I'm sure if we started a thread of "comments heard from ADULTS" during shows, they would be far worse than what kids do. Usually the kids that come into our booth are very well behaved.
“I could do that.”
“My kid could do that”
Just staring at you, like you’re an animal at the zoo. Ironically, at
a show near a zoo.
Elaine
http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com ™
Hard to Find Tools for Metal Clay
I am sitting at a show busily putting finishing touchs on a small
shell cameo with a graver. A ‘gentleman’ approachs with his hoarde
and says in that special southern way. “Ohh you carve them? I could
do that.” I promptly handed him the tools and the dop stick with the
cameo and said “Great show me I could use a break!” His response" I
can’t"
No really? lol
Teri
Silver & Cameo Heritage Jewelry
www.corneliusspick.com
I always like it when I hear “That’s too rich for my tastes” while
the commentor holds a Coach purse. That’s always the best.
Miachelle
“If I buy the materials will you make me one like that” is a common
one we hear because we import and retail beads as well as make
jewellery. Another favourite is “where do you buy your ---- (casting,
stone, etc) from?” This is normally followed by praise of your work
and an explanation that they are no good with their hands because
they work with their brain.
Nick
Oh yeah, I think we’ve all heard wonderful comments from adults,
like (upon viewing a one-of-a-kind fused links bracelet), “where did
you get the parts?”
Kay
Ok, since I mentioned the thread, I’ll tell you my favorite.
“This is nice, but I buy all my jewelry at TJ Max” (store is aimed
at end of season, mass production cast offs at a discount).
Oh and one more,
“So why do you charge so much for your one of kind granulation
work?” direct quote from my lawyer who charges $325 an hour.
In our last show I was standing in the aisle enjoying the weather
while my partner worked the booth.
A sweet little girl and her dad were walking towards me having a
nice chat. As they passed he said to her, “And after you’re an
artist, then what are you going to do?”
Damn, and here I thought I could just be an artist all my life.
Carla
looking for that next career
Elaine,
At my very first trunk show inside a retail store I had an adult who
was very rude!
I was bent over behind the counter getting set up for the show. The
store had advertised the event and there was a large head shot
suspended above the counter. A woman came to the counter and started
picking at my work saying, “Why didn’t she use turquoise there?” and
"She shouldn’t have used THAT color of stone there!" There was the “I
could have done a better job than THAT!” You could almost hear the
exasperation steaming from her ears.
I stood up and asked calmly if I could show her anything in the case.
She stood there, looked at me, looked above me at my photo then back
again at me. Sheepishly she said, “You’re the artist.” "Yes, I am.
Would you like to see anything in the case?" For the next few minutes
I showed her my work as she desparately tried to back peddle (“I
didn’t know you were the artist” “It’s very nice work”). She ended up
just embarassed and finally left.
I’ve never had a kid behave that way. They’re just curious. Adults
are a different matter. Luckily, she was the only truly rude customer
I’ve had. FWIW.
Patricia
Well, I work hard at fabrication and fusing, and use the jewelry
studio at UCSD’s Crafts Center. Twice, the same woman, taking a class
there, said to me, “Did you make that with PMC?”
The second time got to me, and I stated, "as I said before"
She then said, “well you don’t have to get huffy about it!” Grrrrr.
Hugs
Terrie
We’ve all heard the “I/my kid/my Aunt Selma’s neighbor’s 9-yr-old
kid’s friend can do that” - I actually had a store owner try…! This
was over 20 years ago; Not only did she do a complete 180 in
personality as soon as I delivered my collection, morphing magically
from a “patron”, fawningly complimentary of my art, into a lying,
insulting, disrespectful, devious hell-bitch on wheels when it came
to the “honoring our payment agreement” part (different thread), but
her store manager alerted me to the fact that she actually went out
and bought materials and tried to copy my work (which was on display
in her shop at the time…!). As the story went, the manager came in
to work one day, saw this idiot sitting at a counter, struggling in
frustration to assemble a necklace based on one of my pieces -as I
said, already on display. After watching the spectacle for a bit,
the manager commented simply, “Now you know why Margery’s work is so
good…” and left it at that. I never saw anything she may have
actually completed put out for sale in the store, but then, after I
subsequently severed our relationship ( and, yes, I did get the
money due me, after some in-store drama on her part), I never went
back. Her husband, who worked in the back doing the repairs, was such
a nice guy, too, and, clearly embarrassed by his wife’s behavior,
tried to apologize for her and actually begged me to “reconsider”.
