I'm an
artist. I use that term loosely. While my degree is in art, I really
ended up doing jewelry for most of my career, so technically that's
a craft. And, in the past two years I have become interested in the
book arts, book repair, restoration, bookbinding, etc. So that's a craft,
too. There's the interminable discussion of arts versus crafts, and,
should you care, I just want to be clear.
I've noticed
that some younger women seem to want to lump women my age who do crafts
into some category they call "craft wife." I know who they
mean. There are five of them who share the pottery studio across the
hall from me. While they are very serious about their work, and produce
some very nice pieces, they have no real need to need to make a living
doing it. But, I am not that, I have definitely have made a living through
my craft.
I had
my own production jewelry design business for over 22 years, and I marketed
my work at craft fairs and in galleries throughout the country, and
in several international markets as well. My spouse was my partner in
that business. For eight years we also had a jewelry gallery in a northern
suburb of Chicago. Eventually, we got tired of the whole business though,
and while I still do some jewelry and some shows, and I am now in the
process of making a web site for that, it is no longer our primary source
of income.
We have
now moved on into the used, collectible, antiquarian and rare book business.
We were book readers collectors, accumulators, and then the books got
out of hand. My spouse had always wanted to have his own book business,
so over the last eight years we have been making a transition into that
business. We do book fairs and sell mainly here
on at this point. We sometimes sell collectibles, too. I'm honing
my book repair skills, and have created a tiny little niche for myself
making book clasps and teaching some workshops here and there.
When I
started my original journal I didn't really want people to know who
I was. I guess I was a little Internet shy. I've thought it over, though,
and I decided that it's best to just be up front. While I'm not going
to use my full name here, I'm sure it will be fairly easy to find out
all you will ever want to know about me if you read long enough.
Expect
the usual random blathering. And, since my grand daughters are very
likely to read here, it's probably going to be mostly PG 13. Oh, yeah,
and my 83 year old Dad may read, too. So don't expect anything here
that I wouldn't share with a crowd of people, because I have no illusions
that I write in a vacuum. Personal thoughts and plenty of opinions,
yes, and I hope it will be a little bit interesting, but I don't foresee
any really good train wrecks.