Advancing In the Direction of Your Dreams

 Inspiration comes in many forms;  images you see, other's work, colors, words, etc.  For a creative person, it never ends, it's always out there in front of us, waiting to be noticed.

Lately I've been inspired by ethnic and ancient times.  I find myself down a rabbit hole of research looking at jewelry from long ago or colors and designs of ethnic origin.  I take these ideas into my craft and put my own original spin on it.  

I recently learned the technique of chemical etching.  I first read about it in a jewelry art book and followed their detailed instructions on its use.  Preparation and precaution is key, but overall it was fun and enjoyable and the outcome was very satisfying!  

I also have been experimenting with Jax Green, a chemical process for a verdigris patina finish.  It's more challenging to get the desired outcome, however, and has frustrated me.  There's a real trick to prepping the metal and allowing a 24 hour drying time between coats.  So this might not stay in my list of offerings. 

It's so important to step outside our comfort zone and try new things, even if your initial reaction is to gasp and run (or maybe that's just me).  When it's challenging is the best time not to give up as well, keep at it from different angles and eventually it works.  Every now and then it doesn't and I am always learning when to accept that and move onto something else.

While the silver prices are still high, I managed to find these new techniques with more affordable materials, and it was a magical experience.  So we don't always know where the muse will take us, but we can be sure that it will be an adventure.

I've included photos of my recent work. 

 For details and purchasing please visit my Etsy shop at Salish Silver .

Time Flies

 Where does the time go?  Already May 2025.  OK, let's catch up.

In the past two months I have created several new designs and sold them nearly as fast as I can list them in my Etsy shop.  I'll include them below.  Several are still available.

I started advertising through Etsy as well, in mid April, and it is proving to be a game changer!  They really get your items out there and affordably too, especially if you have a full shop. (This is not a paid endorsement either!)

Sterling silver prices nearly doubled right after I began integrating it into my work, go figure.  I will continue as long as I can afford it but in smaller offerings, meaning fewer listings. 

Meanwhile as the world is in chaos all around us, keep the faith and keep creating!

Click the "shop Now" button to go to my Etsy shop.
Thank you for following along my Creative Journey! 

Back in the Studio

 

A new journey has begun and I am back in the studio!  I am fired up and full of new ideas in sterling and fine silver.  I have created several new pieces and relisted a few old ones in my Etsy shop - now with a new name:  Salish Silver.  It's fitting because I live in the foothills about the Salish Sea.  

I will be focusing on a few new techniques this year but still offering affordable wearable art for all.

I am also gathering related jewelry and craft supplies to offer.  Please let me know if there is something you've been looking for but can't find in smaller quantities.

Just a quick message here to get the ball rolling.  I am also doing a newsletter monthly but need to work out the bugs on how to set it up so you can subscribe from here.

Thank you to my current followers for your continued support!!!!

Challenge Your Creativity Everday

 Last fall I had a meltdown, a reawakening and a transformation all within about a week I think.  I changed my creative direction to a simpler method of assemblage.  It was fun and the items were cute, but it didn't challenge me enough.  I am not content to just put stuff together, I want to create it, from nothing, or next to nothing.

So I'm back to metal!  Who knew it would grab hold of me like super glue.  I'm pretty sure it's just in my DNA now. 

What I tried first was working with sterling silver, which I hadn't up till now mostly because it's expensive and might go wrong.  I knew I had to do it anyway.  I asked a few seasoned jewelers how to work with it and they reassured me I could do it.  OK then, and I did!  All these years I put off working with it because I was afraid of it, lol, the laugh is on me because it's not scary and in fact seemed easier to work with than copper, at least in the same medium I'd been using - which was my fail-safe.  

In the end it was a perfect piece, I listed it in my Etsy shop and it sold two days later.  This my friends, is the lesson we all need to learn:  do it anyway, whatever it is that makes your heart sing.

Challenge your creativity everyday.

Sterling silver foldform cuff.

Re-Create Yourself - Change It Up

 Recently I was in a creative funk.  Sales were down and so was my morale.  I had a choice;  give up or change it up.

Another creative friend of mine recommended a movie that I hadn't seen, it came out in 2019 I think, and I'm surprised this got past me.  Where'd You Go Bernadette?  The humorous and enlightening story of a highly creative woman who hadn't been creating and was slowly driving herself mad.  Hmm, any correlations I wondered??  

