What's all the buzz about?
Kim Caisse of Bee Design and I caught up last October at the Historic Shaw Art Fair... quite a treat since we hadn't seen each other at a show in about 3 years. It turns out we each radically changed our show schedules for similar reasons.
Kim crouched down behind some of her asymmetrical earrings. She is so great at creating interesting color combinations. All designs ©Kim Caisse
We used to see each other twice a year at the Philadelphia Buyers Market, a wholesale show geared towards buyers looking to stock their stores with American-made craft. The tricky thing with wholesale shows is that you get known and categorized for a certain style and look, yet we all want to explore new directions and continue to grow as artists.
More asymmetrical earring designs! Gotta love the fun shapes and colors. These types of flat, abstract designs are what Kim has been really known for over the years. All designs ©Kim Caisse
Some people handle this in different ways. It seems that each Kim and I felt a desire to step away from that sales venue (temporarily we assume) so we could expand artistically without the pressures to strictly adhere to our styles that we show. Not that either of us has radically changed... Kim still creates ceramic and silver jewelry, and wire is still my main medium.
Kim creates some of my favorite bumpy pieces ever! These hoops are too fun. They are a great sample of her dimensional work. ©Kim Caisse
Yet there's a freedom to creating and exploring without wondering how something fits in your line, will it appeal to the same buyers, can it be displayed and marketed the same way. How can I emerge fresh and capture new attention again? Sometimes an artist just wants and needs to create without the constant judgement.
New directions can also generate fears... does the new work step on someone else's toes or cross into their territory? Will it sell? Does it fit into my style? Will people see that new artistic growth positively? etc.
Kim has created a line of the cutest pendants ever! They are a new foray into representational designs. I was torn between a skull with rhinestone eyes and this rocket... which was more emblematic of my theme for the year (blast off!). My snapshot does not do it justice. ©Kim Caisse
To see more of Kim's work, visit her Bee Design Etsy shop, which is fairly new, so if you see something here that's not in her shop, message her through Etsy for more information. All prices in the photos are from 2011 and are not guaranteed. Her shop also has super cool ameoba soap dishes!
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As a side note, I just had a tough learning experience.... I have the habit of writing my blog posts directly into the Typepad editor, which does not have an auto-save function. When I thought I was closing another window, I accidentally closed the window of my original post and lost the entire thing. This post was originally longer and more detailed, but I didn't have the energy (or memory!) to re-create that. I've even taken classes that tell you to write and edit your blog in a word processing program... only bring it into the blog editor when you are ready to add links and post. This is a painful first... I plan to change my ways after this experience!