GETTING STARTED: DEVELOPING YOUR PASSION Passions Aren’t Found, They Are Developed!
Design is about knowledge, skill and understanding. Knowledge requires time and preciseness. Skill requires care and attention. Understanding requires empathy and insight.
You are not born with the knowledge, skill and understandings necessary for jewelry design. These must be learned and developed over time. Anyone and everyone can learn these. Everyone has a creative capacity within them. There are many different ways to express things creatively. But one has to learn to express their thoughts and feelings creatively, step by step, developmentally over a period of time. It is through this process of investment in self that the designer’s passions emerge and expand.
It is important not to give up too easily, if designing and making jewelry seems too difficult at first. Difficulty does not equate to a lack of passion. It does not equate to a lack of ability. It does not equate to a lack of creativity. Many things will be difficult, particularly at first.
Nor does any waxing and waning of motivation imply that jewelry design is not for you. It’s natural that jewelry design does not provide an endless, infinite, always-there motivation. This does not mean you have lost your passion for it.
Passions must be cultivated. As do technical abilities and creative thinking. These all must be developed.
SO YOU WANT TO BE A JEWELRY DESIGNER Merging Your Voice With Form
So You Want To Be A Jewelry Designer reinterprets how to apply techniques and modify art theories from the Jewelry Designer’s perspective. To go beyond craft, the jewelry designer needs to become literate in this discipline called Jewelry Design. Literacy means understanding how to answer the question: Why do some pieces of jewelry draw your attention, and others do not? How to develop the authentic, creative self, someone who is fluent, flexible and original. How to gain the necessary design skills and be able to apply them, whether the situation is familiar or not.
The Challenge To Explain Who You Are As A Designer
It is very challenging to explain who you are to people who do not know anything about you. You have several vehicles for conveying this information. These include how you name your business or name your jewelry and jewelry lines. These include your getting started story. Your tag line. Your elevator pitch. Your brochures, business cards and stationery. The types of inventory you carry, and do not carry. The consistent and coherent features of your jewelry designs.
In this book, I go over in detail how to begin to develop the kinds of information and the vehicles for conveying this information to influence how people see you, want to come to you, want to buy your jewelry, want to recommend you to others. Then it comes down to planning, strategy and practice.
TELL YOUR STORY
The story of your jewelry passion and career is a critical component of business success. The story can be real. It can be partially real and partially embellished. It can be a fantasy. However, it is important to have a story. It will always be a foundational element of your business. Jewelry design doesn’t speak for itself. Storytelling helps design stand out. People are attracted to stories and like to follow narratives. Always remember this maxim: Facts Tell, but Stories Sell!
With your story, you begin to establish that personal, emotional connection between your customer, you and your products. When you establish a very personal connection with your customer, you will more likely make the sale. And keep making the sale. Over and over again.
People are not just buying your work. They are buying an experience. The more they know about you, your techniques, and the particulars of the work, the more likely they are to buy something.
You, in effect, are building a brand. The brand is you.
Your story could be real or imagined. Whatever it is, it must be relevant and ring true to what you are selling. AND, it must be to the point and easily repeatable.
Telling her story was something Sarsaparilla Sue did very, very well.
Many people learn beadwork and jewelry-making in order to sell the pieces they make. Based both on the creation and development of my own jewelry design business, as well as teaching countless students over the past 35+ years about business and craft, I want to address what should be some of your key concerns and uncertainties. I want to share with you the kinds of things (specifically, a business mindset and confidence) it takes to start your own jewelry business, run it, anticipate risks and rewards, and lead it to a level of success you feel is right for you. I want to help you plan your road map.
I will explore answers to such questions as: How does someone get started marketing and selling their pieces? What business fundamentals need to be brought to the fore? How do you measure risk and return on investment? How does the creative person develop and maintain a passion for business? To what extent should business decisions affect artistic choices? What similar traits to successful jewelry designers do those in business share? How do you protect your intellectual property?
The major topics covered include,
1. Integrating Business With Design
2. Getting Started
3. Financial Management
4. Product Development, Creating Your Line, and Pricing
5. Marketing, Promotion, Branding
6. Selling
7. Professional Responsibilities and Strategic Planning
8. Professional Responsibilities and Gallery / Boutique Representation
9. Professional Responsibilities and Creating Your Necessary Written Documents
Jewelry design is an ongoing process of finding how to merge your artistic voice and inspiration with form. As you become more fluent and comfortable with all the vocabulary and materials and techniques, you take on more and more challenges.
Jewelry design is a conversation. It is a quiet conversation between what you come to feel and understand as inspiration, and what logical options you might bring to bear on translating that inspiration into a design. It is a conversation between you the designer and someone else as the wearer. It might also be a conversation between you the maker with someone else as the viewer, buyer, seller, exhibiter or collector.
The conversation is never done. It is a dialog. It is a back-and-forth process of refining, questioning and translating your feelings, impressions, ideas, influences into a visual grammar, forms and arrangements, and content, intent and meanings. Everything comes into play, and everything matters.
Some of the conversation is inward, and some of the conversation is very interactional. Part of the conversation focuses on generating a lot of possibilities. Another part concentrates on narrowing down those possibilities. During all this iteration, your artistic voice gets closer and closer to merging with that final jewelry form.
