Am I a jeweler?

Well I was way too tired yesterday to blog. The morning was filled with nerves and trying to get things done last minute. The day went as well as I had hoped and better. I sold a few things, enough to cover my booth for the day, plus my booth for the 31st, since that one is prepaid and first come first serve. The association that sponsors us is having a big chilly cook off that day so we expect to be extra busy that day. I hope that's correct. I also bought a piece of art from one of the other vendors... a green man type 3-d painting. The other vendors were great with one exception, maybe two, but both of those are not coming back next week, so no biggie. It seems like a community of artists growing rather than just a bunch of competitors, so that is a much more fitting atmoshpere for me. And I seriously lucked out getting in there, because it is now closed to more jewelry artists. I was the last one added... she only added me because she said my stuff was "Oh shit!" but in a good way. She told me I would not be next to her, but it turned out that was the place I could fit... ha ha ha, she is entertaining anyway, so I got all day entertainment!

I don't really see us as that much of competitors, because she does bead stringing, and I do metalwork and wire wrapping... not much of an overlap to me, there is a major difference in our product.

I also met a guy who works for a local jeweler... he had a booth there, but was talking metalwork with me for a bit, he said I am a jeweler. I think I am on my way, but I am hesitant to call myself a jeweler yet, because to me that means serious jewelry. Not that mine is not serious, but I have still major pieces of the metalwork puzzle to learn. Like finish polishing, and sawing... yeah yeah I know... I have gotten by for a while without that knowledge and made some really coo pieces, but learning these last couple of things and them practicing all of it, will make me feel I am a real jeweler. However I do want to clarify one thing... I have no desire to make traditional jewelry, like that stuff you might find at your local mall jeweler... I want to make art jewelry, using and learning the classic jewelers techniques. I am an artist above all.

All of this got me thinking... (plus the guy singing that reminded me of my college vocal professor)... where I was 20 years ago. Well I was in high school then, but 19 years ago I was in college, so it's pretty close, and that was a life changing experiene for me in a lot of ways. I had no idea I would ever make jewelry, I was singing and playing drums and percussion in college. I had plans to become a music teacher, and then got pregnant. Well as I gave that baby up for adoption, I decided that I wanted to be an artist for life. It took me a long while before I made that happen... some doetours in life I took so I could make money... getting off my true path, and having to figure out who I was over and over, and fiunally come to accept that I am an artist... that is what I was born to do. I can not enjoy life not being an artist knowing this. So once I really believed that I am an artist and this is what I should be doing with my life... each day got harder, knowing I was walking the wrong path. I would have times where things would seem good and smooth, but that lurking feeling of, I am not doing what I was meant to, would always pop up and bite me in the ass.

Now I can say that getting to where I am now, making all my money from my art, and not going to a dayjob, just to pay for things and bills. I am broke a lot, but mostly I am happy. Is it a bed of roses? No, there are days I don't want to make things, there are days I can't stop making things, and there are days in between. But I am proud of what I make, when I look at the things I make, it makes me happy. They are quality and well made, and even my supplies are doing a good thing in the world. They are promoting creativity in others, making the world a more beautiful place with more imagination and creative energy. I say they make the world a more beautiful place, because poeple make beautiful things, made with love out of them, so that adds to that, rather than just more manufactured items, that no one really cares about one the trend has passed.

So all of this makes me thankfull of what I am doing, even if some days are not all fun. And it makes me wonder where I will be in 5 or 10 years. if you had asked me 5-10 years ago if I would be doing what I am doing now, I would have thought, that is a nice thought, but I kinda doubt you're right. So I can pretty much bet that in the next 5-10 years, I will grow by more leaps and bounds as I have in the past. And maybe one day I will believe I am truely a jeweler.