Experiment Progress

It's been a few weeks since I launched my little marketing experiment on Pinterest and it seems to be working! How can I tell? All you have to do is look at the numbers. Since I began this experiment the followers to my Style Board has steadily risen. At the moment I have just over 550 followers to my board.

How did I get there? You'll notice that I have added 327 pins to this board. As I pin I take a look at who else has added this pin to their various boards. Of those who have added this pin I look at their board and begin following those that have added pins of jewelry...they are my target audience. As I add different pinners they will reciprocate and add me to their followers list. this results in more eyes seeing my work making more potential buyers.

Something else. I've also launched another board that is picking up some momentum - Etsy Finds.

This experiment is similar to my StyleBoard pin board. I visit Etsy and look around at interesting works that I like and add them to this board. As I gain followers who are interested in artist made work on Etsy I will pepper the board with my own pieces. This too should result in more potential buyers.

Stay tuned...I will update you soon on the next phase of the experiment - adding my work to the board.

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A New Marketing Experiment

For a couple of years I have been using pinterest to look for inspiration for new work. This has worked out perfect for me. To see what others are creating has enabled me to get my creative juices flowing. But I began to wonder how I could use this to attract customers to my work. Since everyone that I follow on my Jewelry pinterest page is a fellow artist, I figure that they wouldn’t necessarily be in the market for my work.

Then it hit me; create a pin page where I could collect pinners that are my target market. This marks the beginning of my marketing experiment. For the next few months I plan to figure out a way to turn my pin posts into paying customers, and I will be bringing you along with me.

Step One – Identify my target Pinner

Through my Jewelry pin page I have had a lot of contributors from pinners with pages like ‘My Style and Things I like’. As I look through their pins I notice that there was a wonderful mixture of clothing, shoes, accessories, AND trendy jewelry. Many of these fashion conscious pinners must be my target demographic. So I did a search on the keyword ‘style’ and found hundreds of women who are interested in fashion and jewelry. But what do I do with these newfound pinners?

Step Two – Make a Pin Board

In order to collect interesting pinners I need a place to put them. So I created a new board on my Pinterest called ‘Style Board’. After I did my search on ‘Style’ I began following those pinners whose style was similar to the jewelry that I create. As I come across their fashion pins that have both clothing and jewelry, I pin it to this board.

Step Three – Build a Following

After you have begun pinning some fashion pins that fit your target demographic, go back to the pin in your pin board. After you click on the picture you’ll notice that there are others who have pinned this same image to their fashion boards. Have a look at some of these boards and decide which ones fit your demographic and begin following them. This will give you a bigger pool of pins to add to your own pin board.

As you pin you’ll notice that others are beginning to follow your fashion pin board, this is exactly what you want. You want to build a following to your fashion board.

Now What

That’s a good question. You’ve added a lot of pins to your new board. You’ve begun to receive followers to your fashion board. What can you do with this? Every so often pin one of your pieces from your ETSY Shop (or wherever you sell your work) to your Fashion Board. This will then end up in the feed of everyone who follows your fashion pin board.

The idea is to get your work out to a buying audience. That’s the experiment. I really am not sure if anyone is doing this or not, but I’m going to give it a try. As the weeks and months progress we’ll see if I sell a piece (if any) to one of my Fashion Board pinners.

Stay Tuned.

The Great Kentucky Agate Hunt - Part 2



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In Part 1 of The Great Kentucky Agate Hunt, we set off on a hike up a creek in Eastern Kentucky. After hours of trudging through this beautiful country we have found nothing. The question remains, will we find what we are looking for? Our saga continues.

Trekking through the cool knee deep waters we discovered the beauty of springtime in eastern Kentucky. The terrain of the creek bed changed from gravel and stone, to a smooth black slate. It looked as if the creek bed had been paved. These areas of large slate formations looked like marble flooring found in mansions of the rich and famous. Although beautiful these formations were a bad sign for us. The treasure that we were looking for is rarely found in areas such as this.  Wasting no time Roland left the creek and bypassed the area for more fertile hunting grounds. Within minutes we were back on the hunt in rich, rocky territory. 

The creekbed changed

 

Hour by hour passed, mile by mile of stone examination and Roland calling my attempted finds as "junk" was beginning to wear on me. After each rejection he would toss them back into the rock bed like he was throwing away an empty potato chip bag. I was beginning to wonder, “Would my journey end on a high note?” It sure felt like my adventure wouldn't end with a triumphant catch. As fast as those feelings of leaving here empty handed came, they quickly fell to the way side. "There's one right there," Roland calmly reported. We found it! We found our treasure! As I picked up the stone I quickly realized just how different it was from the hundreds I had presented for approval. I could feel the excitement wrap me in its electrifying embrace. I then felt something come over me. It was a feeling that I had never felt before. I could feel my eyes glow with agate fever. We had finally done it!

