Featured Etsy Shop: Cloudburst Choctaw Trading

Today’s featured Etsy shop is Cloudburst Choctaw Trading, a shop that features sterling silver and semi-precious stone jewelry and miniature sterling silver sculptures that incorporate american indian design.

I am an American Indian enrolled in the Choctaw tribe, in which I am very much involved in our government upon being voted into office on the tribal council . I no longer live on a reservation. I bought a new cabin and a few acres in a rural area but I miss seeing my friends from the reservation on a daily basis. I really enjoy powwow dancing and love going to visit friends in other states on their reservations.

When I’m not silversmithing, I love browsing bookstores, hanging at a coffeehouse drinking frozen mocha cappucino ,listening to NPR and hiking in the woods by my house.

I got started silversmithing after I had seen two silver jewelry items I wanted , but cost over $550.00. So instead of buying them, I bought tools and silver. I made many of my own tools, like stamping dies and a doming block. My main inspiration for my jewelry is my dreams. I’m shocked that I remember them the next day, so I quickly draw them in my sketchbook. I am also deeply influenced by my ceremonies in our culture, the ever-present wild animals here and just simple everyday conversation will often be a design catalyst.

I have had no training of any kind in silversmithing. It was all trial and error many moons ago when I was still a pup. Fortunately, I have found out what works. I work at my own retail silversmith shop full time and do a fair amount of custom order work. My Etsy stock is a fraction of what’s available here locally. In the past, I have worked as a marketing director for a soul-less national corporation and once owned a large ornamental iron company where we crafted old New Orleans style wrought iron balconies fence and railings.

Three things most people don’t know about me:
I love museums. I would spend my last dollar on beautiful art work. I play the native american cedar flute.

For fun, I make welded structural steel sculpture, I also really enjoy carving walking canes and doing leather braiding.

My shop name, Cloudburst, is part of my surname. My username on Etsy, Choctaw, is my tribal affiliation.

Artists who inspire me are : Tony Abeyta, painter, Oreland Joe, sculptor, Rodney John, potter, R.Carlos Nakai, native flute player, Kenneth Gill, pipestone carver, Marcus Amerman, beadworker.

My favorite medium is silver. I really love stamping , etching or engraving native designs on it. My new favorite stone is spectrolite, the rarest form of labradorite from Finland. I love the rich blues and metallic greens that fire across its surface.

The best advice I can offer to artists starting their own business is 1) know your particular art form extremely well; buy books, manuals, dvds on your art. 2) Use the best materials possible. Learn on the cheap stuff, but sell only the finest. 3) build up a fair amount of stock before you launch your business. I went to a craft show recently where a young lady had only five beaded bracelets to sell at morning opening. 4) Don’t limit your sales to only one venue. Sell online, out of your home, to retail shops, galleries, art markets, etc. 5) Price your art sensibly. 6) Keep the day job until your art pays the bills. Stress kills creativity.

I have a silversmith shop here in Louisiana where customers can purchase from available stock or place a custom order. I also sell at powwows and art shows. My work can be purchased online at www.choctaw.etsy.com.

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micheledodge

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