Waiting for Business

Unfinished production pendants in fine silver and enamel.

Last saturday and sunday I was part of a local Culture Tour - demonstrating my enamel jewellery techniques. It went about as I had expected - not a complete loss but not really busy enough to get excited about. Because I had set up my work table in a local boutique where I sell my work there was a steady stream of people coming in. But I was surprised at how many of them just concentrated on their shopping and showed no interest in what I was doing. As I have said before, I don't really think that the geography and sparse population of our area were conducive to this tour being a success, but I was happy to give it a go.

By the way I had been worried about taking my kiln up to the store and plugging it in. We (myself and the store owner) had finally managed to get hold of an electrician and he came and temporarily replaced the breaker for the outlet socket I was using. I was relieved, and everything worked very well.

The pieces I worked on during the tour were some small, very simple pendants, using the textured foil technique. It is an easy technique to do while talking to someone but it looks quite effective when finished. I had a cloisonne piece set up to work on too and I did a little, but I really needed to be at home alone doing that one. I did have some people who werer very interested in what I was doing and they really made it worthwhile. I even sold a few pieces!

All in all I'll call it a weekend spent promoting my work rather than selling a bundle of it. I guess it all helps in the end, and I did get quite a few pieces made!