As your fluency in jewelry design grows, you find that all this conversation and all divergence and convergence of ideas and feelings and choices, gets reflected and sensed within your jewelry designs. This is how you develop and channel your excitement and passion.
SO YOU WANT TO BE A JEWELRY DESIGNER Merging Your Voice With Form
So You Want To Be A Jewelry Designer reinterprets how to apply techniques and modify art theories from the Jewelry Designer’s perspective. To go beyond craft, the jewelry designer needs to become literate in this discipline called Jewelry Design. Literacy means understanding how to answer the question: Why do some pieces of jewelry draw your attention, and others do not? How to develop the authentic, creative self, someone who is fluent, flexible and original. How to gain the necessary design skills and be able to apply them, whether the situation is familiar or not.
Some Updates and Things Happening. (Please share this newsletter)
In this Issue: 1. Exhibitions Not Just Seen But Felt 2. Why jewelers are championing ‘ugly’ gems 3. Jewelry Deserves A Place In Art History 4. Call For Submissions: Smithsonian Craft Show, 2026 5. The Artist Who Captured the Contradictions of Femininity 6. Some Tips For Designing Your Website 7. The Mirror Motif In Contemporary Jewelry 8. FEAST -Contemporary Jewelry From the Susan Beech Collection
Some articles you may have missed Featured
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1. Exhibitions Not Just Seen but Felt, Beyond the Vitrine. By matt lambert, Art Jewelry Forum
(Left) Leo wearing a necklace by (right) Sofia Tekela-Smith. Sofia Tekela-Smith, Untitled, 2025, necklace in mother-of-pearl, waxed thread, photo: Jamie Berry
At the start of my Munich Jewellery Week adventure, I made my way to the Museum Fünf Kontinente (Museum Five Continents) to attend the KOHĀ ceremony led by Aotearoa (New Zealand) adornment practitioners Neke Moa, Sofia Tekela-Smith, and Stevei Houkāmau. The Munich Jewellery Week website described it as a performance and activation.
Fijian Wasekaseka Necklace, in sperm whale teeth, acquired in 1900 from Parisian dealer Emile Heymann, further provenance unknown, collection Fünf Kontinente Museum. (On stage, right) Stevei Houkāmau assists (left) Sofia Tekela-Smith in securing the necklace from the Fünf Kontinente Museum collection. Tekela-Smith is wearing a “Tofua,” a traditional Rotuman pandanus skirt from the island of Rotuma, a Parā /head lei of artificial hibiscus and leaves made of silk, 2024, necklace by Stevei Houkāmau, Korero with Our Ancestors, 2025, in black clay, wax cord, paint, photo courtesy of matt lambert
Koha is a vital concept in te ao Māori (the Māori world). It references the act of offering a gift or contribution as an expression of gratitude. Koha exists in both formal ceremony and everyday life.
The happening was rich and layered with many components. I cannot properly do it justice. In a highly emotive moment, Moa, Tekela-Smith, and Houkāmau showed works they made in response to works in the museum’s collection. In a surprise move by the museum, during the ceremony they were allowed to handle pieces from the historic collection, even permitted to wear one of them.
“Using the scientific precision of terms like “IF Type IIa” — to describe diamonds so pure they show no inclusions under 10x magnification — jewelry purveyors have long placed heavy emphasis on the clarity and cut of a gem. The sharper the facet and flawless the sparkle, the more valuable a stone once appeared.”
“Until now. Once dismissed as “ugly ducklings” — too marked, too dark, or too strange — imperfect gems are now stepping into the spotlight, as high-end jewelers increasingly champion stones with unique inclusions or less-than-perfect clarity.”
“The popularity of unconventional stones signals a broader shift in consumer behavior. More women are now buying jewelry for themselves, often valuing design and emotional resonance over traditional notions of investment — contrasting with male buyers who typically view jewelry as a store of value or a gift, according to several jewelry executives interviewed by CNN. “
Unknown English artist, “Armada Portrait” (1588), oil on oak panel (image courtesy Woburn Abbey, Woburn, Bedfordshire, England)
“In Albrecht Dürer’s idealized, early-16th-century portrait of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor wears a dazzling crown. The diadem, topped by a cross, was itself very real. But it did not exist until around 962 CE, over a century after Charlemagne’s death. “
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, “Portrait of Madame Moitessier” (1851), oil on canvas (image courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC)
“Considered the oldest decorative art, jewelry has such a power to communicate that artists have been willing to bend the truth to exploit its associative capacities — or so argues Beyond Adornment: Jewelry and Identity in Art (2025). Yvonne J. Markowitz, jewelry curator at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, and Susanne Gänsicke, senior conservator of Antiquities at the Getty Museum, explore what the depiction of jewelry in art says about adornment, artists, and their subjects.”
