My best beading buddy Gail and I went to the International Gem & Jewelry Show show here in Denver today. We have been before, we know the suppliers and they see us coming a mile away.
I have to be honest though, I wasn't into it today. Just didn't care about the shiny beauties, the strands of lovely colors, the special deals. I felt bad about this. How can I be a jewelry designer and not just go crazy at an event like this? What was wrong with me?
Finally I pried Gail out of the show with promises of a margarita on the way home. We wound up at a little place called Paris on the Platte and we sat on the street side patio. Ritas and chips were ordered and then the fun started.
We found ourselves in the midst of some twenty-somethings who were most certainly regulars. Cute, playful, flamboyant, they had it all. Gail and I did not fit in, but we did have something in common. Jewelry.
Before you knew it we were showing off our trinkets, exchanging numbers and Facebook information and telling stories about our accesories. Where we got it, how we made it or who we were with when the idea came to us. It was a great group of people, entertaining conversation and a reminder to me of why I do what I do. I love the stories and the emotion behind the adornments of the people I meet. It's inspiring. It helps me to understand what causes someone to pick up an item I have made and want to keep it for their own.
It makes me sad to talk to a talented designer and hear them tell me that they hate the people side of things, they just want to create and be left alone. I think they are missing out on the best part of being a creative person. The emotions that pour out of a person who LOVES something that you have made makes it all worth the effort. We as designers create for other people and we should do our best to remember that. Oh, and have a margarita once in a while too. It does wonders for a poor attitude!
I have to be honest though, I wasn't into it today. Just didn't care about the shiny beauties, the strands of lovely colors, the special deals. I felt bad about this. How can I be a jewelry designer and not just go crazy at an event like this? What was wrong with me?
Finally I pried Gail out of the show with promises of a margarita on the way home. We wound up at a little place called Paris on the Platte and we sat on the street side patio. Ritas and chips were ordered and then the fun started.
We found ourselves in the midst of some twenty-somethings who were most certainly regulars. Cute, playful, flamboyant, they had it all. Gail and I did not fit in, but we did have something in common. Jewelry.
Before you knew it we were showing off our trinkets, exchanging numbers and Facebook information and telling stories about our accesories. Where we got it, how we made it or who we were with when the idea came to us. It was a great group of people, entertaining conversation and a reminder to me of why I do what I do. I love the stories and the emotion behind the adornments of the people I meet. It's inspiring. It helps me to understand what causes someone to pick up an item I have made and want to keep it for their own.
It makes me sad to talk to a talented designer and hear them tell me that they hate the people side of things, they just want to create and be left alone. I think they are missing out on the best part of being a creative person. The emotions that pour out of a person who LOVES something that you have made makes it all worth the effort. We as designers create for other people and we should do our best to remember that. Oh, and have a margarita once in a while too. It does wonders for a poor attitude!
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