Jewelry designing today is challenging. First of all, jewelry making is the 2nd most popular hobby in the US, following scrapbooking. I run into jewelry hobbyists everywhere, some of them trying to earn income like me, some of them doing it because they love it. This means that the jewelry market is oversaturated. It means that a jewelry designer has to find a niche market and separate themselves from the rest.
Secondly, the consumer market can make it challenging for jewelry designers specializing in art jewelry. For several years now, the "bling" jewelry has led the way in attracting consumers. I watch women being drawn in by the brilliance of shiny, dazzling crystals, and overlooking those less "flashy" designs that take hours of love and labor in their creation.
Third, America is the biggest importer of Chinese-manufactured costume jewelry. That's a huge impact on art jewelry. In today's recession, why would a consumer purchase a piece of art jewelry for hundreds of dollars, when they could go to a department store and purchase a piece of costume jewelry for a small fraction of the price?
So with these three factors making the sale of art jewelry a challenge, why bother making the art jewelry?
There's something magical about knowing you made a piece of art. There's something wonderful about knowing a piece was made, with a story in mind, and the love of the process itself.
I love making my pieces. With the skills I've taught myself and honed over the past six years, I have come to love what I do. I want men and women to wear art jewelry. I want them to realize the value of wearing something hand-made that no one else will ever own. There is monetary value, and there is emotional value. There is also the value of supporting a homegrown artist.
Sure. It takes a little more to buy art jewelry. But art jewelry is something you can pass down to your children. You can share the inspiration and the story behind that piece of art jewelry. I promise, every art jewelry artist out there creates his or her pieces with some kind of inspirational connection involved in the inception of each beautiful piece.
Be discerning. Instead of supporting another nation of factory workers, go out and seek that art jewelry designer. Instead of buying two or three pieces of cheap costume jewelry, go out and buy that one piece of statement jewelry. It will say far more about you than anything a cheaply made foreign piece of jewelry could say.
