Making living off jewelry art?

Jewelry Discussion
21

Jennifer,

Make sure your focus is on the customer. If I walk into a jewelry
store and the maker talks to me for 20 minutes about their artistic
vision, inspiration, style, technique, how simply fabulous they are
as a person, how busy and worn out they are from all these bothersome
customers, etc., I will leave (without buying) and never go back. If
I walk in, am offered a bit of tea and a cookie, asked if I would
like to try something on when I am pointing at it through the case,
told that it looks nice on me (or better yet, that it looks good but
there is a stone in the back with a slightly lighter color that would
be even better with my skin tone, and you would be willing to make it
special for me), and just generally treated like I’m the most
important person to ever come in the store, I will most likely buy
something, and will usually buy again later and recommend you to
others.

You may be the most important person in the creation of your work,
but the buyer is the most important person in the selling of your
work. If things like sarcasm, grammar, and web design get mentioned,
even once, as potential negatives, consider changing them (you don’t
have to do it, just reflect on whether or not you should). Try not to
consider your current audience so much as your desired audience (the
black and white web site will appeal to a certain crowd but turn
others away; which group do you want to stay, look, and buy?).

All this pertains to getting grants as well. You must humble
yourself; you are not entitled to a single cent of any grant money.
Granters want to know they are appreciated, and what you can offer
them in trade for their “free” money.

You have expressed that your options are either working and eating,
or arting and starving; have you considered spending some time
working and starving so you can art and eat at the same time for at
least a year? In my experience it is a lot easier to get loans, etc.
if you have some capital to invest yourself. It sounds like you feel
other work is killing your dreams, but if taking other work for a
short time is the only way to make your dreams a reality, it might be
a necessary step. Think of it as part of the journey rather than a
roadblock.

There was also a comment about not wanting to profit, just wanting
to eat. Your profit is anything above your expenses, so unless you
are already paying yourself for your time, you must profit to eat.
There is a huge (unproductive) stigma surrounding the desire for
money; try to break away from social construct that it is in someway
evil. Not wanting money makes it much more difficult to get and keep
it.

  • Marshall

PS Don’t get disheartened by all of this, just asking these
questions shows you are already way ahead of a lot of people, and
much more likely to succeed.

22

Jennifer,

I am not sure if it’s a generational thing or not, but
realistically, if you are having trouble keeping a roof over your
head and buying groceries, get a day job.

That “hard work” a few of us have posted about includes doing things
that will make you scream. It takes a little sacrifice, and while we
would all like NOT to sacrifice, most of us aren’t geniuses who can
jump into something like this and expect the world to just love us
and buy our stuff.

Make some money so you can eat, live, enter shows, buy materials –
in fact, if you have the money to buy quality materials, you should
be able to buy food. First things first.

Many of us work full time day jobs, with long commutes and
everything, but still find the time to make and market jewelry. It’s
hard work. Some of us even have kids and other responsibilities, but
still find the time to make and market jewelry. It’s hard work.

This isn’t easy. Give yourself the time to make it work. Take care
of yourself. Do your art. And scream if you have to.

No one dies from working a boring day job, but people do starve to
death.

Honestly, Jennifer, I wish you all the best.

Nancie

23 
     Your appearance is critical, your manners have to be perfect,
don't  joke about anything,

Actually, I do dress well enough but find it’s more important to be
real than have “perfect” manners. I find customers prefer you treat
them as real people and not just “a sale”. And as far as not joking,
I’m so glad I’ve had customers that have a sense of humor. They have
brightened many a blah day for me.

In short, ya can't compete with Asia

I don’t want to. Besides, people that wear my jewelry will never have
a friend tell them,“Hey, I just bought that same pendant last week.”
One thing to remember is if they see you are going to be “real” to
them then they will most likely come back as repeat customers. I am
not in the Fortune 500 but we make a living. I don’t sell my jewelry
on our website yet but I do sell at events. Soon am planning on
adding the jewelry to it.

Terry
www.thegingertree.com

24 
Your appearance is critical, your manners have to be perfect,
don't joke about anything, 

    i always make sure to put on a very well groomed appearance,
but i have found humor tends to disarm people, not put them off.
have others of you found different experiences?

Absolutely. You really never can tell (until possibly too late)
whether or not someone shares your sense of humor. Some people are
offended by any sort of joking or “foolishness” when they’re trying
to do business. Some people find it disconcerting rather than
disarming. When you’re dealing with people you don’t know well,
probably have never even seen before, you need to be pleasant and
businesslike. You laugh at THEIR jokes (if they tell any), don’t try
to get them to laugh at yours. It’s all about them, not you.

