Inspiring Day

So a fiber artist friend and I drove the 2 hours to Charlotte, NC today to see the ACC craft show at the Charlotte Convention Center. What an inspiring day! In addition to fabulous jewelry, there was great glass, clay, wood, fibers and more. Great eye candy.

Here are some info/links to some jewelry artists whose cards I thought were worth picking up:

Julie Shaw – really interesting use of patinas. Unfortunately, no web site. Neat folded business card though.

William G. Lehnert, www.BillLehnert.com. Incredible eye candy, including a $44,000 parabila tourmaline pendant. Store in Asheville, NC. Gorgeous stuff!

Jayne DeMarcay, DeMarcay Design, www.DeMarcay.com Really interesting nesting gold rings; great use of stones as accent pieces.

Lee Marraccini. www.marraccinidesigns.com Interesting textured gold with gemstones.

Erica Stankwytch Bailey, www.ericastankwytchbailey.com Great textures and shapes in silver. Lots of doming, hand made beads, and elements that can be used singly or combined.

Lori Warren, www.loriwarren.com Really unusual shapes, mixed bezel and prongs, neat stones. HUGE – like 4 x 11″ – card with huge pictures. Only on one side though… thought that was kind of a waste of the other side.

Pat Pruitt – www.patpruitt.com Incredible stainless steel pieces, many inlaid with fine silver or gold. Great textures, great finishes. Neat stuff.

And finally, an artist who “paints” on huge “canvases” of stainless steel. He creates the most amazing textures, that look like 3-d shapes. Really, really cool stuff! Bruce R. MacDonald, www.brmdesign.com If you are into finishes, you need to check out his work.

On a different note, I was intrigued by the different approaches to both presentation and PR materials. Some artists had nothing; some had business cards; some had cards and postcards of varying sizes; and a few had a “catalog” of either specific items, or general types of items. I found the catalog idea intriguing, as it would let the visitor take it home, hand it to hubby or wife, and say – Christmas is coming and I love THIS! Kind of cool idea…

Presentation ran the gamut from incredibly elaborate expensive cases with the jeweler firmly ensconced behind them, to casual but still good looking presentations with no glass or furniture between the visitor and the jewelry or the artist. The top priced items were behind glass and locks; mid price down varied. Personally, I like being able to touch things I am looking at, but most – not all but most – of the artists with work behind glass were quick to pull things out if we were looking.

Also noticed that there was a pretty even mix between those with visible prices and those without. Still not sure how I feel about that one… the cases look cleaner with no prices, but then people would look and move on since they could not tell if they could afford it or not. Some, of course, would ask… but I saw many just glance and go. Sort of an if I have to ask I probably can’t afford it thing I think….

Anyway, a very inspirational day. Lots of ideas for redoing my booth and how I show my work, met some great folks, had a grand day – and got my husband’s Christmas present – yeah!