Success!

 

There was only one problem facing us – the long walk back to the car. Over the last three hours or so we covered almost two miles of territory. The walk back would be a test of my endurance and stamina. Not only was it a long walk wearing hip waders, I had to do it carrying my treasure. Take my word for it, after hours of hiking, these stones felt twice as heavy as they were.

The Long Walk Home

 

 

The hunt was a success! I could now leave this beautiful landscape with the knowledge that I had prevailed over this elusive opponent.  Even though they weren't what I was looking for, I found a lot of different goodies that day. The education that was imparted to me by my hunting guide Roland was only the beginning of my love affair with Kentucky agate hunting.

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The Great Kentucky Agate Hunt - Part 1

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Not too long ago I had the occasion to go on a hunt for Kentucky Agate with my family. My son, Robert and I, wrote this wonderful article that was printed in my now out of print magazine "Wire Art". I loved the trip so much that I wanted to share our adventure with all of you again. Are you ready? Here we go.

The blue sky blanketed over the green hillsides as the clear rocky creek cut it in two. The still quiet air filled our lungs as we head out on our adventurous hunt for the ever beautiful, ever elusive Kentucky Agate.

The adventure begins as I first meet up with my guide and master agate hunter Roland McIntosh at his workshop that lies at the foot of his hillside home. Roland is by far one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. His ‘down home’ country demeanor makes you feel welcomed. From the beginning it felt like we were long lost friends reuniting after years apart. His humble manner and easygoing attitude immediately set me at ease.

Our Guide, Roland McIntosh

After pleasantries and introductions he gave me the grand tour of his workshop.  Looking around the outside of his shop I witnessed the largest collection of Kentucky agate that I’ve ever seen. There were piles upon piles of geodes all around his building. The stockpile of agate was almost unimaginable.  At the time I didn't realize it, but this was very beneficial to see, for now I have a slight clue as to what we were searching for.

Roland, whose knowledge about this beautiful stone is seemingly unmatched, has been hunting this rare stone for over 27 years. In that time, he’s had to self-educate himself about Kentucky agates, gleaning as much information as he could from fellow hunters. Kentucky Agate is only found in a small region of Eastern Kentucky. It ranges in color from brilliant red, orange, yellow, and burgundy to subtle pastels of lavender, pink, and green. Roland pointed out that out of all of the color combinations that the stone is found in, the rarest is red and black. This, however, was the inside of the specimen. What makes finding Kentucky Agate so difficult is differentiating it from other stone. In many cases it looks like everything else in the creek bed. Roland turned a specimen over and pointed out how to identify the treasure we were looking for. I needed to keep my eye out for a large, egg-shaped stone with a tan to brown exterior. I spent a few minutes studying the target that he and I would be searching for. The education that I received from this mineral hunting sage was priceless. The more he spoke, the more excited I got.

 

Once the lesson concluded, we started our trek through the hills of Kentucky. Gorgeous hills and valleys fill our eyes and the blue sky covers our heads as we walked over to the hunting grounds armed with our wits, sharp eyesight, and a bag to hold our catch. We headed up a creek that Roland has hunted from previously and knew well. Even though he's been there before, the rains and other storms that hit a few days before kicked up new stones for us to find and explore.

 

As we walked upstream, thoughts of the treasures that we'd find filled my head. Shortly after the hunt began we encountered our first signs of wild life. The creek we were exploring ran through a pasture where a quiet herd of cows were hungrily feeding on fresh grass. Roland seemed unaffected by their presence as he climbed the pasture gate. “I’m not worried about the cows”, he said with a grin, “I’m looking for the bull”.  This statement heightened my concern about what we would encounter the deeper into the creek we explored. I took a deep breath, said a quick prayer, and made my way over the gate. Thankfully, no bull was present.

The "Dangerous" Wildlife

Without a doubt the one thing that helped me on the journey was Roland. His accurate and vast knowledge of the area and different stones proved to be quite an asset. His easy going nature came in handy as well. Throughout the entire trek I kept picking up stone after stone, rock after rock, bringing it to my hunting guide for approval, not one of them being the correct stone. I must have picked up the entire creek bed and brought it to him for inspection. With each specimen that I presented to him he would nonchalantly say, “That’s junk”. His disapproval at first was hard to take, but after the first fifty rejections it almost became a joke. It was a good thing Roland doesn't frustrate easily. If not for him I think I would have left the creek with five tons of flint and iron ore. It seemed as if the creek was dominated by these imposters, making it difficult and tiresome to find our treasure. But like any good treasure hunt - the harder the work the better the pay off.  This hunt would have been much easier if we had a pirates treasure map with a huge “X” marking the spot. But all we had is a very very long hike and a lot of time. Hiking through the creek, you felt as if you would never find your treasure. Stone after stone, bend after bend, and no sign of the agate.