“This practice of eschewing historical accuracy in order to build a compelling narrative is a prevalent theme, and the book’s discussion of Archaeological Revival jewelry — European and American pieces from the 18th and 19th centuries that sought to recreate ancient styles — is particularly fascinating. In Spanish painter Vicente Palmaroli y González’s 1870 portrait of aristocrat Enid, Lady Layard, the sitter wears jewelry made from “numerous ancient cylinder seals and stamp seals” found in excavations at Nineveh, the effect of which Gänsickedescribes as a “historical melange.” Her husband was a prominent Assyriologist known for uncovering the Library of Ashurbanipal. Perhaps, Gänsicke suggests, “the set’s purpose was as much to declare her husband’s accomplishments as to adorn the wearer.” “
Christina Ramberg in her studio (Photograph by Mary Baber)
“Observing a woman get ready to go out is, for many girls, an early glimpse at the ritualistic preparations that femininity can entail. For the artist Christina Ramberg, watching her mother getting dressed for parties — in particular, putting on a corset called a merry widow, which gave her an hourglass figure — revealed the extent to which the female form was a ruse. “I can remember being stunned by how it transformed her body, how it pushed up her breasts and slendered down her waist,” Ramberg later observed. “I used to think that this is what men want women to look like; she’s transforming herself into the kind of body men want. I thought it was fascinating,” she said. “In some ways, I thought it was awful.””
The estate of Christina Ramberg Probed Cinch, 1971
“These dueling reactions, fascination and repulsion, come up in Ramberg’s paintings, which, especially early in her career, fixated on the artifice of the female body — all the different ways that women construct themselves, with the aid of the mass market. Her striking portraits of women’s body parts feature torsos strapped into corsets, feet shoved into high heels, intricately arranged updos. The images are crisp, flat, and slyly cropped or angled to never show faces. And although they’re sensual, they’re also depersonalized and often off-kilter; sometimes, hair is parted in unnatural directions, or skin is patchy. The dueling presence of unruly and taming forces in these paintings recalls the consumer products that divide women’s bodies into conquerable parts: the sprays that restrain, the undergarments that shape. As the artist Riva Lehrer puts it in one of several essays accompanying a traveling exhibit of Ramberg’s work, currently at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, “Without the face, the body must tell all.””
The estate of Christina Ramberg Untitled (Hand), 1971; Untitled (Hand), 1971
If your art website serves different audiences — like collectors, store owners, individual buyers, and publishers — don’t overwhelm visitors with too many options.
Instead, divide your homepage into clear sections, each labeled for its audience (e.g., “For Collectors,” “For Store Owners,”, “For My Customers”, “For Authors”).
Let each section guide visitors to the relevant content and products, so they instantly know where to go.
Use simple language and align your navigation menu with those same categories.
A clear structure not only reduces confusion — it helps the right people find what they’re looking for, fast.
💻 Quick tips on designing a clear and engaging artist website:
Start with messaging that speaks to your audience’s experience, not just your own story.
Break long paragraphs into short, scannable chunks to keep visitors engaged.
Simplify your menu by grouping offerings into “artworks” and “services.”
Move exhibitions to your About page to keep your navigation clean and current.
Aim for a clean, professional layout that feels like a curated gallery space.
🖼️ When building your website, treat it as a portfolio — not an archive.
Focus on showcasing only your strongest work that represents who you are today as a creator, especially if you’re multidisciplinary.
Resist the urge to include everything you’ve ever made; too much content can overwhelm visitors and dilute your message.
Highlight only key exhibitions that add credibility, and keep the layout clean and intentional to avoid a “garage sale” feel.
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7. Perceptual Surfaces in Flux: Mirrors, Embodied Vision and Optical Fields in Contemporary Jewellery
Tour the home of American collector Susan Beech. Since 1991, she has been transforming her house into an extraordinary environment in which the themes of her extensive jewelry collection interact with craft and fine art, all against a backdrop of Art Deco glamour. Beauty is entwined with darker forces of death and decay, and glimpses of pleasure are complicated by a nod to the surreal and uncanny. The result is a wholly original and fascinating stage for a major collection of contemporary jewelry thoughtfully assembled over four decades.
Sat, 7/19, 9am-Noon, INTRODUCTION TO WIRE WEAVING and MAYAN PENDANT
Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm Sat, 7/19, 1–4pm, WIRE WORKING INTRODUCTION and MIX N MATCH BRACELET
Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm Sat, 7/26, 1–4pm, WIRE WOVEN MAYAN PENDANT, Hoamsy, Nashville, LC Goat, Germantown, 1220 2nd Ave N
Sat, 8/16, 9am-Noon, WIRE WRAPPED CABOCHON PENDANT
Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm Sat, 8/16, 1–4pm, WIRE WEAVE 2 and SUN PENDANT
Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm Sat, 8/23, 1–4pm, WIRE WRAP MIX N MATCH BRACELET, Hoamsy, Nashville, LC Goat, Germantown, 1220 2nd Ave N
Promote your current projects, promotional copy, News & Views, videos, reels, tutorials, instructions, social media posts online in this newsletter and on our jewelry designers’ Patreon hub.
No deadlines! Opportunity available all the time. No fees.
But don’t wait to take advantage of this opportunity.
This copyrighted material is published here with permission of the author(s) as noted, or with Land of Odds or Warren Feld Jewelry. All rights reserved.
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Repairs Stumping You? Let Me Take A Look
I take in a lot of jewelry repairs. People either bring them to me in Columbia, TN, or, I pick them up and deliver them back in Nashville. I am in Nashville at least once a week. It’s been convenient for most people to meet me at Green Hills Mall. But if not, I can come to your workplace or your home. This is perfectly fine for me. My turnaround time typically is 3–4 weeks.
