Jessica

I Love To

See this photo? My sister sent it to me yesterday. She got me all of those necklaces. Is that the sweetest thing ever or what?

Maxy’s dog paws and all the necklaces my sister got for me

It was timely, too, because I’ve been absolutely, completely, and totally stuck on what in the world I should do with my art.

Aside from the giving away part, at the past few craft fairs, I’ve barely made enough to cover my booth fees.

Which on one hand is understandable, I mean there are a lot of variables when it comes to craft fairs. Such as: size of show, attendance, prices, interest, etc.

But on the other hand, that’s enough to cause me to wonder why I’m even doing this.

For the past week, I’ve considered throwing in the art ‘towel.’

I mean, here I got all these supplies, made lots of unique, beautiful pieces, put my heart into it, and came home with most everything…

So, this past week, I’ve been soul searching:

  • Why am I even doing this?
  • Do I need to give up craft fairs?
  • Are there other avenues for my art?
  • Should I try online?
  • I LOVE making art for gifts- should I just do that?
  • IS there a place for my art somewhere?
  • What in the world am I supposed to do?

Things I’ve come up with so far:

  1. I’m usually not a giver upper- but I considered it.
  2. I do see value in my art, monetary or otherwise.
  3. I have a passion for creating.
  4. I believe my art has a place somewhere.
  5. I’m not sure where that somewhere is.
  6. I could do the December craft fair and change my strategy.
  7. There are a lot of good options for getting art out there, so I do have choices.
  8. I could put my art in a local flea market- I’ve talked to the owner about it.
  9. I could sell online- WP has options.
  10. Grief over my momma makes decisions hard sometimes. Even with choices, decisions can feel big.
  11. I’m just going to trust that my art has a place, even if I haven’t found it yet.

Thank you, Suzann, for getting me those beautiful necklaces and reminding me why I make jewelry art in the first place:

I LOVE TO.

Thank you for reading.

Jessica

38 comments

  3. I love the paws in the picture!🥰 I definitely feel your pain. I’m a writer; I write as Isabella Norse. I hate the marketing aspect of writing so this year has been a real struggle for me. I keep wondering *why* I’m writing. Like you, I do it because I love it and it makes me happy. At least for now, I guess that needs to be enough.

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    • Oh my gosh, girl! I just looked you up! I have NO idea you wrote books!!!! How cool. I totally get what you are saying! I have written like 5 books, but I never published any because one time I sent out one book to like 10 submission book publishers. I got a solid NO at all of them, but one. I was so excited to get one yes. I told everybody. Wellllllll….. turns out it was a vanity publisher. Eeks. I didn’t even know what that meant at first. They wanted me to pay a bunch of money for them to publish my book. Haha. I didn’t do it. I was so embarrassed. Kind of funny now, with all the self published options. I also know what you mean because the marketing of books and other things- ugh, it can feel so heavy.

      I just want to make art. Probably like you just want to write. It seems to get all messy and complicated when it comes to what to do with things when they are finished. We make really good stuff. It’s the getting it out there that is huge and tiring. Thanks for telling me your writing name. That’s so cool!

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    • By the way, the paws? That’s Maxy. My parents only had one dog and one cat until two Thanksgivings ago, a black and white dog walked into the kitchen via the pet door. After checking all around to see if anyone lost a dog, he stayed. He’s a sweet boy. He loved my momma dearly. Slept with her every night. I know he misses her a lot. ❤️

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  4. Your sister is a sweetheart – like you! Your first question seems a good place to start and one I asked myself a few times over the last year and a half, while working on a book. Going back to that question kept me moving forward. Creating art is an extension of our soul. We can’t not create! 💖

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  5. Oh, don’t give it up! I love your art. I like what one commenter said about teaching. Maybe one of the craft stores would have you teach art projects, even the library might do something like that. Ours does. I look at your art in my office every day. In fact, today I was really looking closely at how you painted the flower and how detailed it is, like a touch of white paint or the shape of the flower parts and the subtle yellow frame. Anyway, I love it and hope that you will find the right path. 🙂

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    • Hi. Oh, those are great ideas. I could check with our library. Thank you. I have considered having a jewelry art teaching event in our town just to see if there’s any interest.

      Wow, thank you. It warms my heart to know that you’ve noticed the details in my work. I love that you look at my art every day. There is no greater compliment than that!!

      Love that you mentioned teaching. Though not formally trained, I feel teaching is part of my calling. Thank you so much! PS I’m late writing my letter!

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  6. You better keep it up! Add teaching to your list. You could have little workshops for folks to make their own. Or put together some kits with the holidays coming. I always look for that sort of thing for kids. They love art projects. See if your community has a local Facebook group where you can advertise or sell them on Facebook Marketplace. I love my pieces!

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  7. Jessica, you are a very talented artist. I am sure there are lots of avenues you could pursue. And those avenues could vary and change over time, too. Your niche could involve making meaningful pieces and/or perhaps custom pieces. Set up a way for people to order a custom piece (like on your blogs). Or if someone wanted, you could make something from pieces they own and that are sentimental to them. “Art Shows” may also be more successful than craft shows. You could have a featured jewel each week (or month) on your blog(s). You could make a piece to donate to a charity auction. That’s also a way for people to learn about your art. Try different ideas and see what works.

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    • Wow, Betty! Thank you so much! Those are wonderful ideas!!! I have considered doing custom pieces. My other sister actually suggested an idea for custom pieces back in April that I’ve been reconsidering. I think you may be right about craft show vs art shows. Art shows may be what I need. Love the auction idea. I did that once for that charity auction for the family who lost their dad. I think that post was on my other blog. I think there’s a coffee shop in Poplar Bluff that rotates local artists. Maybe I could do something like that, too. Thank you for your ideas!

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  8. Best reason ever: because you love to do it. Those necklaces look like your kind of jewelry and I like how they are similarly shaped and color, but with uniqueness. I wonder what you will do with them? I can see a truss bridge design, or a fancy castle with parapets. The one just below the red and turquoise (and I love that color combination!) makes me think of an upside down princess tiara. Sometimes I peruse the etsy art shops so online might be a way to go. I have thought of that for all the vintage items I have accumulated, but honestly, I am not willing to work that hard to pull off selling online, at least, not yet. You will find what works–obviously, you have given it a good assessment. Meanwhile, we will keep reading and looking at what you are doing. I see blogs with a “Buy me a coffee” button at the end of the post–perhaps a “Buy hand-crafted art” button?

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    • Hi. Thank you SO much!! I love your ideas!!! For pieces and for selling. A fancy castle sounds really amazing!!! I love how your creative vision works. You see a lot of potential for things. I have considered Etsy, heck, I buy on there all the time. But, when it comes to opening a shop, I always chicken out. Ooooo, love the button idea. I have seen those coffee ones. I’ll look into that- thank you so much! I haven’t worked on anything since the craft fair, but today I started back in on a project I’m doing for a blogger gift swap. A sweet blogger is baking me something and I am making her some art. ❤️

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