But…then she had to open her mouth - at which point I quietly
wished them - him in particular - good luck and took myself and my
long overdue check way the heck outa range…
margery
"If I buy the materials will you make me one like that" is a common one we hear because we import and retail beads as well as make jewellery.
Oh, yeah…I get that one, too… as I sit in my studio, surrounded
by my agonizingly chosen, lovingly assembled collection of artifacts
and materials, most of which are unique antiquities and/or are no
longer even available. I loved someone’s response recently offering
the comparison to bringing your own groceries to a serious restaurant
and asking the chef to work his usual magic with it - and
accordingly, of course, expecting a significant price adjustment. (
This is not to be confused with redesigning an unwearable or
out-of-date owned piece, a legitimate commission I usually embrace.)
Another favourite is "where do you buy your ---- (casting, stone, etc) from?"
Besides getting this questions from the occasional generic customer,
I’ve also gotten them from a rival designer, showing her work in the
same store, AS I was interacting with customers DURING my appearances
( yes, Ms. Clueless “My-Movie-is All-About-Me” did this more than
once.)
This is normally fol.lowed by praise of your work (But not likely a sale...) and an explanation that they are no good with their hands because they work with their brain.
Yep. Clearly. Lol…!
margery
"So why do you charge so much for your one of kind granulation work?" direct quote from my lawyer who charges $325 an hour.
Your answer would be more interesting than the question.
"So why do you charge so much for your one of kind granulation work?" direct quote from my lawyer who charges $325 an hour.
I hope you let him know that if you charged his hourly rate your
one-of-a-kind work would cost him somewhere around $4500 not counting
materials.
I hope you let him know that if you charged his hourly rate your one-of-a-kind work would cost him somewhere around $4500 not counting materials.
Well actually, it’s a “her”, my patent attorney. We ended up
bartering a piece of jewelry for her services. She just had no idea
how long the process took, the education behind the process, the
materials, etc.
-k
M E T A L W E R X
School for Jewelry and the Metalarts
50 Guinan St.
Waltham, MA 02451
781 891 3854
www.metalwerx.com
"So why do you charge so much for your one of kind granulation work?" direct quote from my lawyer who charges $325 an hour.
Yeah, I can relate to this one. I’ve worked with computer tech work
as well, and employed full time, I wasn’t earning more than about
$18/hr, but techs they would bring in would charge $125/hour for just
their work, plus, they charge for gas and parts! If I tried to charge
$125/hr for my jewelry work plus parts, people would think I was
insane…
Jeanne
http://www.jeannius.com
I do handcrafted, SOLDERED, filigree work with stones....so the one I hear all too often, including from some people in the supply/jewelry biz is... "oooo, I love your wire wrapping!"
I’ve also had it mistaken and dismissed for wire wrapping by juries
because they didn’t understand (or apparently bother to ready my
description) what they were looking at so they just dismissed it as
wire wrapping, which takes a whole different skill set to produce.
(I’m not putting down wire wrappers…there are many excellent ones,
but it’s gotten the reputation for being more ‘home artist’ type
work, or more common, and I’ve been told that some guilds/juries just
automatically dismiss it…some even dismiss beadwork outright
because so many do it)
I’ve also had people ask me where I get my parts or assume that I
just plop a stone in settings in finished work…so I’ve gotten in the
habit of showing the unworked coil of wire and explaining that each
piece must be shaped and soldered together…Otherwise, some are
surprised that “I” am the artist…or they ‘ooo and aaaah’…but when
you tell them the price, they think it’s too high.