I do most repairs, but I do not do any soldering. I also do not repair watches. These are the kinds of repairs I do:
o Beaded jewelry o Pearl knotting, hand knotting o Size/Length adjustment o Re-stringing o Wire work/weave/wrap o Micro macrame o Broken clasp replacfement o Earring repair o Replace lost rhinestones or gemstones o Stone setting o Stretchy bracelet o Metal working which does not involve soldering o Bead woven jewelry and purses o Beaded clothing o Custom jewelry design
WARREN FELD JEWELRY (www.warrenfeldjewelry.com) Custom Design, Workshops, Video Tutorials, Webinars, Coaching, Kits, Group Activities, Repairs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Join our community of jewelry designers on my Patreon hub Be part of a community of jewelry designers who recognize that we have a different way of thinking and doing than other types of crafters or artists. One free downloadable Mini-Lesson of your choice for all new members! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Designers focus their attention inward, looking, listening, sensing and searching themselves at length, only later to redirect their findings outward, creating jewelry to be displayed publicly or worn by others or sold. Doing this well often requires having several coping strategies.
Designers have to bridge the gap between inspiration and execution. This requires a lot of thought, understanding and skill.
Having both right- (creative) and left- (administrative) brain skills is a good place to be.
Don’t let the craft substitute for your personal identity. It’s always great to get compliments on what you make. This bolsters your self-esteem. But you should have good self-esteem based on who you are as a person, not on the pieces of jewelry you make. Self-esteem should come from within you, not external to you. …
First, If You Have Not Already Done So, Make These Particular Choices Right Now
Pick a date. It might be easiest, from an accounting standpoint, to pick January 1st. But you can pick any date. This is the date your business has been founded, and your business obligations (discussed below) begin.
Define your fiscal year. It would be easiest to make your fiscal year January 1 through December 31. But any 12-month bounded period which works best for you would be acceptable.
Set your goals for success. Everyone’s goals will be different. You might want to sell a few things occasionally. You might want some steady extra income. You might want to be financially self-sufficient.
Determine what business organizational type you want How do you want to evolve into the future. These range from hobbyist to sole proprietor to partnership to various types of corporate arrangements.
For the novice, all that excitement at the beginning, when thinking about making jewelry and making some pieces, sometimes collides with a wall of developing self-doubt. It’s not easy to quiet a doubt.
The jewelry artist organizes their life around an inspiration. There is some fuzziness here. That inspiration has some elements of ideas, but not necessarily crystal clear ones. That inspiration has some elements of emotions — it makes you feel something — but not necessarily something you can put into words or images or fully explain. You then need to translate this fuzzy inspiration into materials, into techniques, into color, into arrangements, into a coherent whole.
You start to make something, but realize you don’t know how to do it. But you want to do it, and do it now. However, to pick up the needed skills, you realize you can’t learn things all at once. You can’t do everything you want to do all at once. That initial excitement often hits a wall. Things take time to learn. There are a lot of trial and error moments, with a lot of errors. Pieces break. Combining colors and other design elements feels very awkward. Picking the right clasps and rings and connectors and stringing materials is fraught with implications. Silhouettes are confusing. You might get the right shape for your piece, but it is difficult to get the right movement, drape and flow, without compromising that shape.
To add to this stress and strain, you need to show your jewelry off. You might want someone to like it. To want it. To need it. To desire it. To buy it. To wear it. To wear it more than once. To wear it often. To exhibit it. To collect it. To show and talk about it with others. And how will all these other people recognize your creative spark, and your abilities to translate that spark into a wonderful, beautiful, functional piece of jewelry, appropriate for the wearer and appropriate for the situation?
Frequently, because of all this, the designer experiences some sense of doubt and self-doubt. Some paralysis. Can’t get started. Can’t finish something. Wondering why they became a jewelry designer in the first place.
Doubt holds you back from seizing your opportunities.
It makes getting started or finishing things harder than they need to be.
It adds uncertainty.
It makes you question yourself.
It blocks your excitement, perhaps diminishing it.
While sometimes doubt and self-doubt can be useful in forcing you to think about and question your choices, it mostly holds you back.
Having doubt and self-doubt is common among all artistic types. What becomes important is how to manage and overcome it, hence, my idea of Channeling Your Excitement, so that doubts do not get in the way of your creative process and disciplinary development, but rather, inform them.
There are 8 major ways in which jewelry designers get caught beginning to fall into that abyss we call self-doubt: …
I believe jewelry designers have a special way of thinking through selecting design elements, composing, constructing, and manipulating objects. Different than crafters. Different than artists. Different than other disciplines and their core ways of defining things and thinking things through.
How should the designer think? How should she organize her tasks? How should she tap into her creative self? How should she select materials, techniques and technologies? How should she assert her creativity and introduce her ideas and objects to others? How much does she need to know about how and why people wear and inhabit jewelry? What impact should she strive to have on others or the more general culture and society as a whole? How should she approach unfamiliar, unknown or problematic designs?
