The shows

Jewelry Discussion
1

Well,

It has been an interesting show season. apparently all of my fancy
gold work did not much for the buyers. I did the absolute worst
winter show ever n Philly. Many factors involved, not the least of
which was moving my booth at the last minute, and leaving an empty
booth where I should have been. However, I did get to hang out with
new Orchid friends: My booth neighbors, Marilyn O’Hara, the Orchid
lurker who makes great jewelry…so go do a show already! Donna
Heibert…yay on the Niche Award! Eric…of the britches in a twist
post, who turns out to have neck to toe tatoos, and is ever so sweet
despite the tough posts and the tats. Lisa Hawthorn who is every bit
as nice as all of her posts, Judy Hoch, who tells me that she knew
Todd Reed since, “before he know how to work in silver”, my new Pal
Mike Rogers and his gorgeous wife Chris, as well as everyone else
who came to my booth to inquire about the health and well being of
"the goats". Thanks for putting up with me. Goats are fine by the
way. PS: It was great to connect the posts with the faces. I don’t
think I was what they expected…lol…lol…lol…

Baltimore, was not as slow, but the door was apparently down by 40%,
or so rumor had it. This venue happily, ( on my part at
least…lol…), saw me placed across from the charming James
Binnion and even more charming wife Terry. Poor things, stuck with
me for the duration. Thank god for that, (at least for me). I learned
loads about Mokume gane listening to them. In our slow times, they
joined me in my useless pursute… helping to nominate my “clown
for a day award”, given only in our minds for the exhibitor or buyer
who on that day most looked like they actually escaped from the
circus. We saw some pretty far out winners mind you, and a few scary
runners up for the non-existent prize. We had a fine time in between
somewhat sparse sales.Ok…“sparse” on my part. I think Jim and Terry
did far better. I traded my chocolate for their sweet tarts, and we
traded trade secrets…or was that funny show stories? Seemed like
maybe the attendance rumors were true.

Baltimore Retail, which I got into in a mad last minute dash that had
me setting up and tearing down my booth in a whirl multiple times,
finally settling down in the first row. WOW!! Hundreds of people, and
amazing crafts. Boy did I need an assistant!!! This is making up for
the slow wholesale. Yikes…apparently the public likes my
gold…or at least they bought it…by the paw-full. Took some time
to check out Namu Cho’s jaw dropping pieces. That was fun.

Spent some other time listening to Tom Herman give an impromptu
seminar to me and another Orchidian from his booth, on how to do
shakudo. Man is Tom smart! And such incredible work too! Later on I
met James and Terry in the upstairs restaurant to admire the view.
We recapped some of the astounding things that we saw at the show.
Tomorrow, day two for me. I am tired, even after a night of eating
crab cakes and oysters with a glass of (ok) wine. They tell me that
day one was a cake walk in comparison to day two. Yikes!!!

Pray for me…

:slight_smile:
Lisa, (another night in a hotel…ugh!!!), Topanga, CA USA

2

Day two at Baltimore not as frantic as day one. Serious collectors,
rabid buyers from out of town and culture vultures now replaced by
young couples strolling and looking. Other attendees are working
stiffs seen dropping to the ground in a dead faint when they hear
some of the prices. Guess they thought some of the work was made from
gum wrappers? Not nearly as much buying. Still did well though, so
that was encouraging.

Still have not had the time to see the show myself. Apparently the
exhibitor complaints are that the show is still too big, and there
are too many jewelers. I am in the first row, so I haven’t a clue.
What I have seen is astounding. Just brilliant work on all levels in
all mediums. Each booth seems better than the last, with few
exceptions. Buyer complaints are that the show is too big, and there
are too many jewelers, so there seems to be a consensus. Apparently
the door was down from last year on the first day of the show.
Tomorrow, day three. We break down at four.It should be a real party.

Lisa, (spending a quiet night in the hotel room), Topanga, CA USA

3

Lisa, glad to hear the Baltimore show went well for you. It was great
to meet you, it’s always fun to put faces to posts! I attempted to
send you an email a few times, don’t know if it ever got through to
you though.

