a smile."

So, no New Year's resolutions, no promises to myself that I know I won't keep. Just a desire to keep working on simplifying my life, play more with my art/jewelry/beading, and at the same time send some small bits of artwork out into the world. Ideas I think I can stick with and enjoy, totally guilt free.  

Revamping, Improving, and...Bees.

I've mentioned in a few posts here that I am in the process of trying to improve my Etsy site. Currently, it looks dated. Well, to me anyway. I have put the site on "vacation" mode until I decide what I want to change, and until I have enough new stock to freshen things up. Many of the pieces currently on the site are old, and after repeatedly being re-posted with no response, and having been lugged around to various SCA events where they essentially got  ignored, I am going to dismantle them and use the parts for something new.

Another of my problems is photographs. I have limited ability for snazzy photos. Mainly due to lighting. My house is dark, especially in the winter, and even with lots of lights focused on a piece, I still get shadows...usually of my head as I bend in to get a closer shot. During the summer I can take pieces outside and that works fine, but the bottom line is, I need to make a light box. Nothing fancy, but something that will give me a better quality photo no matter the season. So, add that item to my long list of "Need to do/make" projects.

Here is an example of what I am talking about. To show off this new bracelet, I was attempting to use one of my old books as a prop. Not sure how successful the experiment turned out, since I still think the lighting is terrible. I like the idea, just not this current execution of the idea. And as per usual, there is the shadow of the top of my head on the left bottom corner.

 

Then I got really wild, and attempted a few iPhoto options for enhancing pictures. In my old computer I have the ancient Adobe Photoshop 2.0, which allowed me to play with effects. My new computer doesn't have Photoshop, and I've been told the old 2.0 disc won't work with it. So, this is what I came up with in the limited resources of iPhoto. I got a bit of feedback on this from my FB friends, who liked the effect. However, when I thought about what it would look like with a whole page of items surrounded in black halos, I decided the effect would end up making my Etsy home page look like a weird chessboard. This is the photo, but I am not going to use this effect for displaying my work.

So my search for an eye-catching way of displaying my pieces without taking the focus away from the piece, and not making my Etsy home page look like I should hand out game pieces with each sale, goes on.

Which brings us to bees. In one of my jewelry/beading books, I noticed that a few of the artists featured add a special charm to each piece. Sort of an ID charm. I liked the idea, and thought about what kind of special charm I might like to add to each of my own pieces. At first I thought of dragonflies, as I love the creatures and we have a lot of them around our place. But the available charms for dragonflies were either too expensive or too dorky. Then I got a new Fire Mountain Gems and Beads catalog, and on one page was a cute little bee charm, sold in packages of 50.

I like bees. I look forward to seeing them return to the garden every Spring. I have a special understanding with the bees—and not just honey bees, but native bees, and all the different bumble bees—I respect them, and they don't sting me. It has worked out fine for over twenty years. I also like the symbolism that bees represent: Industry, productivity, and giving back to the world in which they live by polinating flowers and trees, literally keeping us in fruit, veggies, and flowers. And they create something lovely in the process. Honey.

So finding that special price on a package of 50 bee charms was a sure sign that the bee should be my personal ID charm for each piece. This in hopes that it will symbolize for me the industry of working hard at my craft, producing new pieces, and giving back by donating pieces to non-profit group silent auctions or raffle prizes whenever I can. And although many would consider it frivolous, I think a lovely piece of jewelry is like honey, in that it feeds, if not the stomach, at least the spirit. That can only "bee" good thing, don't you think?