If I had to live on the money I made the first three years, I would
have starved,

    so how did you make the extra, to NOT starve?

DAY JOB(s). I have three.

    i try to offer a wide variety of options for a number of
potential buyers. i can accomodate anything from rubies to agates,
it all depends on the tastes and budgets of my clients.

See, I see this as a problem. If I were surfing the web looking for
unique jewelry, it would put me off to discover that the necklace I
like for its supposedly unique qualities is available in copies using
15 or 20 different materials. And ALL of your stuff is offered in
this way.

I think it would be better to make a lot of different styles
uniquely in a specific material. You could mention that custom work
is available, but telling your customers up front that you have every
intention of copying each one of your designs multiple times is
going to put them off - suddenly its not unique handcrafted jewelry,
its mass-produced cookie-cutter costume jewelry.

Just a thought.
Hope things work out well for you.
Sojourner

25

Hi, Jennifer,

My recommendation, after reading your most recent post, is going to
sound a little strange. I don’t believe desperation and success go
together. I suggest that you take a deep breath and accept your
situation as it is. I have spent too much time torturing myself
because I felt that, if I couldn’t make a living at “art,” I was
doomed to misery. If art (or, as ive says, Art) becomes my Higher
Power, I am doomed. “He” becomes an addiction, something I can’t
live without, and I take crazy risks to get my fix.

I don’t think calling SCORE, or trying to find customers, is your
best route right now. I have two suggestions. The first is that you
adopt some kind of spiritual perspective. If, for example, you go to
a Buddhist meditation group, you might discover a part of yourself
that can be more serene and detached; this can help a lot when
you’re in what seems to be a desperate situation. There are also 12
Step programs. Despite the fact that your credit situation wasn’t
created by you, you might want to check out Debtors Anonymous. They
have meetings specifically oriented toward creating a vision of
what you want and working toward it, without going crazy (or into
debt) in the process. There are also books that can help. And, if
there has ever been an alcoholic in your life, I highly recommend
Alanon, because it can teach you how to cope with things like no
money for rent, and how to stop pushing the river. (You can email
me off list about any of this.)

My second suggestion is that you either find an angel (maybe a
family member?) who will pay for your rent and groceries and booth
fees (maybe for two years?), or that you really accept that you
need another source of income. As David Huffman pointed out,
“gigging” isn’t a realistic day job either. However, graphic design
may be–one of my closest friends has bought a condo with what she
earns as a self-employed graphic designer (and she does her “real
art” part time). If you really only need to make enough money to
pay for basic expenses, you might find part-time work that feels
somewhat creative and at least gets you back on your feet. When you
aren’t desperate, it’s much easier to think clearly and make
realistic plans.

The problem with making any business happen is that it usually
requires capital. The recent American Way has been to use credit
cards as a kind of dream capital. Especially with the new bankruptcy
law about to be put in place, I think you’re lucky that this route
isn’t open to you. You may have to do it the slow, hard, old-
fashioned way, but at least you won’t be living in a dream that
turns into a nightmare.

And… this isn’t a culture that supports the arts or takes artists
seriously. I know a whole lot of artists–visual, performing, etc.–
and, of the 10% that make their entire living off work related to
their art, 90% do it by teaching. And a handful do it because they
have taken the old saying, “Don’t agonize, organize!” to heart, and
have banded together and found collective solutions to what is a
social problem. Very very few people do it alone.

Best of luck,
Lisa Orlando
Aphrodite’s Ornaments
(mostly talking to herself…)

26

Forgive me if this sounds too trite - or if if it’s been mentioned
before, but there are some great books by Barbara Brabec - her
“Homemade Money ” series that I found very helpful … maybe there
are some ideas in there. Do a search at Amazon…

Also - when I mentioned ‘making a profit’ I didn’t mean, getting
rich - I was referring to your inflow exceeding your outgo, allowing
you to recover your cots and have enough to eat. That said - I do
think that most of us have some other means of support - be it a
day-job, part or full-time - or a husband that is making a good
living and paying most of the bills. I also agree that the images are
real important in a website - I know that for me, I don’t want to
read a bunch of text - I was to see the stuff - and I don’t want to
click a thousand times to get to it. Not that I thought your site had
a lot of clicks, but I think I remember the homepage have a lot of
text… just my 2 cents, FWIW. :slight_smile:

Best wishes, really! :slight_smile: ~ Alysia in So CA

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GMHW93K/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01GMHW93K&linkCode=as2&tag=ganoksincom-20&linkId=9e44484be07714a6f6968d134fcbd06c

27 
 you must profit to eat. There is a huge (unproductive) stigma
surrounding the desire for money; try to break away from social
construct that it is in someway evil. Not wanting money makes it
much more difficult to get and keep it.

