Did you make your new year resolutions? Frankly I’m not big on new year resolutions. I am however big on setting and having goals. Resolutions and goals sort of go hand in hand. Goals however, are something to achieve or attain. Whereas resolutions are to vow to do or not do something. To me, resolutions have a bit of a negative connotation. If you fail at whatever it was you vowed to do or not do, it is easy to say oh well, that didn’t work so you inevitably give up! With goals if you don’t reach them within your time frame you can change the time but keep the goal. Goals reflect more positively with me!
Whether or not you are a resolution maker or a goal-setter doesn’t really matter. What does matter is deciding what it is you want and to go after it! I have spent the last few weeks working on getting both our home and my studio cleaned, “dejunked” and organized! This has been quite the task. Since moving into our new home a year and a half ago I still had things in boxes that I had not gone through. Even though our home is still relatively new it still gets dusty and dirty!
I also thoroughly cleaned my studio. I had jewelry pieces started and put away from when we moved from Texas almost 6 years ago! I have been going through everything including jewelry I made when I first started making jewelry 10 years ago! With our move to North Carolina I had taken almost a 6 month hiatus. Now that my studio is clean the next step will be to redesign my space!
Yes these are pictures of my “organized studio!”
I also went through all my computer files. I deleted thousands of files, literally! I take all my own pictures of my jewelry. I don’t think I deleted a single one! This was a tedious process, but a bit fun too! Below are some pictures of my earlier, favorite work. I was actually inspired by some of my past jewelry pieces. I am so ready to get back to my bench.
This whole process of cleaning and organizing has given me some clarification of where I want to take my jewelry business in the future and think about what my goals for the year and beyond are. An architect friend of mine, Arielle Schechter https://www.acsarchitect.com/, who designed our home, posted a link to an article “10 New Year’s Resolutions for Architects,” https://architizer.com/blog/practice/details/10-new-years-resolutions-for-architects/, that really resonated with me. No matter what kind of artist you happen to be I think you will find they have merit. I plan to incorporate all them, but there were a few that really spoke to me.
- Sketch more. I do like to sketch my jewelry pieces, but sometimes I get in a hurry and don’t take the time to do so.
- Be true to your materials. Ah…I have done a lot of experimenting with various materials for various reasons, cost and ease being the top, but I have found that is not always the answer to choose what materials to use.
3. Read more. I love to read and read a wide variety of genres. Lately though I haven’t been reading as much as I would like. One of my goals this year is to devote some time each day to read.
4. Design with humor.
5. Travel more. With every penny going into moving and building our home little money or time was left for travel. Not anymore! We have a trip planned to Dubai in November. Can’t wait! Also, hope to take some mini trips and to do some traveling to workshops and trade shows.
Whatever your new years’ resolutions or goals may be here’s wishing you the best year ever!
Until next time,
ENJOY
cheryl