Jeanne
http://www.jeannius.com
well,I guess I will tell my story on this matter,
This one caught me off guard just because I did not think anyone
would actually do or say what they did. ever.
this was at a trunk show,and it was very busy opening night, i was
behind the counter with the owner and assistants talking with
customers, when the owner of the gallery came and very apologetically
said did you hear all that? I hadn’t, so she began ; apparently this
big spender customer of theirs looking very forward to my work and
show was there looking and asking ;oogling and ogling all over the
work,and thinking and making comments that I was from Israel, about
how great the work was and she loved it asking to see and try on
things; The owner had corrected her to the fact that I was from
Lebanon, and apparently the minute the customer hears this she drops
the work on the counter backs off a few steps and says how dare she
carry artists from that region and she will be taking her business
elsewhere from now on.
so the work was great, wonderful till certain facts in her head were
different. but even more strange was the fact that it hadn’t
mattered that the studio is in USA and the artist is an American.the
work was the same that she loved a minute ago…
this was a first for me from the jewelry and art sales point of
view. the gallery owner was so stressed and upset, I tried to
apologize to her for her exposure to that.
I guess in the retail part of it one needs to have a pretty thick
skin.
Hratch
AHB
www.Hratchbabikian.com
Besides getting this questions from the occasional generic customer, I've also gotten them from a rival designer, showing her work in the same store, AS I was interacting with customers DURING my appearances ( yes, Ms. Clueless "My-Movie-is All-About-Me" did this more than once.)
Hmmm…When asked where I have gotten something, stone, grain,
pearls, how I make my work, etc…Be it customer, designer,
neighboring booth, or “rival”, (who the heck is a “rival” by the
way…we all make jewelry here, and are all fighting for the same
dollars, so with that line of thought, perhaps we should all shut up
and Orchid should shut down? Kiiiidddiing!), I always tell them
everything. Usually in detail. I give them names and numbers if I
have them on me. Write it down for them if pen and paper are at
hand. Marnie Ryan for one, does the same thing, (she has always been
extremely open and generous), as do many other well established
jewelers. Just a fundamental belief system.
Hey…I could give you all of my sources, sit down and show you
exactly how I make what I make, and when you are finished, it will
either look like an imitation of my work, or I will get credit for
whatever nice thing of “mine” that you are selling. I’ll take that
credit and raise you two paraibas…lol… When my work is
published, I try to include the on who cut my stones,
and include my sources. Magazines usually react to that as though I
have lost my mind. I think it is common sense, and my sources love me
for it.
My sole exception is my tusk source. He is very very small, and only
sells to a handfull of a particular type of artist like myself, that
he personally knows and selects. He has specifically requested me
not to pass on his info, as he does not wish to, and is probably
unable to supply in volume. The well known carver that introduced us
did not tell me at the time that this guy was a fossil tusk
prospector. The man approached me as a source some time later after
seeing some of my work. Apparently he makes enough with his approach.
Everything else is open source as far as I am concerned. Ask away.
Thanks to Orchid and its generous contributors for allowing us to
all be open source,and encourage the same should we choose. Without
help and none of us would learn, improve, or move
forward.
-Lisa (Brush clearance yesterday. Fire season is here in full force
in So Cal. Leaving now for a Powwow in Moorpark, but don’t plan on
dancing.) Topanga, CA USA
"So why do you charge so much for your one of kind granulation work?" direct quote from my lawyer who charges $325 an hour.
I laughed out loud at this one!
About my filigree work, more than one person has actually said, “You
just buy those little swirly things and stick them in, don’t you?”
(Yeah, right.)
About repousse, “You just hit that over a mold, right?” (Sure, I defy
the laws physics by whacking 24g sheet over a sharp mold, and voila:
relief.)
Best story I’ve ever heard was from a student, who was admiring the
work of a metalsmith at a high end outdoor art show. Another guy was
looking at the same work and made some stupid remark about why the
work was so expensive.
The artist replied with a smile, “Quality isn’t for everyone.” Wish I
knew who the artist was, so I could thank her for the line that I
really wish I had the nerve to use in those situations!
Victoria Lansford