I try to formulate a disciplinary literacy unique and special and legitimate for jewelry designers. Such literacy encompasses a basic vocabulary about materials, techniques, color and other design elements and rules of composition. It also includes the kinds of thinking routines and strategies jewelry designers need to know in order to be fluent, flexible and original. It includes what the jewelry designer needs to know and do when introducing their pieces publicly, either to have others wear, buy or collect their pieces.
These routines and strategies are at the heart of the designer’s knowledges, skills and understandings related to creativity, elaboration, embellishment, reflection, critique and metacognition. This disciplinary literacy in design is very similar to how sounds are made into music. This literacy is very similar to how words are made into literature. There is an underlying vocabulary and grammar to jewelry design, from decoding to comprehension to fluency. The jewelry designer is dependent upon this disciplinary literacy to the extent that she or he is able to move from inspiration to aspiration to implementation and management towards finish and success. …
From Warren and Land of Odds Join my community of jewelry designers on myPatreon hub June 1, 2025 Sign up for a Free or Paid Subscription[Note: Paid Subscribers on Patreon Hub get 25% Off @Land of Odds]www.landofodds.comHi everyone, Some Updates and Things Happening. (Please share this newsletter)
Some Updates and Things Happening. (Please share this newsletter)
In this Issue: 1. Radical Adornment 2. Cataloging 7,000 years of jewelry at the Museum of Applied Arts – Cologne, Germany 3. Website Checklist 4. What kind of jewelry can you make with porcelain? 5. Gems of Wisdom by Stellene Volandes 6. More Artist Statement Tips
Some articles you may have missed Featured
_________________________ 1. Radical Adornment From article by Bobbye Tigerman, Art Jewelry Forum, 5/22/2025
Beyond Bling—that’s what the Los Angeles County Museum of Art called its 2016 exhibition of the Lois Boardman Collection. The jewelry on view, donated by Boardman and her husband, meant to provoke and foster conversation. In a city legendary for glamour and glitz, this collection encourages discussions about how jewelry communicates powerful messages besides wealth and status.It prompts the question “what are you wearing?” rather than the tired red carpet refrain “who are you wearing?”Lois Boardman entered eternity in Pasadena, CA, on April 21, 2025. There is little doubt that she planned to accompany Pope Francis, wearing her Gold Nose, cast by Gerd Rothmann, and adorned by Nancy Worden’s necklace titled Gilding the Past. Like the dinner gatherings of historical persons in Van Loon’s Lives, her presence would have enticed individuals like Emily Dickinson, Madame Curie, and Queen Elizabeth into the Boardman world of ornamentation.LACMA curator Bobbye Tigerman remembers Boardman
Internationally renowned jewelry artists also represent the 20th and 21st centuries. These include Raymond Templier, Lili Schultz, Hildegard Risch, Ewald and Sonja Mataré, Dieter Roth, Emmy van Leersum, Peter Chang, Wendy Ramshaw, Peter Skubic, Herman Jünger, Falko Marx, E.R. Nele, Bernhard Schobinger, Herman Hermsen, Ronne Löwensteyn, Wilhelm Tasso Mattar, Otto Künzli, Karl Fritsch, Nel Linssen and Johanna Dalm. Particularly noteworthy is the work of Elisabeth Treskow, whose extensive estate is held by the MAKK. Her donation contains not only her collection of antiques, but also her own works, sketches and design portfolios, as well as works by her students and colleagues.
3. Website Checklist ✅ Website checklist — must-haves in every jewelry designer’s website: Fast loading time: homepage loads quickly, and the jewelry takes up significant screen space effectively.Compelling newsletter opt-in: using ex.”join my inner circle” instead of generic language like “Subscribe” adds uniqueness.A visible opt-in section: should be easy to find and not only at the very bottom of your pages.Jewelry inquiry forms: placed strategically under your work, these should invite interest without pressuring.Approachable language like “Interested?” instead of hard sells.A clean, low-pressure check out: ask only for what’s needed — email and message may be enough.Optional: testimonials with names, photos, and locations which build trust and authority.
4. What kind of jewelry can you make with porcelain? (From KLIMT02, 5/14/2025)
The porcelain, or The white gold (for the insiders), traces its origins back to China in the 6th century. Its appeal stems from being attributed to the alchemy of fire, which transforms a particular clay into a white, translucent, brilliant, and resistant material. / Cécile Maes
“I’m on a High Jewelry trip right now. What’s a High Jewelry trip? I’m glad you asked. No one can tell me who really started it, but I don’t remember these client presentation extravaganzas happening much before 2011, and they are now a standard part of my work trip schedule. Beginning around April, the VICs (very important clients) and a small group of press are invited to see the new High Jewelry (a collection of one-of-a-kind pieces that showcase the absolute best in stone selection and craftsmanship a house has to offer) and, frankly, to be wined and dined and dazzled. “
Sat, 6/21, 1-4, PEARL KNOTTING, Hoamsy, Nashville, LC Goat, Germantown, 1220 2nd Ave N Register: www.hoamsy.com
Sat, 7/19, 9am-Noon, INTRODUCTION TO WIRE WEAVING and MAYAN PENDANT Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm Sat, 7/19, 1-4pm, WIRE WORKING INTRODUCTION and MIX N MATCH BRACELET Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm Sat, 7/26, 1-4pm, WIRE WOVEN MAYAN PENDANT, Hoamsy, Nashville, LC Goat, Germantown, 1220 2nd Ave N Register: www.hoamsy.com
Sat, 8/16, 9am-Noon, WIRE WRAPPED CABOCHON PENDANT Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm Sat, 8/16, 1-4pm, WIRE WEAVE 2 and SUN PENDANT Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm Sat, 8/23, 1-4pm, WIRE WRAP MIX N MATCH BRACELET, Hoamsy, Nashville, LC Goat, Germantown, 1220 2nd Ave N Register: www.hoamsy.com
Sat, 9/20, 9am-Noon, LEARN BEAD WEAVING: RIGHT ANGLE WEAVE and CURVY RAW BRACELET Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm Sat, 9/20, 1-4pm, INTRO TO EVEN COUNT, FLAT PEYOTE and JUNGLE FLOWER BRACELET Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm
9/15/2025 – 10/15/2025 Art Jewelry Exhibit at Pryor Gallery, Columbia State Community College My pieces will be showcased an this exhibit. In the works is a possible Seminar and a beading workshop.