A multimillionaire business owner across the street from my business
told me one day that ‘profit is not a dirty word’. And he is a
proverbial rags to riches story, having come here from Poland, over
50 years ago with nothing but the clothes on his back. He has even
brought his parents to meet me when they visited from Poland a
couple years ago. They were ancient, and the poverty of years gone
bye showed clearly. They couldnt speak a single word of English, but
their pride in their wealthy son showed even more clearly. So make
somebody proud of you, and try to make the best honorable profit you
can!

Ed in Kokomo

28

Hello Jennifer,

I’ve read Zen Sojourner’s response to your posting (below). I
suspect you may be taken aback. Don’t be deflated by Zen’s wisdom;
learn from it, as she shares from personal experience. I know how
it feels to read a response that just takes the bottom out of your
stomach. I also know that coming to grips with truth and developing
a plan of action restores self confidence. There’s a lot of truth
in Zen’s response.

Several have flatly advised you to get a job to pay for necessities
and I agree. I’m keeping my day job, as it gives me the option of
having fun and experimenting with new techniques and ideas rather
than struggling with finding a way to pay the bills. (It’s a bonus
that I really like my job!) Do the job thing and keep your
independence. Line out how much you need for your living expenses,
use a little for show fees, and put the rest in savings. As you
sell your pieces, plow that back into materials and tools and more
show fees. DO keep your little jewelry business separate from your
personal finances; it makes dealing with the TAX man easier.

It can be done. Start modestly and use what you have or can borrow.
My first show was on some card tables with only a patio umbrella
overhead. It was a start, and I learned a lot!

Best wishes and know that I’m pulling for you,
Judy in Kansas

29 
 Conservatively, I would estimate that you probably need at least
$8,000 a year to cover rent, transportation, food and clothing, not
to mention medical expenses.

Zen,

All of your comments on this were right to the point and quite
accurate with the exception of the above. I know that where you
live $8000 a year might provide the basics, but in any urban area
and on either coast $8000 a year won’t buy your food for the year no
matter everything else. I’m not sure where Jennifer actually lives
but she’s going to have to earn a whole lot more than that to live
in most places in this country. Where I am $8000 won’t cover a
family health care plan for more than 2 1/2 months, you wouldn’t be
able to find a dump of an apartment that rented for anywhere near
that figure for a year, your car insurance alone would eat up 1/3 of
that amount, and looking cross-eyed at a piece of clothing will cost
you $100 (if you want to actually buy it, that will cost you more!)

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
617-2344392

30

Sojourner,

Well said. Tough Love so to speak. I have to agree with you down the
list. My website needs to be dealt with too.

I had not heard the comment," Past performance is the indicator of
future performance" before. Prior to opening my studio and school for
several years I worked a lot of overtime, taught night classes at a
community college, made and repaired jewelry at a friend’s store on
the weekends, and helped a son through college, all at the same time.
I guess it is how bad we want something to happen. Turns out all the
work laid the foundation and reputation that makes the current
business/school work. I am now drawing people on a regional scale as
well as being in several galleries. There is money in the bank at the
end of the month too. I also take 2 days a week off… no jewelry
then…period. Orchid excepting…got to have my Orchid fix
everyday!!! And to think, I am not anywhere near where I want to be
but based on the past, I can see it coming.

Thanks for the insight.

Bill Churlik
@Bill_Churlik
www.earthspeakarts.com

31 
    I am not sure if it's a generational thing or not, but
realistically, if you are having trouble keeping a roof over your
head and buying groceries, get a day job.

It’s not a generational thing. I’m 26, work full time, and am
developing my skills and my business on weekends and in the
evenings. That means no, I don’t get to socialize and go out for
beers as much as a lot of my friends, but at least I’m making
progress toward eventually doing what I love to do for a living.

I have one tip for Jennifer that may already have been mentioned. I
have no problem with the black/white color scheme. It can work. But,
in order to sell jewelry from a website, you need pictures on the
front page. Most people won’t bother clicking past the front page
without a picture. I’m no expert on web design, but I have learned a
little about sales and marketing at my day job. So it’s not a total
loss that I have to spend 40+ hours a week at the day job, I’m
learning valuable business skills and being paid for it. Plus, the
money I’ve earned at the day job has funded my business, something
the business itself wasn’t able to do until very recently.