"That's Junk"

 

Will we ever find our treasure? Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion of "The Great Kentucky Agate Hunt!"

 

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How To...Come Up with Fresh Designs

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Coming up with new and exciting designs is essential for artists to successfully sell their work. If you’re not selling you’re not eating and not eating is a bad situation.  The problem for many artists is tackling the daunting task of changing their tried and true designs to come up with a fresh new look.  So why make the change? In 1909 automotive pioneer Henry Ford was quoted as saying about the Model T, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black”. Any idea why you can buy a car in a wide array of colors today? Competition. Years after making that statement Ford realized that if they wanted to stay ahead of the competition they had to make fresh changes to their product. The same idea is true with wire art.  If you keep making the same thing year after year eventually people will begin looking at the competition. To stay ahead of your competition it’s extremely important to give your work an updated look.

So how do you come up with a fresh new look to your pieces? Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu said “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. That’s a great way to view the monumental task of updating basic projects. The first steps in our design journey begin simply with a pencil and a blank piece of paper.

Before you begin sketching you need to define what you’re making. If you don’t define the project you’ll have no direction. One of the first projects most wire artists learn is a basic pendant. So for this first exercise we’ll update a basic wire wrap pendant.

Choose a stone to work with and place it on a blank piece of paper. With a pencil trace the shape of the stone (Picture 1). Remove the stone from the paper and have a look at what you’ve drawn. Congratulations, you’ve just taken the first step to giving your work a whole new look.

Picture 1

Every wire wrapped pendant has necessary elements that must be added to the piece for stability. Every pendant has to have a bail, wire strands must be brought over the front and back of the stone to secure it in place, and all of the wire strands have to be wrapped together. These elements can’t be omitted, but they can be modified.  Before making any changes to these design elements lightly draw them on the sketch just as they would appear in a finished piece (Picture 2). 

Picture 2

 

Now comes the fun part, making some changes. When I’m looking for new design ideas I spend a bit of time looking for designinspiration in magazines, the internet, and Pinterest. I look at all of the jewelry that the models are wearing and take note of the new trends that are on the horizon. One thing I’ve noticed about pendants is their size. Big stones are in. I’ve also noticed that the more “doo-dads” that you have on the pendant the more people love it. So we’ll go with that trend.

We first need to devise a way to add additional stones or metal to the basic pendant. A good way to do this is to add eyelets to the wire frame. These eyelets will allow you to hang design elements from the pendant.  Begin by drawing a small eyelet at the bottom of the pendant (Picture 3).

Picture 3

 

To take this design a little further draw in two more eyelets on either side of the first one (Picture 4). From these three small design elements you can take the piece in an untold number of directions. You could flatten and texture a few pieces of large gauge wire and hang them from each eyelet. Several beads could be strung and suspended from the eyelets. You can even add a couple more eyelets and have a ton of places to add design elements. The possibilities are endless.

Picture 4

 

Once you’re satisfied with the design the next step is to define the details. This step shows how each new design element fits into the piece. Typically you achieve this through both pictures and notations (Picture 5). Notice how each element is defined. Notations are made on how the eyelets are wrapped in with the other border wires.

Picture 5

To finish the design you must look at the basic elements that were added first. Do they still work in their current position? A few adjustments may need to be made before you can say the job is done (Picture 6). Take a few minutes to tweak the design until you’re satisfied with the results.

Picture 6

The point of this exercise is to show you how easy it is to make simple changes to basic designs to come up with a fresh approach to your work.  From this first drawing you can create an entire line of pendants that have the same design thread running through them. Add an element here and there to create something new and appealing to your customers.

The Finished Design

Trust me, the seemingly long journey of creating fresh work isn’t as daunting as it may seem. It all begins by taking that first step. 
  
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How To...Remove a Stone From a Project

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Over the years we’ve received a lot of emails asking how to remove a stone so the piece can be polished or heat hardened. In many cases leaving the stone in the piece while performing these procedures will cause damage to the stone. So how can you safely remove the stone from a finished piece.

Solution – The cabochon must be removed in such a way that it causes the least amount of damage. Removing the cab from the front may cause irreparable damage to the piece. Removing the stone from the back of the piece, however, will hide any damage that occurs.

Using flat nose pliers, grab the bottom of the backing wire at the point where it bends away from the frame wires (Picture 1).

Picture 1

 

Gently bend the wire away from the stone (Picture 2).

Picture 2

 

Do the same with the top of the same wire (Picture 3).

Picture 3

 

You should now have one side of the stone exposed (Picture 4). Do the same with the second backing wire.

