Hey Folks,
Here we are, 2024 has indeed come for us and, so far, I still wonder what it may bring, the outlook seems mixed, depending on which way you look at it. Happy New Year all the same though! Let’s not jinx it from the start and keep hoping for (as well as actively working towards!) better times. We can do it.
I’m still shaking off the intensity of family times and marvel at the suddenly empty and remarkably quiet house as I go about my day. Over the holidays, without being able to disappear into my various creative routines, I have started to feel a bit like only half a person. Honestly, I am quite people-d out for the time being. I love my family dearly but I am somewhat relieved to hear myself think again, to not having to chat all day, and to not be constantly preoccupied with everyone else’s needs 24/7. If that sounds slightly selfish, well, I admit that I need alone time in order to function properly on the long run. I can do a holiday like this alright but January needs to be a bit more quiet now or else I’ll implode.
All this pent-up creative energy of ideas not fully explored, texts not written, jewellery and art not yet made is making me almost dizzy! I’m used to being able to have at least small pockets of creative alone time each day, carved out in between work/chores/family etc, and this habit has been preserving my sanity for as long as I can remember. Some days it may not be more than a few minutes, but I swear it makes a difference for the better to how I feel about myself and the world around me.
To get it off my chest straight away though, the impact of global news is keenly felt even in my remote corner of existence. Every little thing that can be done from afar seems not enough, but it helps to do it anyway. We all have to do something to at least try, although that may look different for each and everyone. Ultimately, I also have to try and accept that the weight of the world lies not on my shoulders alone. Above all, it’s important to not give in to hate nor to create more divisiveness where solidarity, forgiveness, and understanding is what is truly needed to move humanity forward towards peace and safety.
Having said all that, my hope starting off this year is mostly to just keep going, to not give up on the world nor on what I love doing. I am already labour-of-love-ing through January so far, creating what comes to mind and feels right each day. It’s not exactly bare survival mode, yet there is a sense of urgency that perhaps wasn’t there before in the same way. Many of my current projects are longterm and won’t be giving any immediate gratification beyond my own happiness while engaging with and creating them. Other current makes may seem random from the outsider’s perspective. For me, however, it’s all turning into one enormous archive of thoughts and feelings, capturing what goes on or how I see it. Not all of my ideas, sketches, notes etc will make it into fully formed creations or coherent collections. All this “unpublished” and “unshared” work still informs everything that does eventually make it into the outside world though. Lately, not a lot “got out”. I feel that is about to change… To what extent remains to be seen but, hey, can you wait for it? I thought you might.
It’s starting already with this post, I suppose. In December I decided to no longer write separate newsletters but, instead, to pool my non-fiction writing resources together here. To make life a bit easier for me, to bring it all together neatly, to give my words more impact. What is there to lose after all? Readers from my previous newsletter format may find it looks slightly different here. It’s both more specific but also more open. There’s more of “real me” as a person rather than a business in it though, if you care to stick around and read on. I will try to keep the best of both tones and make it into something that I can feel good about writing and that you, hopefully, can enjoy reading.
So here’s what I have been up to. Inspired by my long neglected Romanian heritage as well as some interesting reading about embroidering one’s truth (hello Clare Hunter!), I have been doing a lot of “needlework” (the term being loosely interpreted for my purpose) both last year as well as now, since kicking off 2024. The focus hasn’t primarily been on jewellery making (my main gig, for those who didn’t know or realise) but it’s slowly overlapping again, with new, wearable pieces in the making. There is a lot for me to (re)learn and experiment with, much research to do and a lot of feelings to translate. I am excited by that and enjoy the process immensely. It’s very soothing and restorative, I find. In fact, I draw a lot of strength from it these days. That alone is something to be valued deeply and I am grateful for the experience. Maybe it inspires you, too, in some small way to make some creative time for yourself.
I used to think what makes my jewellery precious were the materials, and that’s partly true. Gold, silver, precious gemstones… yes, definitely precious! Still… I’ve come to think of this as only a relative part of it. Precious has become debatable in a lot of ways. My time, my thoughts, my skills, my love for each creation… surely that is precious, too? I bring exactly the same attention and thoughtfulness to other materials now as well. I slowly and mindfully make by hand beautiful things that weren’t there before, from materials that I have rediscovered for myself and am wholeheartedly claiming for my practice as it is, in the here and now. Because I decide what is of value to me, no?
In the same way, I get to say what I am worth. Throughout last year I have increasingly witnessed how literally everything gets devalued not by those who may not be able to afford it but by those who simply don’t understand any of it and who can’t be bothered to try either. It’s not a me-problem, it concerns pretty much all the makers, creators and artists I know. Audiences and clients may want something we create, yet don’t seem willing to engage with the truth that our artistic work needs to be appropriately priced and remunerated. People see “the thing” but not what goes into it, even when precious materials are involved.
So I continue my quest to educate, explain and share what it takes to make “the thing”, whatever it may be. It is demoralising to witness the entitlement and ignorance of people at times though. It is difficult to not feel disheartened and discouraged in our sincere efforts as artists and craftspeople. That is a real struggle and I feel it should be acknowledged as such by those who consume what creatives share so freely and generously through their various platforms. Earlier on I evoked labour of love because there is no other way of describing it for me, personally. Art is the one thing nobody asked you to do (ask Babak Ganjei, he coined this phrase with his witty art and embodies the freelancing artist’s plight painfully well). Yet we are compelled to do it anyway, against all odds, for better or for worse. Talk about real commitment… *sigh*
In this way, I promised myself that I will do more. Talk about it more, share my process more, open up my personal space more. How I will effectively do that is another matter, for audiences also seem to disappear and/or fade away from the different platforms. I never was the biggest fan of social media and its algorithms to begin with, nor particularly “good” at it, but I will keep going in any way that I can. My real hope lies in real life though. After all, that is where my creative pursuits truly come into existence. More on that another time. In the meantime, remember: art is hope and hope is honest.