Leah
www.michondesign.com
@Leah2

32

hello, jennifer

 and the maker talks to me for 20 minutes about their artistic
vision, inspiration, style, technique, how simply fabulous they
are as a person,

this is very true, at least in my experience. people don’t really
want to hear your vision or inspiration - they want to tell
themselves their own story about the jewelery they want to buy.
generally repeat customers eventually ask about the artist’s
vision/inspiration, but at first they want to answer the question
“what does this piece mean to me?” if they are “corrected” they may
feel silly or stupid and might not buy.

the tea and cookie thing is a very good idea too - that gets them in
“treat mode.”

would also recommend a day job; if you really want a bohemian feel
to your life, you could sell your furniture to get money to buy
tools. it worked for me - i got important tools i needed, and even
made one guy feel sorry enough for me that he married me, and now we
use his furniture. :wink:

here’s an idea - i’m sure all of us have tools we don’t use. perhaps
we can set up some sort of “tool bank” for beginning jewelers on the
list that are hard up for cash. kind of a grant thing. just thought
i’d throw this thought out there. it also occurs to me that jewelers
by nature are tool freaks, and it might not be possible to get folks
to part with their extra tools. :^) it’s just an idea.

good luck jennifer - you will do well, you’re ahead of where i am!

susannah

33 
 In short, ya can't compete with Asia

aint that the truth. i’ve heard from so many distributors, “why
would i pay that when i can get it for a quarter of the cost from
singapore?”

You know, you just can’t please some people. I’m just starting
learning to make my own jewelry out of silver, but I’ve been selling
the stuff from Thailand for the last 5 years, that with a Celtic
style to it. While it hasn’t stopped people from buying it, some
people have to comment that it is from Thailand, not Scotland.
sigh They want BOTH the cheap price and the authenticity. Soon, I
hope to give em both, but it won’t be in the same piece!

Kerry
http://www.celtcraftjewelry.com
http://www.beadcoop.com

34 
    All of your comments on this were right to the point and quite
accurate with the exception of the above.  I know that where you
live $8000 a year might provide the basics, but in any urban area
and on either coast $8000 a year won't buy your food for the year
no matter everything else.

I know that, and without knowing for certain where she is living I
was trying to be as conservative with that estimate as possible.
When I was living in Portland, Oregon, my rent alone was near $12,000
a year.

She could be living in one of the lower cost areas, could have a
roomate, or several roomates (in fact I’m betting she does, because
what landlord on this earth would let someone get 5 months in
arrears on the rent?). Whatever. The point was to encourage her to
sit down and take stock of her situation. Only she can know for sure
what her expenses are. If they’re more than $8k a year - and they’re
almost certain to be, certainly won’t be less - well, that just makes
her ultimate goal of immediate profitability to cover her living
expenses even more out of reach.

Now that I’m living in the back of beyond, I’m living on less than
$5k a year - but I own my land outright, have no debts, have a
metabolic disorder that fortunately means I don’t have to eat much,
and I may be living in a camper with no running water, but at least I
OWN it.

Sojourner

35

Thank you all again so much for your well trained input and advice.
Really, I didn’t know what to expect if anything when I made my
original post, and was so pleasantly surprised.

I’ll continue making note of your advice and input as it comes in,
I’ll just say a few more things before I sign off on this topic.

All of you heavily advise having saved from a day job before
beginning this endeavor. I did. I was constantly trying to iceskate
uphill, finding both the time and the resources to devote to pursuing
my jewelry work full time. Then I had one bangup month at work, and
had over 2,000 dollars coming in from a commission check, as well as
my paychecks. I decided that was the time to go for it, that it was
now or never. I was quite possibly never going to have the
opportunity again, it was a very lucky month. So I went for it.

The reason I left my phone sales job was because the reason the
jewelry “wasn’t working” as a side project, is I was missing out on
valuable daylight hours to make phone calls and contacts in. It
wasn’t, 'Oh, it’s not working, maybe if I put more time into it…",
it was a matter of what hours in the day, not how many. I couldn’t
get the timeslot I needed to get so many valuable things done, and
stay at the day job. I needed the ability to make contacts and
appointments between 8-5. So thats why I chose to leave.

And my comment on the snooty "Oh, we don’t accept crafters…"
was from people who had never even seen my work. It was a blind
prejudice over the phone, with no perception of the actual work. My
work may or may not be inspired enough to be considered ‘art’, but
they did not know that one way or the other. I was commenting on an
overall prejudice against jewelers in the art community. So far I
have not been able to even get a grants or fellowships organization
to see my work, much less evaluate it for artistic value, because
they think all jewely artists are somehow inherently inferior.