Picture 4

 

At this point the backing wires should look like open shutters (Picture 5). From the front of the piece push the stone out the back.

Picture 5

 

Now you are free to perform whatever necessary procedures that you wish (Picture 6).

Picture 6

 

When you’re ready to reinstall the stone push it into the piece from the back. With flat nose pliers bend the backing wires back into place against the stone (Picture 7).

Picture 7

 

To get the wires snug against the stone tap the wires with a rawhide mallet (Picture 8). Be careful not to cause any damage to the stone or the front of the piece.

Picture 8

Please keep in mind that this procedure can only be done to the piece once. The more you bend the backing wires the weaker they become.  The last thing that you need is to grab one of the backing wires and have it snap away from the piece.

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Thou Shalt Not Steal…Borrow...but not steal

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“That guy stole my design!” Imagine those words coming out of your mouth. You’re walking around an art show and come across an artist making copies of your work, work that you spent years to design and perfect? Would you walk up to them and congratulate them for all of their hard work and effort.  Of course you wouldn’t. You’d probably be tempted to give them a stern talking to. No artist wants to ever be accused of copying a design. So how can you use elements of someone’s designs without copying it? The answer is – borrow… not steal.

 

On the market today there are a lot of step-by-step blogs, websites, books and magazines that teach you how to create different styles of jewelry – you happen to be reading one now. The point of these projects isn’t to show you how to mass produce that jewelry piece.  The intent is to show you how to utilize certain techniques to express your artistic vision. Think of it this way – what would you think if Picasso painted the same picture over and over only changing the colors? Would you think of him as a master? Of course you wouldn’t. He wouldn’t have been expressing his artistic vision. He would have been mass producing the same painting. When Picasso created his works of art he used the same techniques but in very different ways. This helped him to create something that was true genius. That’s what we want to do. We want to use various techniques to create true works of wearable art. How can this be done?

The first step is to identify the technique.  As you read the step- by- step instructions spend time identifying the various techniques that are being taught. Also note how the technique is being applied to the jewelry piece being made. What is the function of the technique? Is it used to add structure to the piece? Is it only used as a decorative element? By thinking along these lines you can get a better understanding on how you can use this in other jewelry pieces to create something new. It may even be a good idea to jot down techniques that you would like to use in a notebook.

Once you understand how the technique works, follow the step-by-step instructions and create the project. This will give you a working knowledge of the technique. It may be necessary to make the same piece a few times so that you have a good idea how it works. As you make the piece a second or third time, look for ways to make changes to the piece to make it your own. You can even look for ways to improve on the technique. Exploring new ways to use a technique has led many to discover new techniques. This is the evolving of our artistic talents.

Now that you have a good idea how the technique works, you need to find new ways to incorporate it into your designs. Pull out your sketchbook and start drawing designs that use that technique. Don’t worry about the design being practical, the idea here is to get the creative juices flowing so you can find a way to incorporate it. Once you settle on a design idea, create a few working drawings that detail how the piece goes together.

Sketch it Out

 

Finally, bring the drawing to life by making the piece. This can be challenging so remain calm and take your time. As you make this new piece keep notes on changes that need to be made in future pieces. As I am coming up with new designs I often have to refine the design before I put it down in writing. This is all a part of the design process.

Don’t limit the above learning method to just wire art techniques. A lot can be learned by looking at metalsmithing, goldsmithing, and beading techniques. Riveting, for instance, can be used in many ways to enhance your wire art. With the renewed popularity of copper, chemical etching of the metal can be used to add texture to a piece. There are various texturing methods that can be borrowed from other art forms that you can add to your “bag of tricks”. The key is to explore, learn, and try new techniques.

One more reason. A new trend that has been developing over the past few years is the influx of wire art tutorials. As wire artists we are always looking for new ways to create jewelry. This hunger for new designs has prompted many (myself included) to share their designs by writing and selling tutorials. The problem isn’t with writing the tutorials, it’s the plagiarism of the designs. I can personally point to at least four tutorials of the common ring (also known as the Pharaoh’s Ring) in a popular book, a popular magazine, a popular DVD, and a website. Each author of the tutorial has their own approach to creating the ring and that’s good. However, the way that the tutorials are written makes it seem as if the writer is the creator of that design – something that simply isn’t true. The common ring was designed by Tom Phalan and patented in 1948. This practice of artistic thievery must be stopped. As fellow artists I challenge each one of you to take a stand for our art. It’s up to each one of us individually to put a stop to it.

The Common Ring (Pharoah's Ring)

So the lesson is – if you’re going to write and sell a tutorial don’t steal. It’s better to borrow techniques and come up with something new. By doing this you’ll sell more tutorials and you’ll keep your artistic integrity intact.

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