Feature your jewelryHere next weekIn This Newsletter, as well as, on our Jewelry Designer’s Hub!
Promote your current projects, promotional copy, News & Views, videos, reels, tutorials, instructions, social media posts online in this newsletter and on our jewelry designers’ Patreon hub.
No deadlines! Opportunity available all the time. No fees.
But don’t wait to take advantage of this opportunity. This copyrighted material is published here with permission of the author(s) as noted, or with Land of Odds or Warren Feld Jewelry. All rights reserved.
Repairs Stumping You? Let Me Take A Look I take in a lot of jewelry repairs. People either bring them to me in Columbia, TN, or, I pick them up and deliver them back in Nashville. I am in Nashville at least once a week. It’s been convenient for most people to meet me at Green Hills Mall. But if not, I can come to your workplace or your home. This is perfectly fine for me. My turnaround time typically is 3-4 weeks.
I do most repairs, but I do not do any soldering. I also do not repair watches. These are the kinds of repairs I do:
o Beaded jewelry o Pearl knotting, hand knotting o Size/Length adjustment o Re-stringing o Wire work/weave/wrap o Micro macrame o Broken clasp replacfement o Earring repair o Replace lost rhinestones or gemstones o Stone setting o Stretchy bracelet o Metal working which does not involve soldering o Bead woven jewelry and purses o Beaded clothing o Custom jewelry design
WARREN FELD JEWELRY (www.warrenfeldjewelry.com) Custom Design, Workshops, Video Tutorials, Webinars, Coaching, Kits, Group Activities, Repairs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Join our community of jewelry designers on myPatreon hub Be part of a community of jewelry designers who recognize that we have a different way of thinking and doing than other types of crafters or artists. One free downloadable Mini-Lesson of your choice for all new members! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Add your email address to my Warren Feld Jewelry emailing listhere.
Thanks for being here. I look forward to sharing more resources, tips, sources of inspiration and insights with you.Join A Community Of Jewelry Designers On MyPatreon Hub
BECOMING THE BEAD ARTIST AND JEWELRY DESIGNER: Your Getting Started Story
When did you first realize you had a passion for designing jewelry?
[While you are thinking about this, now is a good time to get out your pen and paper and jot down some thoughts.]
Everyone has a “Getting Started” story. This is a story you tell over and over again. In it, you express your wonderment and passion. You talk about your excitement, your aspirations, your motivations and how you decided to channel them. You go over the steps you went through to discover what it is that drives you to create. You recall who influenced you, when and why. You remember different pathways and crossroads, where you decided to pursue your interests in one direction or another. You reflect on your expectations before you got started, and how these evolved or changed as you began to make and design jewelry.
Sometimes your story begins by touching some beads. …
Over and over again, I have seen one jewelry designer after another fail as a business. The reasons may seem predictable, and they repeat themselves over and over again, as well.
1. Has not defined a clear set of goals from the start
2. Going for roofs before setting foundations
3. A reluctance to learn how to conduct yourself as a business
4. Gets bored or lonely
5. A fear of marketing your own things
6. Tries to do too many projects at the same time
7. Trying to please all audiences
8. Doesn’t do homework on the competition
9. Trying to do everything by yourself
10. A fear that someone will steal your designs
11. Failure to plan for balances in the use of your time
12. Hasn’t planned for the ups and downs of cash flow at different times of the year
13. Cannot describe your competitive advantage(s)
14. Failure to understand marketing and merchandising requirements
15. Not photographing all your pieces, or, making notes about their construction
16. Lacks understanding about how to leverage your work
17. Doesn’t have plans and procedures for generating follow-up sales and re-orders
18. Failure to innovate
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FIRST RULE OF HOLES
When you are in one,
stop digging!
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1. Has not defined a clear set of goals from the start
OK, you’ve made a decision that you want to make some money through your craft. Before you start buying a lot of inventory and equipment and tools and furniture and other supplies, sit down and reflect. Write down 3 or 4 achievable goals about what you want to have accomplished within 1 year. Write down another 3 or 4 to achieve within 3–5 years.
For each goal, list what specific tangible and intangible things you need to have or need to happen, in order to achieve that goal within your timeframe.
