Learn to Make Your Own Enamel Cabachons

                     I am excited to announce a new class I will be            teaching at Quench Jewelry Arts 

          This is a great class for beginners and intermediate metal smiths.  

Students will learn how to "paint with fire" by applying enamels to copper using a torch. They will have complete control over their designs and explore basic fabrication techniques. 

No experience is necessary to take this class, but intermediate students will be able to explore incorporating enamels into more complicated works. After completing enamels, we will set the finished pieces in sterling silver and fine silver.  Students will make cushions for these settings to add dimension. 

 

This two part workshop will be offered March 13 & 20 from 6-9:30 at Quench Jewelry Arts

You can regisiter on line or

 by calling 612-968-3199.

One of the areas that I need to pay attention to in my business, is business.  I love to create.  It is my air, my water, my food.

Everything that I need to do to run my business has felt like smog in my air, sludge in my water and mold in my food.

Basically it is 

vs

I know I am not alone in the world of people who pursue art for their career. That being said, I am going to make a conscious effort to try and have a little fun with the professional end of being an artist in a sole proprietorship.  

I will think of it as a diet of sorts, an exercise program to "get in shape". I'm sure my accountant will be relieved, if not pleased.  

The first thing to do in any diet of exercise program is to:

a.) take an honest assessment of your current condition and

b.) define reachable goals 

The honest assessment of my business footing is, well, a little off balance.  I quit keeping books in July.  All of my receipts and records are at least in separate piles, grouped by month.   A reachable goal?  I will work on this bookkeeping every day until completed ( but not to exceed two hours a day.)

I have begun to develop a presence in social media, but as far as that evolution, I would say I have not evolved much past being a sponge.  Therefor, for the time being, I will devote at least 20 minutes a day to becoming more visible on the web, my first effort being to learn to become a "blogger."

I think I have exceeded my limit of left brain functioning for the day.  Time to go create.

I think I will sort and clean some fossils.

Mermaids ... sans shells

I participated it the Art-a-Whirl art crawl last week.  I met many new people who had never seen my work before.However the questions I get are the same wherever I go.  Perhaps the most frequent of these is, "Where do you get your ideas?".  That is not an easy answer for me, because many times, I don't know.  They just seem to erupt from somewhere of their own volition.  Maybe I just have a very hyperactive muse with attention deficit disorder.  However, there are some things that have remained a constant for me, just reincarnating in different forms. 
 One of these is Mermaids. When I was a little girl, I used to fantasize about being a mermaid.   I am not fond of the bastardized Disney version.  True, the old stories are sad, but they are also quite touching and they show that there is more to life than finding a man.  Besides, if I were a mermaid, I would never use seashells as a bikini top.  Yuk.  I cannot think of anything more uncomfortable.  

The mermaids I have made over the years have taken on many forms, but not a one  of them would ever consent to wearing seashells.  Here are some of my ladies who have found a new home.

Mermaid & boulder opal ring

Mermaid, azurite and emerald ring

 





  As 
you can
 see......

some of my girls are modestly posed while others are a bit more daring.

Asymmetrical Mermaid earrings

Mermaid, pet fish and bubbles

Mermaid ,pet fish, chalcedoney and sapphires

BUT.....
They do not wear scratchy shells.



What kind of Mermaid are you?

Laura Stamper Designs-Art Jewelry: Learning and Teaching When I first started my busi...

Laura Stamper Designs-Art Jewelry: Learning and Teaching When I first started my busi...: Learning and Teaching   When I first started my business as a full time career in 1991, I loved doing art shows.  The excitement of trave...

Learning and Teaching 

When I first started my business as a full time career in 1991, I loved doing art shows.  The excitement of travel, meeting new people and going to new places with my work was exciting.  Everything seemed new and there was so much to absorb.There were so many surprises!  I had no interest in doing wholesale,  partly because I wanted to see where my creations were going to their new home. Also, I did not the the idea of doing repetitive work. 

As my business grew, I began to do wholesale shows. 
Being in galleries and designing for a catalog became an entirely different experience.  It took some getting used to, but began to provide me with a little more predictability in my life.  Unlike art shows (where one never know if you will be accepted, if the weather will be favorable and if the interested collectors will come), filling orders added an element of predictability to my life.  I found that a little predictability is a good thing. I developed a new market of collectors and had the delightful experience of meeting some of them at the shows I was still doing.  It is not uncommon for someone to come in my booth and declare, "Oh I know your work.  I have a piece of yours that I got from  ....."

The next step seemed to be starting some sort of online presence.  I have to be honest, I hated this idea.  I am not an individual who favors technology.  It intimidates me.  I have a cell phone that I rarely use.  I use it so infrequently, I seldom give the number out because I can go days without checking it.  But, this is the 21st century.  It was time for me to get on board.  It hasn't been so bad actually.  I've even connected with some pretty incredible people who have been patient in showing me around cyberspace.  I have: 
a website
http://www.laurastamper.com

a Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/laurastamperdesigns?ref=stream

a twitter account
https://twitter.com/LauraStamper

Instagram
http://instagram.com/laurastamperdesigns

I am on Linked In
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/laura-stamper/44/95b/a91/

And you can shop for my current works on etsy
https://www.etsy.com/shop/laurastamperdesigns

Whew!

Then I began to hear from people, "You should teach.  I would love to take a class from you!"  Being mostly self taught,  this prospect sounded entirely frightening!  Many of my techniques are unconventional and NOT what you would be taught in any formal training.  In fact, some of the things that I do are probably discouraged!  But eventually, if you hear something often enough, you figure that the universe is trying to tell you something.  This year I began to teach at Quench Jewelry Arts in Minneapolis.
http://www.quenchjewelryarts.com/index.php
And I have discovered that I absolutely love teaching!  I have so many ideas plus it gives me a real chance to do experimentation, to try different

techniques, add my own twist and pass that knowledge on .Teaching is the newest path on this crazy fun journey if being an artist.  

Have I mentioned that I love my job?


http://www.quenchjewelryarts.com/index.php

One of a kind asymmetrical earrings

with boulder opals and sapphires in sterling silver

Retail:  $185

One lucky person is going to win these earrings!

Here's how:

Go to:

https://www.facebook.com/laurastamperdesigns?ref=stream

and click on "Sweepstakes"

Enter now and enter often

Good Luck!

I decided to work with a marketing group to increase my presence on line.  I was encouraged to blog.  This is not my strong suit, I would rather be in the studio, "making".  However I do know that the cyber fairy doesn't just twinkle int my sights and give me exposure, so I'm helping her along with this task.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, what to say.  First of all, I love what I do.  How many people actually get to live their dream?  When I was a little girl, I was always drawing, painting and making things.  I was the kid who was an Olympic daydreamer, who drew on the walls played in the mud.

Being picked for a team on the playground?  Not so much.

Not much has changed,  I still get lost in art. I go into "the zone".  When I am in my studio, I am oblivious to the outside world.  I have to put a time limit on how long I will work and I even forget to eat.  So, as you can see, sitting at a computer and writing is a little out of my league.  Baby steps.

This is my world.

Welcome to it.