new jewelry trauma

Just as this is an unsettled time in our country, it's been an unsettled time in the jewelry I make. My work was starting to get "fussy". More little pieces and parts to each end piece. Just fussier than what I wanted. Time for a change.

I found I wanted more of a zen feel. Simpler pieces, not necessarily to make but simpler in the overall look and feel. So I started designing new work. I made components and started putting them together in different ways. The 22k gold is textured with bamboo leaf shapes, simple but with character. And I love it! Luckily, my customers have embraced my new work and pushed me to go further with it.

Now the scary part. I have to apply to art fairs with new images of my new work since I don't want to have to keep making my old! What if no one likes it? What if the jurors think it's simple looking so I must just be a beginner, instead of the reality that it takes a lot of years to make it look simple!

So, I had new images taken by my photographer, Larry Sanders, and sent them off to a show I had never applied to before and crossed my fingers. Would anyone like them???

Thankfully, they did! I got my acceptance to the show yesterday. Even though that doesn't mean that I'll ever get into another show, this one trauma was over. Someone else likes the zen feeling work that I want to make in these unsettled times. Whew!