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bravery
January 2009 
Doing what I can
Posted on Dec 5th, 2008
by 
Deborah
Deborah
Times are tough.
Everyone knows it.
Being a jeweler in these times requires patience, perseverance and flat out luck. I sometimes find myself slipping into despair, thinking bad thoughts about the things I make, then someone longingly comes along an pines over a piece I have made....walking away wistfully.
Because I am so new to this means of expression <sculpture, painting and model-making for toy companies has been my mainstay for the past 15 years> I have little to compare my quality to. I do know one thing...the local Farmers market ain't the place for me. But....and everyone has a big BUT....it is exposure. It is Advertising. It is public relations. Can't buy that kind of face-time for the price <free +10% of my take> So every Friday AM I pack my self into the truck, haul my set up downtown and plant myself to face a day of selling to buyers who are counting every dime just to make their grocery list. Sparkly shiney silver and gold is something that is less than priority for them....but a girl can hope.
So strike out. Be brave. Put yourself somewhere you don't feel comfortable. See if it works. If you have the time and the cost is not too high, my rationale is this may teach me something. Clearly these times are tough. Clearly i chose to go into a high luxury market at a supremely difficult time. I must remember that the positive side of living in a major metropolitan area is the rebound time the dollar will have. We will feel relief from this depression quicker than the middle of the country and with any luck be able to help out our brothers and sisters there more readily as the financial support structure rebuilds itself.
I am hoping it will only be built in a manner that is not as closely related to the last failed paradigm and will be a harbinger of a shift in our culture. We so need a new way of thinking about things and a new way of doing business with each other.
Everyone knows it.
Being a jeweler in these times requires patience, perseverance and flat out luck. I sometimes find myself slipping into despair, thinking bad thoughts about the things I make, then someone longingly comes along an pines over a piece I have made....walking away wistfully.
Because I am so new to this means of expression <sculpture, painting and model-making for toy companies has been my mainstay for the past 15 years> I have little to compare my quality to. I do know one thing...the local Farmers market ain't the place for me. But....and everyone has a big BUT....it is exposure. It is Advertising. It is public relations. Can't buy that kind of face-time for the price <free +10% of my take> So every Friday AM I pack my self into the truck, haul my set up downtown and plant myself to face a day of selling to buyers who are counting every dime just to make their grocery list. Sparkly shiney silver and gold is something that is less than priority for them....but a girl can hope.
So strike out. Be brave. Put yourself somewhere you don't feel comfortable. See if it works. If you have the time and the cost is not too high, my rationale is this may teach me something. Clearly these times are tough. Clearly i chose to go into a high luxury market at a supremely difficult time. I must remember that the positive side of living in a major metropolitan area is the rebound time the dollar will have. We will feel relief from this depression quicker than the middle of the country and with any luck be able to help out our brothers and sisters there more readily as the financial support structure rebuilds itself.
I am hoping it will only be built in a manner that is not as closely related to the last failed paradigm and will be a harbinger of a shift in our culture. We so need a new way of thinking about things and a new way of doing business with each other.
Access: Public
Good for you for digging to the other side for an insightful perspective in these current times. I am a fellow farmer market gal as well and I found I needed courage, faith and bravery each time I head out no matter what the times were. It is not always easy to put yourself and your work out there, I appreciate the space in which you share.
I found my riches to rags choice has forced me to rely on self in a very creative way in which I never knew completely existed before. I had to create a completely new income structure and well a new way of thinking.
Well said.