This is to move the discussion in a direction Carolyn brought up,
Non-jeweler designers at shows http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive/200408/msg00910.htmthat of the jury slides being representative of the work at the show.
This is a question I have a really hard time with on a personal
level, as I enter shows as a “studio”, which includes work made by
two people (both present at shows). We also make a very wide range
of work, as our experience has been that a wide range of purchasers
come to the shows we have done. So our work ranges from our top of
the line work priced in the mid to high hundreds at this point, to
our low-end work, priced in the $5 - $10 range and aimed mainly at
the teen/pre-teen market (although adults buy some also!). Obviously,
when the show promoter requests 3 slides, you can’t show the whole
range of what you do. I send slides of my best work, and have an
entire section of my booth devoted to the higher end work. However,
I also include (and sell) the mid and lower-priced work. So have I
really sent slides representative of what I am showing? Yes…and
no.
Yet, given the constraints the show promoters themselves put on you,
I don’t see how we can do anything differently. No one has ever
asked me to remove anything, so I assume they have been ok with it.
And yet it still feels just a bit questionable to me. And yet, the
lower-priced items are still well designed and made, and serve to
introduce a new audience to hand-made jewelry, and often give us a
chance to explain the nicer pieces, and the stones, and the
differences.
I would love to hear how others who create a range of work handle
this issue.
Beth in SC