This got me to thinking about my own creative journey, of course, and it wasn't hard to understand the message that we Must create if we are creative people, driven by design, vision, innovation.  Whatever the medium is (and you may have several like I do), it's just part of our DNA, our soul, our reason for existence.  

You may be thinking my next paragraph would involve a fairy tale account of selling my home and moving to Italy (not that it hasn't occurred to me) but it was much more down to earth than that.  After a few days of self reflection (and my 67th birthday!) I decided to just change the direction of my jewelry medium.  While I Love the art and craft of foldform, it has lost it's appeal, or gone out of fashion, at least for now.  Oh I will still make and use this method, but my first directional shift is to use what I have all around me.

I live in the Olympic Mountains of the Pacific Northwest, home to rich natural resources, beautiful scenery, lush rain forests and more rivers, lakes and wild coastline than you have time to visit.  I thought, why not focus on this as my theme?
 
My new work will reflect the diversity of environments here; fish, birds, trees, mountains, etc.  While I do plan to design and manufacture my own charms and supplies within this theme at some point, I do have access to a plethora of supplies that will get me through.  

All of the adorable wildlife creatures are available in charms and pendants, PNW themed jewelry will be my goal.  I can still create with metal around this theme.

My new business name is now Olympic Jewelry Studio (formerly J Gray Design).  You'll see this in my Etsy shop and on Instagram.  

I feel good about this direction.  It feels right.

I highly encourage you to examine your lows and see where you need a change before you give up.

As always, thank you for reading this blog.

 

More Metal and New Designs

 Heading into my second year with the Port Townsend gallery and nearly a year with the second venue in Uptown.  It's been a good year but I won't be quitting my day job anytime soon.  

I made some new pieces out of bronze for the gallery and tried some new foldform designs for copper.

These two cuffs are bronze.  Harder to work with, not as flexible as copper, takes longer to heat up for the folding process, but it has a lovely warm look in the end.  A subtle gold comes through on the lines when sanded.

These two necklaces are new designs in foldform copper.  The top image has some interesting pieces of brown turquoise and tumbled citrine added.  

I'm also using a new technique for the finish.  Instead of going with whatever scale comes through after all the heating and cooling, I'm now cleaning the metal with the homemade pickle solution of vinegar and salt, giving me a clean and mostly consistent color.  I can then either heat patina or use Liver of Sulfur for the final finish. 

I reopened my Etsy shop in March of this year hoping to add more revenue for this side gig.  It hasn't generated the income I was looking for however.  Apparently the pandemic exploded the cottage industry and now the market is saturated, online anyway.  Galleries and gift shops aren't thriving again yet either, but the economy fluctuates constantly anyway.  I'm sure we'll see a return to art buying.

Meanwhile I shall shuffle along in my little studio creating, because that's what I enjoy doing.  

Marketing Art in a New Era

 We are now almost completely digitized in our communication forms, both verbally and visually.  Artists must adapt to this new way of showing and sharing our work if we want to be seen.

We are beyond blogging and newsletters, the new age wants their information fast and visual.

Recently I have been watching artists in the fields of photography, paint, sculpture, jewelry and crafts.  It appears the most successful ones are not only prolific creators, but know how to share quickly and efficiently over social media formats.  Messages are brief (if any), short, to the point presentations of stills or video, or both.  

Another quality I'm seeing is probably the only one where old school marketing still applies - don't overload your audience.  One or two posts a day will hold their attention and keep them coming back to see what you're up to. 

I've been watching a photographer I met last month on the coast, who seems to have the best formula yet.  He uses Stories in Instagram, posting almost daily with brief videos of how he's setting up a shot with a few of the finished stills.  This is brilliant as it doesn't clog up his profile or the main feed. 
Stories go away in a day, so if you teach or give workshops you're advertising your abilities but you're not giving away all your trade secrets in the feed.

To summarize, nowadays less is more.  The new attention span is short, so keep your message minimal and don't over post. 
To save time, set up your Instagram account to automatically post to your Facebook page or profile.  Minimum work, maximum exposure. 

I'm reserving my opinion of the plethora of Facebook groups there are available to share art.  I'd suggest if you also follow artists, you'll see their work there, and leave the groups for buyers.

I'll be working on a follow up post about what I think is coming for artists in 2023.  Until then, please feel free to share your marketing tips in the comments.