From Fish to Leaves and Back

Whoops.  I've been slacking on the blog scene the past couple weeks.  It's not because I haven't been working, I just haven't had a whole lot to report.  I haven't gotten to work in the studio at all, so that is not good.  The pesky distractions of life again, among other things.  And I was out of town for Easter weekend with the family in Oak Island, NC. 

But while I was there I did take new work to TheYaupon Tree Gallery.  The work I had there in the past has not been great on the sales front.  They some pieces from my Sea Life Collection, which features champleve enameled brooches and earrings.

But I guess they were a little pricey for that venue.  It's a beach gallery that people visit while they're on vacation, and as Oak Island is a low-key family-oriented beach, it's just not a place where tourists come to drop $200 on a brooch.  I have tried dropping the prices a little, but a lot of work went into these pieces, and I just can't go too low.  It's just not their place.  That's ok.  We'll try the new reversible disc line and see where that gets us.  Lower prices, summery colors.  It's worth a shot.  But it's another consignment situation, so if these don't sell this season, I might pull everything and find another gallery in the Southport area. 

I'm also trying to set up a meeting with The Other Half in Winston-Salem NC for this coming weekend when I'll be there.  They have beautiful work, and I have bought many gifts there myself.  They will be recieving some work from my Leaf Jewelry Collection. 

So hopefully I can get in touch with them, and maybe Maypop Gallery in Greensboro NC while I'm in the area.  Maypop actually asked for new work a while ago when we were in the middle of our move to Richmond, and I haven't had a chance to get back down there and get them any yet.  So I think I will add that to my list for the week.

Additionally, I've done a lot of  research the past couple weeks when I wasn't blogging, and I want to share my favorite blog for advice for small art-based business owners: Crafting an MBA.  They have some excellent advice, and I would definitely recommend checking that out if you're just starting out like me or even if you're pretty established.  It never hurts to hear some new ideas.

This is going to be a pretty full week.  I had planned to leave on Wednesday to go on down to NC and work for my favorite tool company, NC Black Co. for a few days, but I can't seem to get in touch with them, so that might not be happening.  I am teaching a Micro-Raising workshop with Chuck Kennington at the Sawtooth Center in Winston-Salem in a couple weeks for NC Black, May 21-22, and we need to make sure we get all the tools made and everything in order.  I designed a raising stake that we will hopefully have at least a prototype of this week, and hopefully we can get that rolling.  By the way, if you're interested in the Micro-Raising workshop, there are still a few spots left!  It's for beginners as well as intermediate metalsmiths who just want to learn a new technique.  Check out my posting from a few weeks ago for an idea of what will be going on in the workshop.  It's going to be tons of fun!

So I'll try to do better at posting, and hopefully there will be some new and exciting things to talk about, so check back soon!  Thanks for reading!