Unwillingness to help

Jewelry Discussion
61

I have read this thread practicing much needed patience and have
actually written several posts that I decided not to share. However,
I would now like to say that I am the type of person that is content
to make a living doing what I love to do. I came to this freedom as
an older person. I am a 59 year old woman that has been designing
and making jewelry for the last 15 years. I have been a metal artist
for 4 years. I am trained through the community colleges where I
live. I do sell in local artisan markets where it is necessary to
have $20.00 items. Some days these are all I sell. They are a great
way to introduce my product to a potential loyal new customer. Other
days I sell one or two of my larger metal pieces or beaded jewelry
sets that range from $95.00 to $300.00. I am a working artist
supporting myself. This works for me and I have no other ambitions at
this time with the exception of continuing to have the respect of my
peers and the confidence of my clients. I control all aspects of my
process and answer to no one. I make all of my items from scratch in
my properly insured home studio located in my half of the garage
where overhead is low and I can offer the pieces at a reasonable
price. I want people to fall in love with what I make. If they buy
something that does not work for them, they are welcome to bring it
back. I am happy to donate my items to charitable causes mainly
because it makes me feel good about myself as well being a sound
marketing strategy. I have given pieces to the League of Women
Voters, The Triton Museum annual fund raiser, The American Cancer
Society and various other local fund raisers around town. I do not
believe everyone is looking for fame and notoriety nor is it
necessary to have a successful life.

Kindest Regards, R

62

Tutti-

I know that we don’t do e-mail attachments but today’s NYT has an
article about how jewelers get celebrities to wear their “stuff”; it
seemed a fitting answer to a current thread. So, I’ll try:

For jewelers, using celebrities as a showcase

Marly

63

Marly You are the first one to give an answer that actually can
help. I know that we don’t do e-mail attachments but today’s NYT has
an article about how jewelers get celebrities to wear their “stuff”.
it seemed a fitting answer to a current thread. So, I’ll try:

For jewelers, using celebrities as a showcase

64

But, Rita, it sounds to me like you do have a successful life which
is one of contentment, service and gratitude. Thanks so much for your
post.

65 
I have read this thread practicing much needed patience and have
actually written several posts that I decided not to share.
However, I would now like to say that I am the type of person that
is content to make a living doing what I love to do.

Thank you, Rita. What a lovely counterpoint to the solipsism and
rudeness that permeated the original post.

  • Lorraine
66

Good thoughts Rita, Yep, I think sometimes we get caught up in the "I
should have XXXXX $$ when in actuality what you ‘SHOULD’ have is what
the market will bear. It’s your choice. But an excellent post. And by
the way I am 80. So you have along time ahead of you. I sold steady
for a number of years, but now am no longer selling. Miss the income,
but don’t miss the constant pressure of performing. Now I simply
create what I feel like doing, and amazingly, someone usually wants
to buy it and I sell it for lots less than I did at the gallery
because I don’t have to pay commission!

But bottom line is, I don’t have the pressure of always having to
bring in new things to put in my case. I just got tired of having to
always DO something! Growing old is great, but sometimes we need to
choose how we want to spend our last years. And I have chosen not to
sell!

Kay

67 
solipsism and rudeness that permeated the original post.

A solipsist wouldn’t bother posting, because there’s no one
there to read it.

Al Balmer
Pine City, NY

68

people -

some of the strings in this thread reminded me of a comment made by
my partner on one of our tucson buying trips when i was debating
about a piece of rough, i asked if he thought it was worth it [the
price] his response, "it’s worth what someone will pay for it."
which, unfortunately, often isn’t what we hope its worth to be. which
brings me to the one time he booth sat for me and someone looking at
a piece of my work asked him “what will you take for this?” he
snapped back without skipping a beat, “what does the tag say?” ive
appraise twice, buy once - maybe.

69

My “mentor”

To all the naysayers out there who cut me down for seeking advice on
how toget ahead, I have a passage from a (hardly deserving) recent
award-winner referencing her “brass ring” moment: "Clueless about
presentation protocol, she did something out of the box. “I went to
the bead store and strung up ten pieces of jewelry and called up
Barney’s and asked who their buyer was, sent the pieces with a magic
marker note that read, ‘Hope you love it.’ After her first meeting,
the buyer made a significant purchase. “Now we’re their top selling
jewelry line,” says [Irene] Neuwirth”. This is exactly what I want;
she did it so what is wrong with me doing the same thing? Please
don’t try to slam me again until you look up this Neuwirth woman and
give her a piece of your mind as you wrongfully did to me. The only
difference is, 1} I haven’t nonchalantly thrown together my
creations–I have spent years as a dedicated artist and nothing but,
and 2} I it makes me sick to know someone can just use a magic marker
to get to this moment while I have spent hours on well-articulated
letters and emails (which one of you nastily claimed were "adlib"ed)
and gotten nowhere.

