And you know, I think you are right about my voice. The more we all chat about this issue, the more I’m starting to realize that what I have been referring to as “finding my niche” was really the point in my work where my voice began to come through.

One of the things I’m thinking I need to do is brush up on the lingo. I got a bit of a start with Julia Sober’s seminar on design, but I’d like to learn a little more. Conversations like this would be a lot easier with the right vocabulary!

See what Judy Dunn has been blogging about: Owning Up

When you can take the discussion home and extend it in an honest voice to your peers, your customers and a further audience and have some of the current Big Voices in the field answer, it’s interesting. It moves the discussion of Art out of the gallery and classroom and stuffy wine and cheese environment into a place that is visible and easy to access.

I also appreciate that everyone has said some of the same things but that every single poster has had a different take on your original post, even the ones who heard or were closer to the initial session. It is like the game of telephone as Seth said.

See what Elaine has been blogging about: More Experimenting

It seems as if what’s most important is that we take pleasure in the process of creating things that we’re proud of. Not every pair of earrings has to be “art”. They can just be a nicely made pair of earrings that you feel wonderful wearing and that’s okay. I think the WOW factor that you spoke about comes from a number of things – good craftsmanship, excellent design, good color sense, innovation, mastery of material, etc. AND our own unique perception of what we consider these things to be. What WOWS me may not necessarily WOW you. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that the WOW factor is just as subjective as anything else.

All of us, from the timid beginners to the most accomplished and pompous egomaniacs can count on one thing. . . not everyone is going to like and/or appreciate what we’ve created.

Just for the record, I think you do have a style and I see your “voice” coming through in your art. It’s fun and colorful and wonderful. If you feel as if your finishing could be better, that’s an easy thing to change, just as you said.

Sometimes I think the whole art thing is taken WAY too seriously. Whether you earn a living at this or not, you can’t lose your perspective on what it ultimately is : a means of personal self-expression. I have a huge appreciation for beautiful and well-made things but realistically, none of that is going to cure cancer or feed multitudes of starving people or solve the healthcare crisis in our country. It’s just art. My all time favorite quote from Picasso:
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
If that’s how the creative process makes you feel, then you’re doing something right.

See what Kim Cavender has been blogging about: I’m off to get SYNERGIZED!

My trouble is that I don’t really know how you can make a piece with exquisite craftsmanship that doesn’t have a voice, or doesn’t jump out and grab someone. It seems to me that a well-made piece is going to do that by default. Which is why I am confused

Right now my sales are mostly word-of-mouth around town, and a couple of local vendor/craft fairs. These are not opportunities to sell $100 earrings. But pretty things that are affordable? Yep, they sell.