SHINY PRETTY THINGS
I love it when Suze Orman says “you are denied”. We all need, we all want. That piece of jewelry you’ve been lusting after just got buried in denial.
Suze Orman is smart, funny and quite the actress. Her show is like a bad accident I can’t stop watching. I’m always curious about how to spend money, sock it away or get out of debt. It’s really only a game of monopoly to me, and this whole money thing is a game I never played. But if I did, I’d probably take it more seriously. I originally started making jewelry because I’m such a “jewelry whore”. I used to stare at the renaissance paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art and stare at the jewelry the subjects were wearing. Where can I get that, I wondered. Later, I figured out I could just make it. I had no idea, however, that it would take over 20 years to become a decent smithy/craftsman.
I’ve been traveling more, doing craft fairs, seeing what the customer has to say about my work since I no longer have a retail store. The response has been terrific and I’m always curious to speak with the other vendors. The last show I did, in Rhinebeck, New York was beautifully organized, executed and featured an incredible array of skilled craftsmen struggling to “survive in this economy”. We all had one thing in common, we want Suze Orman to stop knocking the spending on the jewelry.
I remember when I had my first store in the East Village of NYC during the years 1984 to 1991. I lived and worked in a tiny 250 square foot space which was organized like a small ship. There was a tiny showroom, a tiny studio and a bedroom loft, all on street level. I worked during the day as an office temp and would make the jewelry at night and open the store to the public on the weekends. I survived and created in the sesspool of artistic community. I did whatever it took to survive and create and so did everyone else. Often neighbors and clients would come into my store and hang out, look at the jewelry and leave. In the early days, the only confirmation that I had that my work was any good was the fact that it was stolen. I figured at least someone really WANTED it! (I put an end to theft when I installed a double-cylindar lock on the door and removed the key when someone entered and was held captive. In lieu of costly theft insurance, I simply had a metal pole by my side, but more stories on that another time…) Later, when the work actually began to sell, it wasn’t uncommon for me to hear comments like, “you know, I think I’m going to buy that ring instead of paying my rent this month.” or: “I was on my way out to dinner, but I think I’d like to get that necklace instead. I’ll skip dinner”. I wanted the sale, but my guilt was heavy. Usually I’d try unsuccessfully to talk them out of that.
So I think Suze Orman should shut up and STOP doing her part to kill the economy.. There is such a thing as reward. Simple pleasures. And we all NEED shiny, pretty things. It's a personal health issue.
AND P.S., Suze: How about upgrading your taste in earrings and stop shopping at Kmart?
4 comments:
Good for you for being a jewelry craftsperson. But since you admittedly know nothing about money, I would take Suze's advice over yours any day as far as what to spend my hard-earned money on. Maybe you think we all "need" shiny pretty things, but guess what...most of us have a lot of that stuff already, yet we haven't saved up enough for other things that are coming down the road whether we like it or not. Try telling your child that you can't help them pay for college because there were too many things that you thought you needed. There are a lot of forces in the world that try to get us to spend our money and there are not a lot that try to get us to save our money. I'm sorry you see that as a threat.
Back in the early '90's, I worked down the street from the shop on Thompson St...my hard-earned money did little more than pay my rent. Every so often I went down the street and 'visited' my earrings at Clear Metals. They weren't anything crazy; simple gold hoops, but they were the ultimate simple gold hoops; perfect size, weighty, completely unadorned except for their perfect design. When I got a Christmas bonus, I knew exactly what I was getting. Those earrings are still my go-to, perfect earrings, and remind me of those days down in Soho every time I put them on. Spending wisely doesn't necessarily mean denying yourself
Jewelry are very personal. It is amazing to see how you have crafted your initials and have given the earrings your identity. You could also browse through angara.com . There are affordable jewelry options that they have and one could also get them customized as they want.
Great information! Thanks very much for putting out this kind of posts.
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