Sorry for any confusion on any of these topics, and note, I
capitalized thiings this time. I hope everyone’s happy with that.

Jennifer

36

My everyday attire is dockers and colored tee-shirts, but only ones
with pockets. I am G.I.A. graduate, 1977. I sell diamonds, do custom
work, repair, full service except watches My customer like a relaxed
atmosphere, they feel comfortable with me

I joke with just about every customer I come in contact with, and
that is one reason they remember me. I make them laugh, and people
like to laugh. It is always innocuous, and usually has an element of
truth whether. I am self depreciating, or saying something
indirectly about “our” human condition.

If someone comes in that I do not recognize, I ask them if they have
been in before, if they say yes, I say “Welcome back” if not I say
"welcome, I will check back with you in a few minutes, and give you
some time to get in trouble on your own." Basically, 99% laugh. It
is not what they were expecting to hear. When I try to say hello,
some people quickly say “I am just browsing”, and I reply “That’s how
you get in trouble here”.

We do not hover around our customers while they are browsing, we are
close by, occupied, but attentive to when they show interest in
something.

When someone comes into a jewelry store, one can assume it is for a
purpose,it just has to be determined if it is something needed now,
or if it is in the future.

Talking to the person, finding out where they are from, talking
generally about something, the way you talk to your friends, makes a
connection.

If you naturally are comfortable talking to people and are friendly,
people tend to respond positively.

When I started running my own retail store, I was absolutely
petrified of talking to people. I found that as I shared my interest
and my passion in what I love about what I do, I became comfortable,
and they did to.

Richard Hart

37 
 this is very true, at least in my experience. people don't really
want to hear your vision or inspiration

Interesting how different people have different experiences. I tend
to draw people’s attention by telling them techniques, processes,
inspirations, or my passion for the stone or design.

My experience is that people visually observe, and they also feel
something, and I believe they are wanting to understand, not
intellectually, something about what they feel.

It is a form of support, and it is sharing an experience. One of the
concepts I use is telling my customer that I want to make a ring
that when they look at it, it tickles them every time. That is
communicating a feeling It is the pleasure and joy that we experience
that we feel, but can’t necessarily explain, but we all experience,
through through various forms. A really exquisite meal, a sunset, an
innocent child’s sweet nature, love from a pet…

Richard Hart

38 
        I am not sure if it's a generational thing or not, but
realistically, if you are having trouble keeping a roof over your
head and buying groceries, get a day job.

Please don’t call it a generational thing. In every generation there
are determined hard workers who are willing to do what it takes and
those who simply won’t. I have seen retirees who don’t know the value
of a dollar and there is my 24 year old friend who, like me, has held
a job since before she was a teenager. I have had years I could
support myself in with my art and years that I worked just as hard or
harder where I couldn’t have.

I am a thirty-something who went the route of working my way through
college, and then working at a series of jobs where I though I would
learn something valuable while I was building my client list and show
schedule. I learned to do my own taxes/books while working in the
accounting office, I learned some interesting things working in the
office of salespeople who sold to major stores.

Hard work and determination aren’t generational, they are just
individual. I haven’t figured out yet if my struggle to be a paid
artist will inspire my children to follow their dreams or send them
running for business degrees and large corporations.

Karen

39

Wow, Zen! Thanks for your articulate reality check! Thank you for
taking the time to sit down and write out your thoughts on the issue.
Your posting is filled with great food for thought not just for
Jennifer, but for all us newbies who are trying to figure out how to
get going in this great venture. I actually printed it all out to
dissect if for myself!

Best wishes! - - Nan

40 
    Then I had one bangup month at work, and had over 2,000 dollars
coming in from a commission check, as well as my paychecks. I
decided that was the time to go for it, that it was now or never. I
was quite possibly never going to have the opportunity again, it
was a very lucky month. So I went for it.

I don’t know what you’re typical living expenses are, but even I
could not live on $2000 a year. A one-time $2k windfall does not
constitute saving up a year’s worth of living expenses. It takes more
than $2k just to set up a studio.

Nobody here is trying to hurt your feelings. We WANT you to
succeed. That isn’t going to happen without a lot of hard work and
sacrifices on your part - we’ve all been there, many of us are still
there.

I just hope you’ll be able to take stock of your situation and come
up with a more realistic view of the financial imperatives involved
so you can come up with a more realistic plan.

I have to say, it’s impressive that you at least know what it is you
want to do. I sure didn’t when I was your age.

Wishing you well.
Sojourner

PS - your “day job” could just as well be at night. It’s the income
that’s important, not where the sun was when you earned it.