Lisa Hawthorne
@Lisa_Hawthorne1

4

I too visited the ACC show up in Balmer since it’s pretty much in my
backyard. I can honestly say that I have very mixed feelings about
it. It was my first visit as a civilian and thought that it would be
much bigger than it actually was. Much of the jewelry was absolutely
fabulous and ended up departing with some of it. There is some
serious talent out there! Most everyone was very enthused about their
work and let it show. I was surprised that there weren’t more
potters, and to me, there were too many vendors there with wood boxes
that looked alike. Nothing against the wood box folks :slight_smile: there were a
few jewelers whose styles were so similar I thought they had 2
booths. (It did seem to me that someone on the judging committee was
a really big fan of that high karat, abstract peices of thin gold
sheet bonded onto silver “look” - there seemed to be quite a bit
around.) All in all, a great show from the civilian point of view.

Lisa, I am very sorry to hear that some folks thought the price
points were too high. I think one of the things the ACC should do it
better promote that this stuff isn’t made in Sri Lanka by some 12
year old kid that the artist sent his/her designs to. I know that the
economy has taken a dip downward, but that has nothing to do with the
public’s champagne taste on a beer budget.

I did have the misfortune of witnessing a jeweler who was at the
front corner of her booth, venting about how a husband and wife had
picked apart her work to another gal. She was so busy telling the
other gal that these folks “didn’t know there head from their a$$”
(yeah, that’s a direct quote) that she didn’t notice I was standing
there trying to get her attention. Never acknowledged, I left. But
before anyone starts sending me hate mail over this, I think we all
know how much it can stink having our work picked apart - my point is
just that there’s a time and a place to vent about it.

Looking forward to next year’s show!
Kennedi

5

Hi Lisa,

I had a great time meeting you and your entourage too.
Unfortunately, while I was out of town, my e-mail became backed up,
and a lot of it bounced. Oops… Mea Culpa. Its fixed now, so write
away.

Lisa, (technologically impaired), Topanga, CA USA
@L.Bialac-Jehle
www.Byzantia.com

6 
there were a few jewelers whose styles were so similar I thought
they had 2 booths. (It did seem to me that someone on the judging
committee was a really big fan of that high karat, abstract peices
of thin gold sheet bonded onto silver "look" - there seemed to be
quite a bit around.)

You can’t really blame the jury for this, all they see are 5 slides.
Most of the culpability must be placed on the consumer. As soon as
they stop buying that kind of work it will disappear from the show.
It’s too expensive to do such shows if you’re not making money at it.

Larry

7 
You can't really blame the jury for this, all they see are 5
slides. Most of the culpability must be placed on the consumer. As
soon as they stop buying that kind of work it will disappear from
the show. It's too expensive to do such shows if you're not making
money at it.

Uh…I will have to respectfully disagree on this one Larry. You can
and should blame the jury for this. They pick who gets into the show,
not the consumer. As I said before, many exhibitors are supported by
a spouse, family money or a “day” job, and so do not have to rely on
a show for their income. In some cases, the show is a vanity
enterprise. They make their booth fee, so they think they are doing
pretty well. I can give you many examples.

For a while, in the 90’s the joke about ACC, was that all of the
jewelers seemed to have gone to the same finishing school. The work
looked so much alike in style and materials. It has changed to some
extent since then, but not completely. It is the taste of the jurors
that admit too many similar exhibitors. I too wish they would pay
more attention to that aspect of the show.

Lisa,(it rains, it pours, it stops, it starts again. All of my
magnolias and citrus and acacias are in bloom and getting soaked.
Bah!) Topanga, CA USA

8 
Uh...I will have to respectfully disagree on this one Larry

Thanks for the respect :slight_smile:

They make their booth fee, so they think they are doing pretty
well.

Well…with disagreements like this who needs to agree? As I
suggested, if consumers stop buying their work they will stop
throwing money at shows or change their work. A booth goes for what,
$800 to $1500, depending on the options? If people would buy $800 to
$1500 less of their work I bet they’d get the hint!

Larry