At the end of each year, you should be able to ask a friend: Did I achieve my goal or not? And the goals should be clear enough that your friend can immediately weigh the evidence and let you know their thoughts.
2. Going for roofs before setting foundations
At the point you are getting started, I know you are very excited about all the prospects. Your brain is racing in many different directions all at once. As a creative person, you are probably generating an inordinate amount of things you want to do.
Rein yourself in.
You need to be very deliberate here. Get control over all that excitement and all those ideas.
Create the foundations for your business. These are made up of the different systems of activity which have to be in place so that everything will work smoothly, and continue to work smoothly, down the road.
Systems include things like:
· Administrative
· Financial Management
· Product Design and Development
· Inventory
· Marketing, Promotion and Selling
· Evaluation and feedback
For each system, you specify required policies, procedures, and materials.
You set up some pretesting and reality-testing of each system and its policies and procedures.
Yes, this is a lot of work up front, but it will all pay off in your success.
3. A reluctance to learn how to conduct yourself as a business.
Many jewelry designers get so excited after selling their first piece, that they think they don’t have to get too involved with business principles. …
There is not just one type of person who becomes a jewelry designer. There are many, many types of people who find jewelry design a common passion. They may have different ambitions. They may prefer to use different techniques and materials. They may have different expectations for financial success. They may have different compulsions for creating jewelry. But the excitement is there for each of them.
We can differentiate people who become jewelry designers by their aspirations (1 Neuendorf, 2016) — why they became jewelry designers. Some jewelry designers fit one type of aspiration; others, more than one. But the contour of their lives brings them to similar places within jewelry and its design. How do your motivations and ambitions compare?
There are 5 basic types of Creatives which can be defined by their aspirations:
o Social Interactants o Compulsive Creators o Lifestyle of Freedom Seekers o Financial Success Achievers o People Who Find Themselves Making Jewelry Through Happenstance and Chance
Social Interactants
This type of Creative often seeks out other creatives and forms a social network. Social Interactants may be makers. They may be sellers or exhibiters or collectors. But their excitement comes, in part, by looking for ways to interact and meet and share close-knit social ties. Part of the reason is to learn new ideas. Another part is to get feedback and critique. …
You need to look yourself in the mirror, and be very, very, very honest with yourself. Getting started in business is a big step. It’s not all fun and games. There’s paperwork, repetition, tradeoffs to be made. Be honest with yourself.
Ask yourself:
• Why do I want to start a business?
• What type of business do I want?
• What kinds of things do I want to sell?
• What kind of time and energy commitments do I want to commit?
• Where will the money come from to get started?
• Where will I work: kitchen table? craft studio? at a store?
• What will I name my business?
• Where will I get my jewelry making supplies?
• Do I want to do this alone, or with a partner(s)?
There are many different kinds of jewelry you can sell. …
Why do you want to become (or are already on the way to becoming) a jewelry designer? What drives you? How do you channel your excitement? Is it something to do with what type of person you are? How you view the world? How you want to fill your time? It turns out there are many types of people who become jewelry designers. Although they may have different aspirations and ambitions underlying their excitement about jewelry design, they find common ground and a common way of thinking about making and designing jewelry. But because jewelry design has not yet become a full-fledged, recognizable discipline all its own, it sometimes becomes difficult to get clarity on how to channel your excitement into an avocation or career. Your support group is often made up of a polyglot of crafters and artists, some who do not fully understand jewelry making and design. Advice can be diffuse. Clients have difficulty evaluating the value of your work, frequently expressing misunderstandings about what is good. This can lead to self-doubt, which better designers learn to manage and overcome.
GETTING STARTED: CHANNELING YOUR EXCITEMENT What drives you to pursue your passion for jewelry?
“Why Are You A Jewelry Artist?” As if you had a choice…
It often is difficult for others to understand why you consider yourself a jewelry designer. How did this come to be? How did you get started? Were you always artistic? Is your family crafty? How did you learn these things? Why jewelry? Why do you get so excited about all this? Do you want to make a living out of it? Can you really sell things?
They don’t really feel these things like you do. They don’t feel this pulsing heart, this urge to create, and this passion to make jewelry. When you get started making jewelry, it’s hard to stop. It becomes ingrained in you. What may have begun as a hobby evolves into something you cannot live without. Applying your creative self becomes habit, almost addicting, often relaxing and self-affirming … and painful to do without.
As a jewelry artist, you have a purpose in life. It is something you do because you must do it. It is what helps you function in life. You make new amazing pieces, share these, and make some more new amazing pieces. You have those little conversations with yourself about the various choices you are making, when designing a piece of jewelry, and this can be therapeutic, informative, reaffirming. And, you are ever in search of developing those insightful, smart strategies for merging voice with form, aesthetics with function, your intent with the desires of others. …
Some Updates and Things Happening. (Please share this newsletter)
Some Updates and Things Happening. (Please share this newsletter)
In this Issue: 1. What Does It Mean To Be A Professional In The Arts? 2. Jewelry Heightens “Tailored For You” Theme of Met Gala 3. INSTORE Design 2025 Awards: Pearls Category 4. How To Be A Social Media Star 5. The Signet Ring
Some articles you may have missed Featured
1. What Does It Mean To Be A Professional In The Arts?
“The word professional gets tossed around a lot. It shows up on resumes, in bios, on LinkedIn profiles, and in funding proposals. It implies credibility, mastery, and often, innovation. But in the arts, where the boundaries are more fluid and the path less linear, professionalism doesn’t always look the way the wider world expects. It rarely fits neatly into a traditional space. And more importantly, it doesn’t have to.