Amy, Crystallized Gems
http://www.crystallizedgems.com

70

Amy,

You still seem to believe that there is some magic trick to getting
celebrity clients. What Irene Neuwirth did was not unsophisticated
but is a fairly classic way to get ones work in front of a buyer.
What you have posted is her PR spin and has little to do with why she
succeeded with her presentation. Her work is a clean fashion line
that has a appeal to the customers of a store like Barney’s which is
why the buyer purchased it. If you can produce a similarly well
designed line then a store buyer will purchase it, that is their job.
There is no magic in the process. But selling to Barney’s has little
to do with selling to celebrities which was what you originally
posted was your interest. Selling to a department store requires a
well designed line and a good sales presentation; it is a fairly
simple if not necessarily easily achieved task.

You received a significant amount of good feedback when you first
posed your question. It appears you have not paid attention to many
of the suggestions as your website is still comes off as less than
professional. Your posts on this continue to come off as angry and
dismissive of the sincere attempts at providing you with suggestions
on how to market your work, so I am not certain why you continue to
come back to the list for more on this topic.

James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts

71

Your work is beautiful, Amy !

Molly

72

WHOA!..this is a joke, right…there is some hidden camera in my
studio catching me as I sit, incredulous, at what I have just
read…the audience laughs as my jaw drops and my eyes spring wide
open…

Amy, I think, besides the quality of the work there is a ‘certain
something’ else that can’t be intellectually approached – bought or
taught. It’s called grace. It’s called kindness…it’s who you are
BEING as you create and promote your work. The ‘love & passion’ one
puts into a piece often translates in a way that is difficult to
measure or put into words.

What I ‘get’ from you is anger, hostility, poison and plain
meanness…You may not be ANY of these things, but this is how you
occur to me. Perhaps this is translating in your promotion.

I hope you get the ‘success’ you so desperately crave. Based on what
I hear from you, I pity the people who are in your path and fear for
their safety!

~Audrey

73

Amy,

For what it’s worth, I think there are two distinct differences
between your and Irene Neuwirth’s situations: attitude and
saleability. There is nothing wrong with taking a chance, and that’s
what Irene did, and they loved her work. She didn’t have a poor
attitude, just sent them some stuff and they liked it because they
knew it would sell. There’s a big difference.

IF your letters and emails to these companies were anything like
your original post here, and the email I’m responding to now, then
it’s no wonder you got nowhere. You wrote as though the industry
owes you a living, just because you’ve been slogging away for years.

Looking at your website, it’s obvious that your work is the result
of many hours of labour, but for me, there’s no coherence of design,
and your website needs some work. There are many artists with BA’s
who struggle for years because their work is not particularly
saleable, and on the other hand, there are people who come along and
are able to quickly scribble something down, which has all the
elements of good design, but perhaps having had no training at all,
but it would be those people whose work would be purchased.
Obviouslythere are also folk with BA’s and the like, who have a good
sense of design too and whose work also sells.

But a poor attitude coupled with work which may not sell well, will
not open any doors.

Helen Hill
UK

(someone who is not happy with her own sense of design and lack of
coherence)

74

Isn’t that sad! To think the only thing that separates you from
Irene Neuwirth’s success isn’t taste, talent, hard work,
perseverance, a positive outlook and a healthy attitude, but a stupid
Magic Marker. Life can be so unfair!

75

Her work is awesome. Her website is awesome :slight_smile: She’s even got an
animated picture of a shaggy dog wearing her jewellery… which is
tackily awesome.

She went in person to Barney’s and strung hp her beads, what this
tells me is that you can discount an email as spam, but you can’t
discount a physical appearance.

If I want something really badly, I don’t send an email, I send
myself.

“Emails don’t make money”.

Regards Charles A.

76

Amy,

"Now we're their top selling jewelry line," says [Irene] Neuwirth".
This is exactly what I want. she did it so what is wrong with me
doing the same thing?

I have not replied to this tread so far. I looked at your line and
Irene Neuwirth’s line. I cannot for the life of me understand how
you could attract the attention Irene has attracted with your line.
Perhaps it was not your approach, but your product. Not a criticism
of your work, just perhaps a realistic opinion from someone with 40
years of experience, and a retail store with ten local artists.

I think someone mentioned that there is tremendous competition is
beaded work. You have to have something that is a signature style
that stands out from everyone elses work. I do not think you achieved
that yet.

You said "what is wrong with me doing the same thing? " Could be you
are not doing the same thing, although to you it appears that you
are.

My experience with this thread is that a lot of the responses were
honest about how you approached your goal, your attitude, and your
work. If you feel like a victim, you asked for something and seem
bitter (hostile) about the responses from well meaning people.

You took a risk, and apparently had a hard time with some of the
responses. It was not what you wanted to hear. Perhaps there was
advise and perspective that could help you if you were open to that.

I have found that no matter how much hard work I do, when I do not
get the results I want, there is more hard work to do. Sometimes I
have to address an area I was not paying attention to that makes the
different. Sometimes it takes me quite a while to figure it out.

I tell people who want to apprentice with me that there is a front
end and a back end to making jewelry. Front end is making it, back
end is marketing. Making is a skill to master, once you master the
skill, you do the work. With marketing, there is so much to learn and
master, and it changes with technology, and it is a constant
challenge for me.