For more than 25 years, I was creative director at Patina Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico — a space that celebrated contemporary studio jewelry artists working at the highest level of their disciplines. We didn’t represent work that merely looked good under lights. We represented work made with intention, with heart, with soul, and with vision. That was the benchmark for professionalism as I came to understand it: not a title, but a way of being.
Now, through Serious Play, I work with artists, gallerists, and cultural leaders who ask deeper questions. How do I define success on my own terms? How do I grow without losing my center? What does it mean to be a working artist or arts leader right now, in the face of global uncertainty, shifting values, and vanishing support systems?”
“From brooches to statement necklaces and diamonds galore, the Met Gala, which always takes place the first Monday in May, was a veritable feast for the eyes when it came to jewelry and how celebrity guests interpreted the theme of the evening, “Tailored For You.” As always, the theme for the gala left room for creative interpretation — in this case, menswear tailoring and suitings that will be on display as part of Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s exhibition. For 2025, the exhibition is entitled “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” and is partly inspired by Monica L. Miller’s book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. Miller is a guest curator of the exhibit with the Costume Institute’s curator in charge, Andrew Bolton. The exhibit features a cultural and historical look at Black style and dandyism, which dates to the 18th century. It is the first exhibit to focus exclusively on designers of color. As for the gala, the turnout couldn’t have been more star-studded, with big names from arenas such as film, music and sports.”
“The jewelers finding the most success aren’t just posting sporadically — they’re committing time and resources, experimenting with multiple platforms, and leveraging the unique storytelling capabilities that only video can provide. whether it’s viral videos that rack up six-figure views, educational content about gemstones that builds trust, or behind-the-scenes looks at custom design processes that humanize the business, these retailers are finding that authenticity and creativity drive both engagement and sales.”
It’s a job. You have to devote time to it. You want to establish expertise. You want to provide a window into your products and services. You want to recruit and retain customers. You want to clearly identify your competitive advantage(s). Video reins supreme. It all comes down to good storytelling.
There was a short article in the most recent newsletter (#79) from Klimt02 about signet rings, some history, and some examples of contemporary interpretations.
“Passed down from one family member to another, the signet ring represents clan or family affiliation and carries deep symbolic and historical value. Originally used to authenticate official documents, this iconic jewellery typology has transcended centuries, worn by ancient Egyptian nobles, embraced by religious orders with the renowned Papal Fisherman’s Ring, associated with the mafia in the previous century, and now adopted as a fashion statement by the bling-bling generation. / Cécile Maes”
9/15/2025–10/15/2025 Art Jewelry Exhibit at Pryor Gallery, Columbia State Community College
My pieces will be showcased an this exhibit. In the works is a possible Seminar and a beading workshop.
Repairs Stumping You? Let Me Take A Look
I take in a lot of jewelry repairs. People either bring them to me in Columbia, TN, or, I pick them up and deliver them back in Nashville. I am in Nashville at least once a week. It’s been convenient for most people to meet me at Green Hills Mall. But if not, I can come to your workplace or your home. This is perfectly fine for me. My turnaround time typically is 3–4 weeks.
I do most repairs, but I do not do any soldering. I also do not repair watches. These are the kinds of repairs I do:
o Beaded jewelry o Pearl knotting, hand knotting o Size/Length adjustment o Re-stringing o Wire work/weave/wrap o Micro macrame o Broken clasp replacfement o Earring repair o Replace lost rhinestones or gemstones o Stone setting o Stretchy bracelet o Metal working which does not involve soldering o Bead woven jewelry and purses o Beaded clothing o Custom jewelry design
WARREN FELD JEWELRY (www.warrenfeldjewelry.com) Custom Design, Workshops, Video Tutorials, Webinars, Coaching, Kits, Group Activities, Repairs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Join our community of jewelry designers on my Patreon hub Be part of a community of jewelry designers who recognize that we have a different way of thinking and doing than other types of crafters or artists. One free downloadable Mini-Lesson of your choice for all new members! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beyond Bling—that’s what the Los Angeles County Museum of Art called its 2016 exhibition of the Lois Boardman Collection. The jewelry on view, donated by Boardman and her husband, meant to provoke and foster conversation. In a city legendary for glamour and glitz, this collection encourages discussions about how jewelry communicates powerful messages besides wealth and status.It prompts the question “what are you wearing?” rather than the tired red carpet refrain “who are you wearing?”Lois Boardman entered eternity in Pasadena, CA, on April 21, 2025. There is little doubt that she planned to accompany Pope Francis, wearing her Gold Nose, cast by Gerd Rothmann, and adorned by Nancy Worden’s necklace titled Gilding the Past. Like the dinner gatherings of historical persons in Van Loon’s Lives, her presence would have enticed individuals like Emily Dickinson, Madame Curie, and Queen Elizabeth into the Boardman world of ornamentation.
Thanks for being here. I look forward to sharing more resources, tips,