There are business coaches, and here is a link to an art business
coach: http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep7z6p

Can’t recommend it as I have not used it, just know about it.

Good Luck,
Richard Hart G.G.
Denver, Co.

77

Wow, I can hardly believe your last post Amy. I mostly lurk here but
every now and again I feel the need to add my two cents. When this
first came up I was going to post, but decided against it, seemed
like a lot of folks here said what I was thinking.

I get a lot of emails from people I don’t know who want to pick my
brain about this and that. I use to be really “nice” and help, but
found 99% of the time I wouldn’t even get a thank you back and worse
yet, would find my work, etc. being copied, by the person I helped. I
no longer feel obligated to help anyone who I don’t know and who
isn’t willing to pay me for it. Not that I’m big time or anything,
but I got where I am now, by doing my own work - if I wanted to know
something, I would take a class, buy a book, etc. I have never
expected or asked fellow artists who I don’t know to give me free
advice, suppliers, lessons, CLIENTS, etc. If I want my work out there
and seen I enter contests, I take good pictures, I have a web
presents in more then one place, I send my work to magazines and
books, etc. I join and work with different groups and projects. I
don’t expect anyone other then myself to do my promotion or get
clients for me.

This last post Amy is just really over the top and totally rude, you
say she’s your mentor yet you belittle her and are jealous of her -
it’s not that you want to get ahead, but the way you go about it! You
wrote: “I have a passage from a (hardly deserving) recent
award-winner…” Hardly deserving?! Who are you to judge? And why
would we want to chastise her? She went and set out to do what she
wanted to do - she contacted Barney’s not one of Barney’s jewelers to
find out how to “get in the door” She sent them jewelry (for free)
and she got her break. You seem to think we/people should be
obligated to hand you this type of thing on a silver platter and
when we can’t or will not, you belittle and get angry and jealous of
others who have gotten “there”.

You got a lot of good advice from folks here and quite frankly I’m
surprise most where so nice about it.

Sincerely,

Liz Hall

78

Amy, it wasn’t the message in your post but the way it was said. Many
of us are striving for the so called brass ring ( be careful what you
wish for) and are dumb struck with stories like the one you
referenced. Stories like that don’t make me sick, I wouldn’t trade
my problems for anyone elses and I wouldn’t trade my successes.
Orchid is made up of people and people have good days and bad
days.Your in your face style is off putting. It reminds me of myself
not too long ago. I drove myself more crazy than I was able to
"correct" anyone else or prove them right or wrong. If I sound wise,
it’s only an accident.

Sam Patania, Tucson

79

Dear Amy,

People ahve said this before but you are not selling the right
product. What you need to sell is yourself and appearing to be
resentful of someone else’s success isnt going to help.

I certainly wouldnt give anyone a piece of my mind for being
successful. You asked for a critique on your work and what you were
doing wrong that made this success elusive. People here are surprise
surprise, jewellers and craftsmen so the comments are mostly about
what you do and how you present your work. As it is not our place to
demand potential customers buy our work becuase it is better than
x’s or expect instant recognition of our worth because some celebrity
wears something that is not as good as an unknown maker’s. Life is
like that and always has been. We could all name the architect of
many famous buildings but never be able to name a single one of the
skilled bricklayers, stonemasons blacksmiths etc who actually turned
the architects vision into reality.

If you want fame you could follow the path of other frustrated
wannabes and shoot someone REALLY famous. Obviously, these people
never got to be known as great actors poets etc just the person who
shot Lincoln, Lennon etc. but if that is your endgame then you need
to take a change of direction.

If you want to sell your work you have to get people interested in
you. When you sell face to face it is easier to convert that enquiry
into a sale by being interested and interesting. Show interest in
the customer and be interesting to them by telling them about your
work and how it is right for them.

Perhaps the person you have quoted managed to follow up the
first(telling the prospective customer they are the greatest
customer she ever came across) by getting a meeting and selling
herself. The buyer obviously realised that there was something in her
work that would make money for them and that meeting must have
confirmed that and created the person as a brand.

Your postings here have to me, come across as generally negative and
at times bitter. That is your stumbling block, not your work. You
are obviously educated and skillful and have made a pretty good start
at selling via the web despite the comments about the professionalism
of the layout and images. That can be sorted out with very little
outlay and a bit of help from a web designer. What only you can do
though is get out and talk to people. Emails and letters dont cut it,
you need a bit of brass neck and confidence in your own abilities and
go for it.

Nick Royall

80 
This is exactly what I want; she did it so what is wrong with me
doing the same thing?

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you doing the same thing. Why
don’t you send your jewelry to Barney’s too?

1} I have spent years as a dedicated artist and nothing but, and 2}
I it makes me sick to know someone can just use a magic marker to
get to this moment while I have spent hours on well-articulated
letters

Customers really don’t care how much or how little time, effort,
energy, love, patience, or anything else goes into a product. They
just care if they love it or they don’t.

I previously posted an example of how happenstance it can be when you
get “discovered.” This is true with Irene Neuwirth too. Many others
on Orchid have given you ideas on the strategies that you can take to
increase the odds of being discovered. I hope that you will listen to
them because there is good advice here.